3. Atticus #4
Laughing lightly, I shake my head. “Love you, Little Bit. See you tonight.”
“Love you, Att,” she calls as I push the door open with my elbow and step back onto the street.
When I spot Lemon in my car, she’s not smiling, and a tug of annoyance surges to life in my stomach.
I only just met this woman, but I already feel personally offended that something has made the infectious grin fall from her face.
Placing the cake box and coffees onto the floor in the back seat, I take out two coffees and the bag of sugar and creamer and bring them with me as I climb into the driver’s seat. “What happened?” I ask, handing her a coffee and the condiments.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Bullshit. Tell me what’s wrong, Lemon. You were smiling when I got out to go into my sister’s store, and now you’re frowning. So what the fuck happened?”
“Your sister’s store?” she asks.
“Yes. My sister owns this place. She bought it last year. She used to work in the old bakery, but after she took it over, she turned it into this French-style patisserie.”
“Wait, Tori is your sister?” she questions.
“You know my sister?”
“I come here a lot,” she says, her cheeks turning a deep shade of pink as a smile curls her lips.
“So what the fuck happened while I was gone?” I ask again, sliding a hint of demand into my tone.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about everything I still have to get done,” she lies.
I don’t know why I’m sure she’s lying, but it could be the way her eyes are looking over my shoulder and not at me, or the heated embarrassment that’s spread down to her chest. Instead of demanding she explain, like I will once we know each other better, I let her keep her secret and instead put the car in drive, sipping my coffee as I drive home.
“Where are we going?” she asks, glancing around her as we leave the tourist-filled stores and restaurants.
“To drop the coffee to my brother,” I say as I turn onto our street, hitting the button to open the gate the moment we’re outside.
Any other woman would probably be freaking out if a stranger brought her to a warehouse with a security gate, but Lemon is so fucking trusting that I doubt it’s crossed her mind that I could be taking her anywhere, to do anything I wanted to her.
Her trusting nature calls to me like a fucking beacon, and my dick—that hasn’t gone down since I laid eyes on her—pulses with arousal. Slowing to a stop, I kill the engine, then climb out, grabbing the cake box and coffees before I open her door. “Come and meet my brother.”
“Okay,” she says easily, following me into the warehouse without even glancing behind her.
Once she’s mine, I’ll need to make sure she’s safe and not being taken advantage of if she’s this reckless with anyone else other than me, but maybe she instinctively understands what I do—and that she’s mine now.
Opening my cell, I turn down the blasting music, then place my hand on her back as I guide her into the warehouse and toward where Felix is still sketching, dozens of discarded papers strewn all over the floor.
“Felix, come and meet Lemon.”
Ignoring me completely, Felix rips the paper he’s drawing on off the easel and drops it to the floor.
Moving closer to the now blank sheet, he quickly slashes a series of lines that within moments resemble a woman, her huge wings flowing from her back as she bends at the waist, her heavy tits hanging from her torso.
“Oh, wow,” Lemon gasps.
At the sound of her voice, Felix spins around, his expression angry as he glares at her. At the ferocity of his glare, Lemon backs into me, seeking my protection, and it takes all of my self-control not to come in my fucking pants.
“Felix, this is Lemon. Lemon, this is my brother Felix. Excuse his behavior. He gets very focused on his work and forgets his manners.”
Felix turns his fiery eyes on me, and as he silently reads my mind, his shoulders slump, and his angry scowl morphs into a soft smile. “Hello, Lemon,” he says gently.
“Hi,” she says meekly, still leaning into me.
“I’ve frightened you,” he declares, turning to me with worry in his eyes. “I frightened her.”
“You didn’t. I’m fine,” she says, straightening and holding her hand out to him to shake.
Instead of reaching for her hand, Felix gently wraps his arms around her, pulling her carefully into his too-slender body.
I’m not sure who is more shocked, me or Lemon, but after a second, she relaxes into his hug. The sight of my brother and the woman who captured my attention the moment I laid eyes on her hugging makes something snap into place inside of me.
I know absolutely nothing about this woman.
She could be married, have kids, be a lesbian, but no matter what obstacle is in my path, I’ll figure it out, because she is mine.
The necklace that only this morning I was questioning why I brought here will look fucking perfect around her neck, and so will my tattooed fingers against her flawless skin.
She might not understand what she’s set in motion this morning, but soon she’ll get it, and she’ll realize I’m her man, her Sir, and her happy fucking ever after.