Chapter Eleven
Alison
“Hi,” I say, grinning as I swing the door open. He grins back and holds up a fast food bag that makes me frown. “Hey, I was going to buy this time.”
“No, you weren’t.” He steps into the foyer with Bear on his heels, and I close the door behind them before turning to face him.
“Yes, I was. We talked about this.”
He grins and leans back against the wall, gazing down at me in amusement. “You talked about it, and I said no. Besides, this is a make-up dinner for the bag of food we stepped on.”
“Then what was the pizza?”
He shrugs. “My apology for Bear.”
“You seem to have a lot of excuses.”
He pushes off the wall and steps closer to me, one arm snaking around my waist as he pulls me into his body. “You could just stop fighting me.”
“You could just let me buy,” I whisper as I savor the feeling of being pressed up against him. I love the way his arm wraps around my waist and the way he pulls me into him like I belong there. My eyes close, and I press my hand to his chest, just feeling him.
“No.”
My eyes pop open, and I glare up at him. “What do you mean, no?”
“It’s a pretty universal word, Sweetheart,” he says, his voice dropping lower as he leans in closer. My breath catches, and my eyes stay locked on his as he moves toward me. “It’s got two letters – N and O. It means over my dead fucking body.”
I let out a huff and push him away from me as he laughs.
“Fucking Neanderthal,” I grumble, and his laughter stops immediately. He sets the bag of food down on the entry table, and his eyes take on a predatory quality that has me taking a step back and holding up my hand.
“Oh, no,” I tell him, and he just grins in response, taking a deliberate step toward me, and I back up again. He lunges, and I scream as I take off running down the hallway. I turn the corner and sigh when I see the light from the kitchen at the end of the hallway. If I can make it there, I have many more options for escape.
His arms wrap around my waist, and I scream again as he hoists me in the air and spins me in his arms so I’m facing him before pinning me to the wall. His heavy breaths hit my face and I meet his eyes in the dark hallway, gasping at the desire that rushes over me from just one look.
“What was that you said, Baby?”
“Nothing,” I whisper, unable to pull my eyes away. His gray gaze hypnotizes me, and I’d do anything he told me to right now.
“Nothing?” he asks again, and I shake my head, biting down on my lip. His gaze drops to my mouth, and he reaches out, tugging my lip free with his thumb before he lightly brushes it over the spot where my teeth were. My whole body quivers in response, and I let out a soft moan.
He attacks my mouth. His hand slides into my hair, and he holds me close as his lips devour me with a need that rocks me to my core. It’s validation. I’m not the only one feeling all these crazy things, and there is definitely something between us, no matter how hard we both fight it. He pulls away, and I gasp for breath, seeking out his eyes again. He stares back at me and shakes his head.
“Why do I always end up back here with you?” he asks, almost like he’s not expecting an answer from me. I open my mouth to say something but Bear barks, and he kisses me again before letting me down without another word.
“Let’s go get that food.”
He turns and takes off down the hallway, and I sigh as I follow behind him. Grabbing the bag of food, he turns to me and holds it up. “Where do you want to eat?”
I point to the dining room table at the end of the hall, and he nods, stomping toward the kitchen as I follow behind once again. I watch him closely, trying to figure out what it is that causes his sudden changes of mood but I can’t for the life of me, see anything.
When the food is laid out on the table, I sit down and pull my knee up to my chest as I grab a few fries and stuff them in my mouth. He smirks, watching me as he sits down with a couple of beers and hands one to me before take a sip of his own. “So, you gonna tell me about this crazy day?”
“Oh, Man,” I sigh, having completely forgotten about that. “Well, my first article apparently went viral.”
“What? The one you told me about the other day? About those terrible dates?”
I nod, grabbing a few more fries. “Yep, that’s the one.”
“Is that a bad thing?” he asks, studying me, and once again I feel warm all over that he’s actually listening to me and interested in what I have to say. He’s so damn confusing.
“I don’t know. I guess, technically, it’s not a bad thing for the blog, and Mercedes is already trying to capitalize on it but it’s weird for me. I mean, three point five million people and counting have read my words.”
He nods as he finishes chewing a bite of his burger. “How is this Mercedes person capitalizing on it?”
“Mercedes is my boss, and she wants me to do a photo shoot and radio interviews. She tried to get me to do TV appearances but I put my foot down on that.”
He smirks, and Bear lies down at my feet. “That was your limit, huh?”
“It was. I’m nervous enough about the radio interview. I don’t need to be freaking out about being on TV.”
“You shouldn’t be nervous. I’m sure you’ll do great.”
Warmth spreads through me, and I smile. “Well, thank you but enough about my day. How was yours?”
Sighing, he folds a couple fries in half and shoves them in his mouth, taking a sip of beer before he answers me. “It was a rough one.”
“Tell me about it?” I ask, finishing up my food and resting my chin on my knee.
“We had a transfer today…”
“What’s that?” I ask, shooting him an apologetic look as I cut him off.
“It’s when we get a battered woman out of her home and take her somewhere safe.”
I nod. “Okay, continue.”
“Anyway, it’s a complicated process, and there are lots of moving parts. We usually have someone watching the piece of shit that she’s running from just in case he decides to come home and we need to get her out of there faster, and we’ve got a safe house to take them to.”
“Is that why it’s rough?”
He shakes his head. “No. Today, the girl we picked up, she’s pregnant, and she started crying in the car, thanking us for saving their lives, and it just hit me. It does that. Sometimes I forget what we’re really doing. I get used to the routine and forget that these women’s lives depend on us.”
“I think you’re kind of amazing,” I whisper. “The fact that you don’t see what you’re doing as amazing makes you even more amazing. What made you get involved with this?”
His eyes darken, and he looks away from me. “Personal experience.”
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to…”
His chair slides back, scraping against the floor, cutting me off, and I look up at him. He doesn’t even look at me. “I should get going.”
Without even a glance in my direction, he stomps out of my house with Bear on his heels, and I wonder what the hell I said this time to upset him.