My Guarded Valentine (Hope Peak’s Valentine’s Day)

11. Mitzi

Chapter 11

Mitzi

T he ride home or to his home was tension filled, and I toyed with the zipper of the coat as he drove me back to his house. Once he parked, he logged in all the groceries and I helped until the very last bag. I stepped on the step and something creaked above my head. I looked up right as an icicle fell from the covered porch towards my face. In a blur of motion, Buck pushed me into the snow and got me out of the way of the icicle. We were both staring in each other‘s eyes, panting.

“Guess you saved me.”

“I guess I did,” he said with a smirk.

“Now all my clothes are wet.”

He smiled as his eyes drifted down my face towards my chest. “You don’t say?”

“Well, I am in a pile of snow.”

“But the icicle didn’t stab you in the eye.”

“No. Now I have to get warmed up.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that you got some hot chocolate.”

“I guess you need to get off of me if you want me to get out of the snow.”

“Of course,” he said. He stood up and offered his hands to me as he loomed over me. I grabbed his hand and in a flash, he hefted me up, but instead of getting to my feet, he gripped my waist really quick and pulled me into his arms and carried me back into the cabin bridal style.

“What are you doing?” I yelped.

“I have to make sure that you don’t get attacked by more ice.”

“I doubt it was gonna happen again.”

“Now I will assure that it doesn’t happen.”

I groaned. He placed me on my feet, and I glared at him with my hands on my hips.

“Was that the last groceries?” I asked.

Buck smiled. “I’ve got to get that bag that flew out of your arms. If I wasn’t so concerned about you getting hurt, it would’ve been pretty funny.”

“Not funny. I can get it,” I said as I walked towards the door.

Buck grabbed my biceps and pulled me back. “You absolutely will not go out in the snow anymore. Now go upstairs and get new dry clothes on before and dress you myself.”

Spinning around, I paused. I felt frozen within the moment as I realized what he said. My throat bobbed as I tried to figure out what to do next. Was I frozen in my own desire? Maybe. A smile rose to his face as he realized what he fully said.

"You're dripping all over my floor,” he said in a husky voice.

I swallowed once more. Because now I wasn't sure if I was dripping between my legs or just my clothes. Honestly, at the rate that we were flirting and getting closer and closer with each other with every moment, I wasn’t sure if I was gonna make it out this weekend without fucking this guy out of this world. Or maybe he would fuck me out of this world. I haven’t been laying in quite a while and I needed a guy to take control.

“Are you gonna be a good girl or a bad girl?”

In a flash, I darted up the small flight of stairs and threw off my wet clothes. I rumpled through my suitcase until I found the perfect outfit. Unfortunately, for me, I did not pack for a hot weekend that happens to be Valentine’s Day weekend with a billionaire who is lying to everyone about being a billionaire. This is not what I expected for the weekend. I expected to hit the hard-hitting questions at O’Brien industries while they gave me the runaround and eventually, I would have to just make this the sappy story that they suggested. My original plan seemed mean because I knew the truth and how much Lance’s death affected Buck. I saw the pain on his face as he would talk about his brother without mentioning his brother. Even the way he talked to me about Mitchell showed me how much he cared. He cared about the people that his brother used to know and the possible future that could’ve been. Yeah, my original plan was shit. Even if I exposed him now, it would be an ass move.

I sauntered down the stairs and a brand new pair of leggings, which were my favorite, that made my ass look amazing. This was one of my lower cut tops, which I wouldn’t have worn into O’Brien industries, but I think I threw it in my suitcase in case I want to go out anywhere. It hugged my breasts perfectly and sure enough, as soon as I walked into the kitchen, he stared right at me.

Buck smirked. “I see you chose to be a good girl.”

I swanned past him and started opening cabinets to look for a glass. “Oh no. You sound almost disappointed.”

“Maybe I am,” he whispered as he stepped behind me. He wasn’t entirely touching me, but his fingers ghosted the side of my body. Only another inch and he’d be touching me. Where else would he touch me after that? My fingers tightened around the cup as I filled it up with water.

“Happening here?”

“What do you want it to be?”

He reached around me and grabbed a small saucepan. He walked away from me and I breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t help the arousal blooming inside me. Again, I watched his tight muscles flex as he grabbed the milk out of the fridge. He turned and smiled at me. “Cat got your tongue?”

“No.”

“I asked you a question. What do you want? Don’t act like I’m the only one flirting. You flirted with me, too. I don’t wanna take advantage of you. I am not requesting you to do anything as a favor for me to pay for your car to be fixed.”

“You kissed me.”

“Yes. I kissed you and it looked like you liked it. And you still have flirted with me since that kiss. So what do you want? Balls in your court. If you tell me, no, I’ll go back to my room and I’ll stay far away from you.”

I toyed with the edge of my shirt. “If not, we can’t really see where this goes.”

“What do you mean?”

“You live here and I live not here.“ I winced as I realized how lame that statement was. But it was true. I didn’t live here. He lived here. We had the distance separating us and he was technically a fucking billionaire. I’m poor. We came from two different lives, even though he pretends to cosplay as a poor person. It’s not that simple.

“I can move anywhere. I do need to be close to the town that O’Brien Industries is in. I have to commute every now and then to Summerfield.”

“You’ve made life here. I can tell how much these people care about you.”

“You know Ms. Dolly would love it if I found a girlfriend.”

“Well, what if you want a boyfriend?”

“There is no one in the world I want other than you.”

I swallowed again as the information rushed through me. This man couldn’t be interested in me. “You don’t know me.”

He glared at me and crossed his arms. “You said that before and again, I don’t care.”

“What if I’m a bad person?” Remembering my intentions when I left work rolled through me.

“I wouldn’t be flirting with you if I thought you were a person. I want you. I’ve not wanted anyone else in over ten years until I met you.” He turned around and started stirring the hot chocolate as I stood there in shock.

But when was he gonna tell me who he was? Would he eventually tell me? “I’m kind of poor. I don’t make much at the paper that I work at and like I like, you know, I might not have a job soon.”

“If you don’t have a job, I know a place in the mountains that has an extra bedroom. “

“What if I’m a city girl?”

“It depends on where this goes. I’m not fully anchored here. Though I would probably visit often because I’m pretty much Hope’s godfather, I wouldn’t mind conquering the world with you.”

My mouth fell open as I struggled to figure out what to say next. This man had the most talented way to make me so discombobulated that for once in my life, I was speechless. He turned around with a bug and passed it to me. “Do you want hot chocolate? Do you want marshmallows or whipped cream?”

“Maybe we should save the whipped cream for something else.”

Buck smiled. “Now I like the sound of that.”