My phone buzzes in my pocket as I make my way toward the breakroom. Sinking down into the chair, I let out a hiss as my sore center lands against the hard plastic of the seat. Tugging my phone out of my pocket, I smile at the text that I read.
WYATT: I’LL BE AT YOUR PLACE WHEN YOU GET OFF WORK. PACKING MY SHIT THIS WEEKEND.
Did I say you could move in with me?
WYATT: I PAY RENT IN ORGASMS.
Consider yourself my new roomie.
WYATT: YOUR ONLY ROOMIE. EVER.
Bossy man.
WYATT: YOUR MAN.
My heart races when I see the words. Two simple words, and yet their meaning is something of a phenomenon to me. My man. He’s mine. My lips turn up into a wide smile. I should not be happy about the way he’s inserted himself into my life. I know—I know that this will not last. I need to guard my heart.
I can’t.
Not when he wouldn’t allow it, even if I tried.
Wyatt is not a man who will allow a woman to pull away. When he wants something, he gets it. He’s made that more than clear, and for the moment he wants me—he still wants me. He won’t always, but damn if that doesn’t feel good right now.
My phone vibrates in my hand with an incoming call and I know that my cheeks must turn even redder, because he’s foregone texting and is now calling me.
“Hello?” I answer.
“You okay to talk?” he asks, his low timbre sending a wave of desire throughout my entire body.
“It’s my lunch break,” I whisper.
He hums. “You need me to bring you something?”
I shake my head as though he can see me, then decide to actually answer. “No, I have some stuff here,” I lie. I’m not hungry, I’m full of desire and there’s no room for food right now.
“Gave Rylan the keys to my place so they can move in on Monday. It’s still cool I stay with you for a while, right? If you don’t want me in your space, I’ll get a hotel for the month. It’s not that big of a deal, I’m hardly home as it is,” he rambles.
“It’s fine, Wyatt. I’m hardly home either, we probably won’t even be there at the same time very often,” I murmur.
He snorts. “We better be or Christ I’m going to go into withdrawals, I’m fucking addicted to you already, sugar.”
“I’ll be home around seven tonight,” I breathe. My pussy is sore but damned if I’m not getting wet just thinking about his touch again.
He groans. “I’ll be home a bit later, but I’ll bring dinner for us, I’ll grab some pizzas,” he murmurs.
“I can’t eat like that,” I breathe.
“Fuck yeah you can. I meant it when I said I liked you just the way you are, Exeter. I like it all, and no way in fuck did you get the body you got eating salads and shit. I’ll grab some ice cream on my way home too.”
The line goes dead and I let out a long groan. Home. He called my place, home. And for the next month or so, it will be just that, our home. I shouldn’t feel as giddy as I do about that. I definitely should not be smiling at the thought of living with him. I’ve only known him a matter of weeks. He doesn’t know my deep dark secrets, and I don’t know his.
Something tells me that this man has them too, a whole pile of them. It’s in the way he claims me, the way he demands me as his own, he has a past and just as I’m sure he most assuredly cannot handle mine, I’m not sure if I can handle his as well. Something tells me, something screams that I can’t.
Chapter Fifteen
WYATT
My mother lifts a brow as I try to leave the makeshift quickie reception. “You haven’t come over for dinner,” she snaps.
“I’m sorry Mama, been workin’ my ass off,” I grumble.
She reaches out and pinches my shoulder. “Don’t curse.”
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“Who is she?” she asks. “Please tell me it’s not Sammi,” she practically pleads.
Shaking my head, I lift my eyes to hers, my lips unable to keep from turning up into a smile. “Ain’t Sammi. She’s a nurse over at the hospital. She ain’t ready to meet y’all yet, but when she is, I’m gonna bring her by the house,” I explain.
“Not ready?”
I let out a grunt. “She’s skittish, real shy,” I explain.
Mama tilts her head to the side, her eyes searching my face, for what I’m not sure. I wait her out though, if I know my mama at all, she isn’t about to be rushed on her assessments, of anything.
“A shy good girl would be a nice change to the fast women you’ve always liked,” she murmurs.
Though I’m not sure what she’s talking about, the only girl I’ve ever brought home was Sammi. I narrow my eyes on her and she rolls her own.
“This town talks, and since you don’t go to church, I get an earful from everyone there, every Sunday.”
I can feel my face heat and I know it’s about ten shades of red. My mama has heard about me sleeping around, and honestly, no mama needs to hear that about her son. I bite the inside of my cheek, looking down at my feet and wondering how I’m going to get the hell out of this and fast.
“Mama…”
She holds up her hand, shaking her head. “Don’t want to hear it. I know you’re a man, but it’s high time you settle. I want to meet her and if you don’t bring her ‘round the house in a snap, I’ll find her myself.”
Without another word, she turns on her toes and stomps away from me. A low whistle sounds behind me and I turn around to see my dad grinning like a fucking fool at me. He’s about my height, his once dark brown hair and short clipped beard is turning grayer every time I see him.
“You done pissed her off good,” he chuckles.
“Is it so bad that I want to be comfortable with Exeter and her me before I bring her home?” I ask.
My dad shrugs. “Your mama’s been waiting for a while for you to let go of Sammi, of the past. She’s excited, you can’t fault her for that. She sees Rylan settling with a family. She wants the same for you,” he murmurs, his eyes connecting to mine, holding me and never wavering, just like he always has.
“She’s it for me, Dad,” I say. My dad blinks, his eyes widening and then a smile slowly spreads on his face, but it won’t last long. “She has something ugly in her past, she’s hiding it from me,” I admit.
My dad’s smile falters, then his lips press close together. He takes a step toward me, his hand lifting and grabbing hold of my shoulder with a squeeze. “You think your mama didn’t come from somethin’ real ugly?” he asks.
I gulp, nodding my head as I think about Rylan’s drug addict father, who just so happens to be my mama’s brother.
“You ain’t gonna fix her, not ever. Don’t try. But you know what you can do? You can love her. You can show her that her past doesn’t define her future, that she can live a good clean life at your side. Just love her, even when it’s hard, even when shit gets really fuckin’ ugly, because it will,” he says, his voice is like steel, his body held tight like granite.