28. Piper #2
When I got close enough, Kane reached out, wrapped his giant arms around me, and picked me up off my feet.
A shriek of surprise erupted from me as he tossed me around like a ragdoll.
“Put me down, you brute.” I demanded it through my laughter. Surprise and glee taking me hostage.
Obviously, I was feeling far too comfortable with this guy.
“No way. Never gonna let you leave. You’re ours now.” Kane flailed me around. “You walking through that door was meant to be, Piper Poo.”
A soft giggle rolled out at the ridiculous nickname he’d given me.
He and Emery were so genuinely kind.
All of them were.
These people who I would keep if I could. I was afraid it was going to destroy me when I had to leave them behind.
Because this couldn’t be permanent, could it?
“All right, paws off.” It was a grunt of irritation out of Theo.
Kane laughed a low, amused sound as he settled me onto my feet. “Don’t get those feathers in a ruffle, brother. These paws are only meant for loving up one woman. A woman who currently is in the breakroom just begging for a whole lot of me.”
He held his hands up and wagged his brows.
I laughed. “Then you’d better go get her. I’ll lock the door behind me.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Kane pushed out a fist for Theo to bump. “Later, man.”
A silent conversation seemed to transpire between them as their fists met, that strange thing that carried between the five of them.
Then Kane cocked a smirk and went stalking toward the door to the breakroom.
I watched him disappear before I finally forced myself to turn back to Theo.
Butterflies scattered in my belly.
A million of them, at least.
Apparently, I’d never be prepared for the full potency he exuded.
“What are you doing here?” I tried not to croak it.
That same, sexy smirk hooked at the corner of his mouth. “What, you aren’t happy to see me?”
Stupidly elated, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Your interest in me is verging on obsessed.” I tossed it out like an accusation.
He just grinned.
No shame.
He leaned in close, and his aura slammed me.
Woods and leather and the promise of sex.
How the hell was I supposed to stand against him?
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” His voice did that grunting, rasping thing.
A shiver zipped down my spine.
“Just as long as that interest is temporary,” I managed.
Inky eyes flamed as they washed over me, something striking in them that shouldn’t exist.
“Think you already made a mark on me, Pipes.”
My chest squeezed while my legs suddenly felt weightless.
Like I was…falling.
“Theo…” It was a plea.
He hooked my pinky finger with his, letting our hands swing between us. “Come on. I think your little man is probably bouncing off the walls with excitement. Bet he’s been asking Nelly every five minutes when his mommy is getting home.”
A coil of wonder and alarm squeezed my ribs.
This man was so obscenely hard and so freaking considerate.
He pushed open the door to the snow that eddied from the sky.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he went striding down the sidewalk, as if he expected me to follow.
I did.
Of course, I did.
Scrambling to catch up as I heaved out from behind, “I thought you said you came because you needed to give something to me?”
“I did.” Theo stopped walking and turned around.
Three feet away from him, I fumbled to a standstill. “What?”
He swept a hand toward the street.
I frowned, trying to decipher what he was gesturing at.
“Where?”
He took a step closer to the street and glided a hand over the front bumper of a white Volvo SUV that sat at the curb. “This.”
Um, what?
“What do you mean?”
Theo hiked a casual shoulder. “Figured since you’re going to be staying for a while and your car is in the shop, you were going to need a way to get around.”
It took me a second to come to the conclusion of what he was actually implying.
Had he lost his mind?
“Tell me you didn’t actually buy me a car?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal. “It’s a rental, Pipes. Silas had it sitting around, and he helped me drop it here for you. No need for you to get upset.”
“No need to get upset?” I spluttered, stepping toward him in a surge of disbelief.
In horror and gratitude and the riot of emotion this man elicited.
“You know I can’t accept this.”
“Sure you can.” It was a grunt of simplicity. “Told you I want to take care of you.”
“I can’t let you do that,” I wheezed.
Theo stepped forward.
A tower.
A shield.
A distinct, invincible threat.
“Not sure I know how to stop.” He reached out and brushed his fingertips down the side of my cheek.
I nearly dropped to my knees.
Weak.
Weak.
Weak.
“You have to.” I nearly begged it.
“Just let me do this for you, Piper. Please.” Charcoal eyes flared as he asked it.
Ash that sparked to life.
The man a blackened sun.
Pure gravity.
Panic bubbled up, and tears burned at the backs of my eyes.
“I can’t afford to become reliant on you,” I choked, unable to stop the words from dropping free. “Not when it already takes everything I have to survive on my own.”
I fisted my hand over my heart like it might protect it.
Protect it from this man who was whittling his way through every barrier.
Expression morphing in a cross of understanding and grief, Theo wrapped a tattooed hand around the wrist I had clutched to my chest.
Fire singed at the connection.
“You don’t, Piper,” he grated. He leaned closer, his mouth an inch from mine. “You don’t have to survive alone. Not anymore. Not if you let me free you from whatever has you trapped.”
Fear tumbled through my spirit.
“I don’t know how to do that.” It was a hoarse whisper.
“You can, Piper. You just have to trust that I can handle anything and everything you’ve got. No matter how dark or ugly or horrifying it is, it’s no contest to the lengths I will go for you.”
My lips barely parted on a breath.
Completely wrapped in a bubble with no mind to the people that bustled along the sidewalk around us. No mind to the fall of the snow that thickened with each moment that passed.
As if he and I were the only thing that existed.
As if I were safe in his promise.
He let go of my wrist and went back to tracing the pad of his thumb along my jaw, his voice a soft command, “How about we get out of here before we freeze to death on the sidewalk?”
Flustered, I could barely nod. “Yeah.”
“Good.” He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a fob. He extended it for me to take.
Warily, I flipped my hand up and he dropped it into my palm.
On a shaky breath, I curled my hand around it.
Leaning in, Theo whispered in my ear, “Just so we’re clear what you mean to me.”
Clear? Things had never been so unclear in all my life.
He suddenly took a step back, and I swayed forward as he began to walk backward, hands back in his jacket pockets.
“See you at your place,” he grunted, making it clear he was showing for that, too.
“I’ll be there in a while.” The words wobbled. “I need to stop by the store.”
The man sent me an arrogant, sexy grin. “Ah, needed that car after all, didn’t you?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Gloating doesn’t look good on you, Theo Mallin.”
His grin only widened. “But you sure do.”
Air hefted from my lungs, and with a low chuckle, he turned away, not giving me time for a rebuttal.
The only thing I could do was watch him stride to his truck that was parked in the spot two ahead of the Volvo, his obscenely beautiful body stalking like a dagger through the peace of the falling snow.
When he disappeared around the side of it, I blew out the strain and forced myself to move around the small SUV.
It was nearly new, a pearlescent white and really freaking nice.
I slipped into the driver’s seat that was a gray, plush leather.
When I noticed the backseat had a bunch of bags sitting on it, I shifted to look at what was inside them.
My heart leapt right back in my throat when I peeked into one.
Christmas decorations.
Plus, there was a deluxe, brand-new car seat strapped into the seat behind me.
Turning back around, I slumped in the seat.
This man really was trying to do me in.