Chapter 15
Xavier
"I'll be back. Late," I growled to Rosalee as I shoved my feet into a clean pair of boots and shuffled from the house without another word or a look back. It was my second of two nights off, and I needed to blow off some goddamn steam.
To her credit, she said nothing. She didn't even acknowledge my words, never mind asking me where I was going, which was impressive even if it stung. A little.
I only thought about Rosalee once every twenty seconds as I made my way down the mountain and along a long, dark, unpaved road that took me exactly where I needed to go.
After a few miles, the fluorescent red lights of the Triple Horn lit the remainder of the path.
I pulled into the gravel parking lot and killed the engine, staring up at the three horns of the bull with beads of liquid dripping from them suggestively.
Usually, by this point in my visit, I was already rock hard, throbbing in tune with the beat inside the club, eager to slip inside something hot and wet and tight. But tonight my cock was being shy.
What the fuck was happening?
I silently asked myself the question, and my cock knew the answer.
Rosalee happened. Rosalee and that damned kiss which she'd apologized for and hadn't attempted again.
Rosalee and those racetrack curves, her sweet blond hair and sparkling honey-brown eyes.
Her sassy mouth and those lush lips were all I could fucking think about.
Her, not any of the willing women inside who would give me exactly what I needed—what I wanted.
It was the nanny I shouldn't even want, but I wanted her so bad that I could practically taste her on my tongue.
"Dammit." I smacked the steering wheel and turned over the engine with more force than necessary before I exited the Triple Horn parking lot as quickly as I'd entered, stopping at the grocery store in town before I made my way back up the mountain, angry and frustrated and so goddamn horny I wanted to scream.
Halfway home, it started to snow again. The clouds rolled in slowly at first, but by the time I grabbed the bags and stomped up the steps, they were moving faster. The storm was coming quickly, and it was probably gonna be a doozy.
Rosalee was curled up on the sofa with her e-reader a foot from her face, a smile on her lips and Violet's monitor just beyond the e-reader in view. A fire roared in the fireplace, and it was a picture-perfect setting; the only thing missing was me.
She looked up, her gaze met mine, and then she gave her full attention back to her book.
Ouch.
I unloaded the groceries, leaving the beer and whiskey out for dinner since Rosalee was on some kind of strike, not cooking any longer.
At least not for me. I took my beer and a triple shot of whiskey to the sofa, sitting on the end opposite the quiet nanny, who didn't move, didn't give any acknowledgment she even knew I was there.
I sighed and twisted off the bottle cap, tossing it on the table where it danced and spun until it fell flat and lifeless. "You're not fired," I growled reluctantly. "And Violet is definitely mine. The results came in yesterday."
There was a long pause, and I held my breath, beer bottle perched right in front of my mouth as I realized that I was nervous about her reaction. "Good. And congratulations. You must be thrilled—about Violet, I mean, not me. Obviously," she said with a smile as she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, thanks. I am," I assured her and turned my gaze to hers. "About both."
Her cheeks turned an alluring shade of pink, and her long, blond lashes fluttered like butterfly wings. She didn't know what to say. Good, now she knew how I felt. She froze when her phone buzzed on the table, reaching for it slowly with a frown.
I spotted an unknown number on the screen before she tapped the ignore button with too much force.
I wanted to ask her what was going on, if she wanted to talk about it, but I couldn't, not when I'd made such a big deal of her minding her own damn business.
So I said nothing while I sipped my beer and watched her read.
I watched as the blush on her cheeks intensified, her breathing turned shallow, and then her tongue darted out and slicked across her bottom lip.
What the hell is she reading? Whatever it was, it must be good because unless the beer hit me harder than I thought, she was exhibiting clear signs of arousal.
My cock hardened instantly and painfully. "What are you reading?"
"What?" She looked at me and then back down at her book, a smile on her face. "Oh, just a romance book."
Bullshit. "Yeah? What's it about?"
"Oh, you know," she answered, trying to sound casual. "Boy meets girl, likes girl, sexes girl, and then screws up. I'm at the part where he's just realized that he screwed up."
"Read some to me."
"What? No." She shook her head, all but confirming she was reading something dirty.
"Why not? Maybe I'll enjoy it."
"I'm sure you would, if you're open-minded enough. I'll loan it to you when I'm done, how about that?"
"Nah, I want a sample. Now." My pulse increased, and my cock and balls ached. "Please."
She licked her lips again, that pulse in her throat beating a wild tattoo. "That would be inappropriate."
My brows dipped together in confusion. "A sweet little romance is hardly inappropriate, Rosalee."
"It is sweet, but the characters are adults, and they express themselves in a way that is normal for adults, Xavier." Her tone was snippy, and I couldn't help but smile. She opened her mouth to say more just as Violet whimpered through the monitor.
"You are a horrible liar, Rosalee."
She laughed and pushed off the sofa, still smiling. "And you, Xavier, are completely incorrigible."
"Maybe so," I half-agreed, my gaze fixed on the swing of her hips as she walked past me wearing another pair of flannel pants, which I swear I never in my life found sexy until they became her favorite thing to wear every damn night.
After a few minutes passed and Rosalee didn't return, I went to my room to relieve the aching pressure in my cock to the image of her in those sexy-as-fuck, unsexy pajamas.