Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Wynter
I’d had my opening. It’d been right there. I could’ve done the “Well, actually…”
I’d chickened out. With all the admiration and gratefulness in his voice, I couldn’t bring myself to admit that I didn’t pry because I knew the main points of his life’s story already.
I remembered the way his head had hung down when he’d arrived, but how he’d studied everyone from under his long hair.
The hunch of his shoulders was gone, but only circumstance had made him stand like that in the first place.
I took a bite of pizza. I didn’t ask how he knew plain cheese was my favorite. He’d ordered a medium cheese and a Canadian bacon as if he’d also noticed I shunned anything pepperoni that wasn’t on a charcuterie board.
Myles was finishing his chicken. He’d gotten his wings sauce-free. I couldn’t have handled seeing him lick his fingers. A low burn was constant in my belly—and lower. He’d undone another button, and I might as well be a perv trying to look down a girl’s cleavage.
Did his chest have a scattering of hair? Did it just cover his pecs or trail down to disappear underneath his waistband? Were his pecs as hard as they looked?
“So, one time,” I said around my mouthful, not caring one bit about manners.
The more deliberate he got with eating, the sloppier I became.
Talk about work and spirits was tabled, and I was regaling him with my and my siblings’ antics.
Vaguely, of course. “My sister, the one who’s two years older than me, said no to her boyfriend, that she wanted to wait, and he broke up with her and dumped her on the edge of our land. ”
“I hope your brothers castrated him,” he growled, dabbing his fingertips on a napkin.
“Nope.” I took another bite and grinned while chewing.
I might look like a doofus, but Myles seemed to enjoy the stories about my brothers and never asked their names.
He liked the stories, but he also kept his distance, even now.
When I swallowed, I continued, “Every time he took a girl to the movies, we took his tires off and put them in the bed of his truck.”
His low chuckle was my reward for the retellings. “How many times did you get away with that?”
“Twice. The third time, he came storming out, yelling and throwing a fit, his date in tow. So Ju—my sister asked him if she should drop him off miles from home because he wouldn’t put out like he had done to her. His new girlfriend got a ride home with us.”
More laughter. Success.
I polished off my last slice. Myles started cleaning up the food containers and dumping them into the bag they’d arrived in. Cooper had been prompt with the food and had even kept the pizza and wings in an insulated carrier.
Hearing a little more of his story from Myles had rounded out Cooper more than Myles probably thought.
Cooper needed more time in college, and that would affect his ability to work and earn money while going to school.
So Myles made it happen, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Cooper made sure he had an open session between classes during lunchtime. A win-win for them both.
For a guy who couldn’t remember me and didn’t speak of the family he’d lived with for over two years, he was considerate and generous.
I took my plate and napkins and helped him pick up. A comfortable silence settled between us. He set the bag of garbage by the door for the cleaning staff that came in the morning.
I should leave. I had no other reason to be here. I hadn’t had any more to drink in the two hours while we’d eaten and talked. Cooper had brought water, milk, and juice to add to the collection in the break room.
But I was curious about what we’d talked about last night. “How’s the pitch going?”
His jaw tightened. “Fine.”
“Are you changing it up like I suggested?” I held a hand up. “It’s fine if you’re not. I’m just preparing for a change in prep duties.”
“Yes, and you’ll be there for the pitch.”
A tiny thrill went through me. I was excited to see him at work. In this scenario, he wouldn’t be in control. He hadn’t been with Wes Clayton, not at first, but then he’d taken the reins.
Mainline Grocers was so much bigger than Wes’s clubs.
I twisted my fingers together. “I will be there with you, but I’m starting to regret my suggestion. It clearly bothers you.”
“I worked hard to forget a lot of my past.”
I could tell. Echoes of hurt reverberated around my heart.
Had he wanted to forget me? Had I been nothing but an annoying kid?
He hadn’t grown into an adult who acted like reading to a scared kid would be a burden, but perhaps he preferred distance.
To use his money to help without actually touching or interacting with anyone.
What a lonely life.
“I’m sorry all of it was so terrible,” I said, unable to contain my bitterness.
He went to the window and propped his hands on his hips. The sun had disappeared behind the mountains, leaving a swath of pinks, purples, and oranges in the sky. “It wasn’t all awful.”
I waited for him to continue. He didn’t.
I crept up on him like I would with a horse prone to startling. Usually, with a skittish horse, my siblings and I could systematically desensitize the animal just by being us. “Not all of it?”
Why was I trying to get him to open up? Then I’d have to be truthful. Did I want to tell him who I was?
I did—but only if he had fond feelings toward that girl he’d made an impression on.
“It’s hard not to look back and see everything I didn’t have. It’s hard not to remember why I was so resentful in those days.” He glowered out the window. “Especially when there’s one stark reminder I can’t outrun.”
A person? A scar? A memory? What was he talking about?
He turned, towering over me. “You should go.”
Standing this close, I didn’t want to move away. Warmth radiated from him, but mostly I wanted to smooth the frayed emotion in his eyes. I shouldn’t touch him, but I didn’t care. I ran my finger down the side of his face, where the corner of his eyes pinched. “I know. I should.”
The blue of his eyes darkened, his pupils crowding out the irises. “Christ, Wynn, you never act like I expect you to.”
“Didn’t anyone tell you never to assume?”
A low growl rumbled from him, and then a strong arm was banded around my waist, and I was pulled flush to his chest. He was a delicious, hard wall of muscle. His hot mouth crashed onto mine, and all I could do was hang on, my fingers curling into his shirt.
He didn’t finesse the kiss. He dominated, licking between my lips. I automatically opened for him. His flavor was addicting. Soft hints of bourbon, seasoning from the wings. The demanding man was the perfect nightcap for my evening.
Was this what I had missed out on when I’d slept on the couch?
I twined my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes, my heels coming out of my sandals. He growled and plundered my mouth, taking control and stealing my breath until I subsisted on him and him alone.
A whimper left me. My body was on fire, and if he loosened his hold, I’d strip down and beg him to take me against the cool glass of the window.
His steel-banded embrace didn’t ease. He spun me, and my back hit the glass.
Yes. I was encased between him and the window.
Only then did his hold loosen. He skimmed a hand around my waist and up to cup a breast.
I arched as much as I could into him, but I was stuck. He slid his other hand down my back and gripped a butt cheek. His punishing grip wasn’t painful. Nothing but need vibrated through his body and into mine.
The crush of his mouth on me was my only lifeline. I slid my tongue along his, never tiring of his flavor and not caring how garlicky I tasted. Maybe I’d make bourbon and pizza his favorite.
A familiar ringtone sounded from his pocket, and he ripped away. The incredulity on his face was a bucket of ice water on my desire.
“You have to go,” he rasped, his chest heaving.
“What?”
His phone rang again with that ominous tone he’d given it. He didn’t dig it out of his pocket. “You’re my assistant.”
I was his temporary assistant for barely two more months, and we could do anything we wanted together afterward—if he was interested. He’d forgotten about the kid version of me who’d idolized him, but now he wanted to slam a wall between adult me and him, too? “Don’t you let anyone close to you?”
Resolve hardened his features. “No. They only end up letting me down.” He retrieved his phone, glared at the caller I couldn’t see, and stalked toward his loft.
He was leaving me once again.