I had things to do. I tried to get it done while you were still asleep. Took a lot longer than expected.
Was that supposed to be some kind of vague apology? Well, unless he really said it, she wasn’t buying any of it.
Yeah, and I went out. Oh, well. I’ll be back when I’m done here. She glanced at her drink and new she was done. Any more drinks and she wouldn’t be safe to drive. She’d had just enough to feel loose and good but not dizzy and drunk.
You’re going to come back now or I’m coming to get you. Don’t make me. You won’t like it.
“Whatever,” she muttered and closed the phone, shoving it back in her purse.
She’d go, but not because he told her to. She was going because she couldn’t drink any more. Not because he ordered her to. She slid money across the bar, nodded to the cute bartender, then started through the restaurant. She mentally tried to prepare herself for what was to come. He’d be all mad and demanding; she’d be forced to either cave in or fight back. Well, she had the urge to get into a good ole’ fight with Brayden. It was the least he deserved for the stunt he pulled this morning.
You don’t just leave someone you supposedly care about like that, she thought. She stopped in the restroom to wash her hands. But did he care about her? He’d said he wanted her, but that wasn’t caring. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t like how sad her eyes looked. With a weary sigh, she forced a smile, dried her hands on the brown paper towels, then left. She deserved it all. A man who cared and wanted her. She’d had a mate who just ‘wanted’ her for all kinds of things. That didn’t work for her—at all.
A young girl, wearing a black T-shirt with the logo of the restaurant, opened the front door for her as she passed. Vanessa said a thank you, then stopped as she scanned the parking lot for her car. She couldn’t see it from here; two lanes of parked cars blocked her. The lot was lit with the yellow beacons from the street lights. She hated how cowardly it made her, but she clenched her purse hard over her shoulder and kept to the well-lit parts. It meant she had to walk a longer way to get to where she parked, but she made it.
She spotted the black Mercedes squeezed between a dark blue mini-van and a yellow Mustang and sighed. Her flats slapped across the pavement as she rushed to it, keys already in hand. Before she reached the trunk, her phone buzzed. Her gaze shot around the parking lot once more before she dug the phone out of her purse. Her heart started thumping. Another text message. She unlocked her phone and clicked on the messaging box.
Good choice.
She frowned at the message. How did he know? The feeling came quickly, or maybe she’d just become aware of it. She turned around slowly, her gaze leveled on that familiar strong chest, then slowly rose to meet bright gray eyes. Two thoughts instantly floated through her mind. Busted. Dayum!
“You’ve been here the whole time?”
He didn’t say anything, didn’t even nod.
“Guess that’s answer enough,” she muttered.
“I don’t think I made something clear to you,” he said in a low, controlled voice.
Her back snapped to attention, her wide eyes to his. “What?” Instinct warned her to back up, to run to her car and jump in and away from this dangerous man, while her body agreed completely, but for different reasons. Her body wanted him to catch her, punish her in a way that made her blood warm and flow thick like syrup through her body.
He took a step toward her. She took one back. His gaze stayed on hers, unwavering. “You belong to me now. The moment you freely touched me and let me touch you, everything changed.”
Her chest pulled tight and hard. “What do you mean, belong?”
He took another step closer. A breeze blew across them and rippled his shirt across his chest. A chest she knew firsthand was hard and strong with a strength she’d never felt before.
“It means, you’re mine. It means, you don’t leave without telling me you’re going somewhere. It means, you don’t wear,” his eyes slid down her body in a way that made her skin crawl, “clothes like that when I’m not around. You got that?”
She snapped her teeth together. That’s it. She was done. She turned and headed for the driver’s side, but he caught her. He grabbed her hand and tugged her back. His chest curled around her back, his hips pressed against her bottom. A fluttery sigh left her. He felt so good around her, safe and secure.
“I asked you a question.”
She almost laughed. “I know, and you got my answer.”
An arm, corded with muscle wrapped around her waist, pulled her back flush against him. Her breath caught as he lengthened, hardened against her bottom. “That’s not going to work, Vanessa. All it would have taken was a phone call. Did you ever think about that?” he said into her ear. Chills swept from her neck to arms making her shake. She didn’t know if it was the arousal slowly building inside her or the way his breath blew across her ear when he spoke that close.
Did she ever think about picking up the phone and calling him today? “No. No, I didn’t think about that. Even if I’d thought to call you, I wouldn’t have thought you’d pick up to answer me.”
His other arm wrapped around the top of her chest, shoulder to shoulder. For just a second his lips pressed to her neck. She heard him inhale and his eyes fluttered closed. This was the feeling she loved. Being with him, being in his arms, feeling his affection for her, almost as if he did really care about her. Maybe even loved her. Bitterness crept in at the thought. As if he would love her. No one loved her. Not now, not ever.
His arms were turning her to face him, his big hands, so capable and sturdy, tilting her face up. Lips passed across hers in a gentle swipe. “Open your eyes.” She shook her head and squeezed her eyes tighter. The pain in her heart was too much. He’d never love her. Never care about her like she did for him. “Look at me, Vanessa.” The command in his voice sent her eyes flying open. She hadn’t meant to do it, but he’d ordered and she reacted.
“Good, beautiful, good.” His eyes were warm, soft, and electric with intensity. “You call me, I’m there. You text me, I’m there. I answer. I listen. You mean something to me.” He blinked and his eyelids stayed low and soft. “Let me take care of you.”
A hard shiver racked through her. She blinked fast as her emotions created mayhem inside her. Her lips trembled. She reached up and twisted her hands into the shirt around his neck. What the hell, she’d go with honesty. “I want that. I want whatever’s between us not just to be...something physical. I want it all. And with how I already feel about you...” Her heart slammed to a stop in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut as her hands clenched even harder. She hadn’t meant to say that. Oh, God. Oh, God. Maybe he hadn’t really realized what she’d started to say.
A soft breath blew across her lips, then firm lips covered hers, sweeping away all thoughts until she was engulfed in only beauty and pleasure. He curled her into him as if he couldn’t bear to have space between them. He tasted her, the kiss growing harder, hungrier. She kissed him back with fervent need, trying to express just how much she needed him in that kiss.
The honk of a car pulled them away. He was breathing just as hard as she was; his eyes glittered with something dark and smoldering.
“Get in the car and drive home. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay.” She couldn’t move, didn’t even want to leave the warmth of his arms.
He smiled a little, then took the keys, unlocked the door, and put her inside the car. “Drive. Remember, I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay,” she said again and smiled back at him. She liked his smile. It warmed everything about him, made him look more approachable, which was some feat. She managed to start the car on her own and when he left and disappeared behind the rows of cars, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.