“Carly...” Ryan sounded exasperated, but not surprised.
She snorted, ignoring him as she smirked at me. “Oh, didn’t you hear? That’s the latest rumor going around. I’m keeping you on hand because you’re having an affair with my head of security.”
Running my tongue over my teeth, I moved over to the sidebar and grabbed a bottle of water. “I guess there’s no point in pointing out that both of us are straight, right?”
“Nah. They don’t care about the truth.” Carly shrugged and headed for the kitchen.
I couldn’t stop myself from watching her ass as I followed her. It was just after her morning workout, so she was still wearing a pair of form-fitting pants that made all of the blood in my body run straight south.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she said quietly.
Ryan shook his head and shot me a not-so-friendly look. “It’s not up to me, Carly. You’ll have to wait for pretty-boy to tell you.”
I glared at his back as he left the two of us in the kitchen. I could feel Carly watching me, but took my time looking back at her.
She crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter. “Well?”
I can’t stay here.
I quit.
I...
The words stuck in my throat.
I...
I couldn’t imagine being somewhere I couldn’t see her every day.
Fuck.
I’d gone and done the stupidest damn thing.
I’d fallen in love with her.
The best thing to do would be to leave. It would keep her safe.
It was also now the hardest thing imaginable.
“Tell me about the letters,” I said, my voice rusty. I had to get myself under control.
Carly’s eyes widened, and then fell away from my face. “I...” She pushed a few damp strands of hair from her face. “Bobby, you don’t need to worry about any of that. It’s just...hell, it’s bullshit. I get threats all the time. This is just some loon out there. This one’s fixated on both of us this time. That’s all.”
“That’s all?”
She gave me a nervous smile. “What else could it be?”
Instead of saying anything, I just stood up and left.
I needed to think, and I couldn’t do that with her around.
***
Just like the other night, when the knock came, I ignored it.
I hadn’t unpacked. The only thing I’d done was push boxes and suitcases out of the way so I didn’t trip over them if I had to get up in the middle of the night to take a leak.
Then I’d sprawled on top of my bed and stared at the ceiling.
The knock came again and I shot a look at the clock. It was nearly eleven. If Ryan was here to chew my ass again, I just might pound on his.
Kicking my legs over the edge of the bed, I moved through the house without hitting the lights. I’d spent a lot of years making do in poor lighting, and my eyes adjusted to the faint lights that streamed in through the blinds.
There was another knock, softer...hesitant.
I frowned. That wouldn’t be Ryan. Instinct told me to be careful, so I glanced through the blinds.
Light fell on pale hair, turning it silver.
I jerked open the door just as Carly started to turn away. She spun around, staring at me. I opened my mouth to talk, but she beat me to it.
“You hid stuff from me too!”
I’d spent half a year with Carly at this point, and I knew almost all of her moods. If I was being honest though, I could spend a hundred years with her and not know all of them. That both awed and aggravated me. Sometimes it felt like she invented a new mood just to fuck with me.
But this wasn’t one of her new moods.
This was an old one. The first one of hers I’d gotten to know. Pure, pissed-off woman.
There was only one way to handle this sort of thing. I snapped my mouth shut and shoved my hands into my pockets. In the dim light, she advanced on me and drilled a finger into my chest.
“What...don’t you have anything to say about that?”
I looked down at her index finger. Her nail was painted white with little black flowers on it. I didn’t understand how women could do that, or why they’d want to. But she was about ready to splatter that little black flower with red if she drilled that finger any deeper into my chest. I didn’t touch her though.
“Are you trying to poke a hole in me?”
She made a growling noise deep in her throat.
“You are such an ass, Bobby Cantrell!”
“I know.”
“Don’t agree with me, dammit!” she shouted. She shoved me.
I let her. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have because it ended up with us both inside my house.
“Are you going to argue with me or not?” Her eyes were snapping, brilliant.
“It seems to me like you’re perfectly happy to handle all the arguing yourself,” I pointed out.
Her eyes narrowed and I almost took a step back.
“You bastard!” Her breasts rose and fell as she stood there, glaring at me.
It was insanely distracting because all I wanted to do was cup those sweet curves in my hand and taste her, feel her, push her up against the wall and fill her with my cock. Comfort her. Fuck her.
All I knew for sure is that I wanted her.
“You pushed me away as soon as Jake got hurt and then he...and I needed somebody...”
Her voice cracked, and my heart did too.
“I didn’t push you away.” Helpless to stop myself, I lifted a hand.
She smacked it away. “The hell you didn’t. Any time I tried to touch you, you backed away.”
I gritted my teeth and gave her the truth. “That’s because I can’t have you touching me without wanting you naked.”
“I don’t have a problem with that!” She jabbed me with her finger again, or tried to.
This time, I caught her wrist. “I made a promise to Jake. And he wasn’t wrong to ask me.”
She jerked on her hand.
I could’ve said that the devil made me do it, but in reality, it was just plain need. I jerked back and she ended up sprawled against my chest.
I didn’t know which one of us moved first, but in the next second, our mouths were fused together, and it was like the past six months hadn’t happened.
Or maybe they had. Those months had served to make me want her more, need her more, and if the way she was tearing at my jeans was any indication, the same could be said for her. Her passion fueled mine and I had her naked in no time. My clothes quickly followed, and then it was skin against skin.
Even as my tongue explored her mouth, her hand closed around my dick, dragging it up and down in a fast, heavy rhythm. My sac drew tight up against me.
I tore my mouth away from hers. My voice was hoarse, rough with need. “If you keep that up, I’m going to come all over you.”
“Do it,” she said, the words low and husky. “I don’t care.”
I all but went to my knees, whimpering. Some day I’d take her up on that, but there was something else I wanted more. I crowded her up against the back of the couch until she ended up sprawled over the long flat surface. Grabbing her knees, I pushed them high and wide.
“I’d rather have you come all over me,” I said, kissing my way down her torso.
Her voice tripped as she said, “Bobby...no.”
I looked up. Memory hit me. She’d stopped me before. I looked up, but didn’t move. “Why?”
“I don’t...I don’t like that.” Her entire body flushed.
I kissed her navel. “Why not?”
“I just...” Her breath skittered out of her when I traced my finger around the wet entrance of her pussy. “I’ve never liked...”
I smiled at her. “But you’ve never had me do it.”
Her lashes fluttered when I pushed my finger inside. “No.”
“Let me try?” I asked. I kissed her hipbone. Part of me needed to try. I didn’t know who had given her the bad experience, but I mentally cursed him. Even if he hadn’t known what he was doing, if he’d loved her, he would’ve made it right. “If you don’t like it, just tell me to stop and I will.”