I’m In Trouble
Dahlia
Vex is a really good name for the man in front of me right now. He looks mad enough to chew nails. Maybe I should have gone home with Hope. The worst that will happen to her is getting grounded or losing her phone. I’d gladly give up my phone rather than walk inside with the grumpy man in front of me.
“Dahlia, now isn’t the time to drag your feet.”
I’m not dragging my feet. They’re stuck to the ground. Is it too late to chase Hope down? Procrastination won’t make this any easier. I trudge inside and head right to the kitchen. If we’re going to ‘chat’, I’m going to need some hot cocoa.
“Say it again.” Vex stops at the doorway and leans against it.
“Huh?”
“Say it again. ”
He means—Oh… There’s no way I’m saying it again until he says it back. It was bad enough saying it the first time in front of all those people. “No.”
“Dahl.”
“Don’t glare at me like that. I’m not saying it again.”
“I’ve had a long day, and I’m holding onto my patience with a frayed thread.”
“And whose fault is that?” Maybe a little of mine, but we’ll ignore those pesky details. “We had beautiful plans. Plans that involved cuddling all day in bed while reading books and eating junk food…”
Vex raises an eyebrow.
“…or semi junk food mixed with lots and lots of vegetables and protein.”
His lips tip up slightly.
“But then you had to disappear mysteriously to do super-secret, slightly dangerous things all day. And after I cleaned the house a half-dozen times, I had to do something.”
“You had to do something.” His voice gets that scary low tone.
That should scare me. “Yes. I had to do something.”
“And that something included baking cookies for another man?”
When he says it like that, it sounds way worse than it is. “I made ‘slightly less embarrassing help me cookies’.”
Vex blinks. Then blinks again as his hands ball into fists. “What does that even mean?”
Can Vex not understand the English language when he’s upset? I was pretty clear in my explanation. “Caramel pecan clusters on butter cookies are ‘help me cookies’, but I was really embarrassed to ask Max, so I soaked the pecans in bourbon with the intention of getting him drunk. Therefore, it would be slightly less embarrassing if he didn’t remember.”
Vex takes a deep breath, holds it for a long moment, and then lets it out slowly. “How did Max help you?”
Nope. Nope. Telling him that now would be a really bad idea. I’d get in even deeper trouble. “You know what? This is all your fault. I’m never in trouble. But whenever I’m with you, you think I’m trouble. ”
“That’s because you are trouble. But what you aren’t doing is distracting me. What did you ask Vincenti to help you with?”
“It’s too embarrassing.”
One second, I’m standing by the refrigerator. The next, my butt is on the bar and I’m staring into Vex’s eyes with barely a millimeter between us.
“We’re going to have this conversation again. And this time you’re going to hear me.”
I shake my head at him, making my hair fly out of my loose bun.
“Dahl.”
“No. I can’t.”
“Nothing you can say will embarrass me.”
His finger trails up my face and loops a strand of hair behind my ear. If I wasn’t sitting down, I would have fallen down. “But I would be.”
“Dahl.”
“It’s too hard. I don’t deal with embarrassment well.” Most times I shut down and hole up in my room.
“That’s becoming pretty clear. But you love me, and that means sharing the good and the bad, knowing I won’t judge you.”
Oh really? “Then why did you almost kill Max out there?”
“If I wanted to kill Vincenti, he would already be dead.”
That’s what Talon said.
“Vincenti knew I claimed you, and he took the cookies you made. That was disrespectful, and he needed to know I wouldn’t accept behavior like that.”
“Does that mean you don’t want me to have male friends? Because that’s completely unacceptable. You can’t tell me who can and can’t be my friend.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what are you saying? Because it sure sounds like you are.” I’d put my hand on my hip, but it would be awkward with his arms caging me in.
“Vincenti likes you.”
“I know that.”
Vex takes a deep breath. “He wants to be more than friends. ”
“Max thinks that, but it’s only because Hope likes me and he thinks I’d be a good mom. Which he’s wrong about. I’d be a terrible mom. It doesn’t matter how many times Max proposes, I’m not interested.”
“Vincenti did what?” Vex’s hands ball into fists and he starts to move away from me. “I’m going to kill him regardless of the fact that it’ll cause a war with his family.”
Kill. War. What? That makes no—I grab onto Vex’s shirt, which is no small feat considering how tight it is, to prevent the killing and war. “You can’t kill Max. He’s harmless. What in the world do you mean by war with his family? We don’t live in the Middle Ages where men go to war for a woman’s honor.”
“You don’t know…. Of course, you don’t know. You live in a dream world. Max Vincenti is the son of the Vincenti Don. They’re an Italian Mafia Family.”
Max? Mafia? “That would make Talon a…”
“Mafia don.”
“But… but, he can’t be. They’re ruthless killers. Talon is a sweet, caring man who loves his family.”
“We’re digressing. My point is Max isn’t the man you think he is.”
Oh, now I’m irritated. “Don’t tell me what to think and who to be friends with. Max is exactly the man I think he is. He’s a loving father and a man who will stand up for a woman when she’s hurt. Everything else doesn’t matter. I’m not going to marry him, because I love you.”
“And if you met him first before you fell for me?”
“That’s not an issue.”
“How can you say that, Dahlia?”
“Because when he smiles at me I feel nothing, when he proposes to me it makes me want to giggle not swoon, and when he carries me to bed I feel nothing.”
“WHAT? You slept with Max. You slept with Maximus Rage Vincenti?”
I don’t know whether to be insulted or flattered by the intense jealousy staring back at me. “No, I did not. Did you even listen to the words I said? Max carried me to bed a few times. ”
Vex stalks away muttering, “A few times. Max carried you to bed a few times.”
So much for stopping Vex from starting a war. “It’s not like that.”
He spins around. “What is it like then? You ask him for help. You let him carry you to bed. It sounds like you’re in a relationship with someone else.”
This conversation is going in circles and only getting worse. “Max and I are just friends. When I asked him for help, all I asked about was you. He knew I was in a relationship. More than knew, he understands it because he’s still in love with his dead wife. I doubt he’ll ever get over her. And it certainly won’t be for me, a woman he doesn’t even have a single spark with. Max comes over because when you aren’t here, I can’t sleep. We sit in the backyard working until I pass out. Then he carries me to bed and locks the door before he goes home. There’s nothing hinky going on. Max thinks I can’t sleep because I was roofied, but the truth is, I can’t sleep without you. Your arms ruined my brain forever. I only feel safe when I’m with you. It’s something I haven’t felt since I was a child and I crave it. I crave you.”
“Since when?”
“Since I woke up, and you made me feel safe. When I should have felt the most vulnerable, you made me feel secure. I knew no harm would come to me when you were there.”
Vex takes a long breath and lets it out with a slow sigh. The thunderclouds on his face shift into fiery intensity. “We need some ground rules.”
Um… ground rules. A tremble runs through me.
“When you’re scared, you call me.” Vex takes a step towards me.
The way he says that sounds like a threat.
“When you need help, you call me.” He tugs off his tie as he takes another step.
Uh oh.
“When you want to talk, you call me.” He unbuttons the top buttons of his shirt as he moves closer.
Um… I should run like the coward that I am .
“And when you can’t sleep, you call me. You know what… never mind. That rule doesn’t matter, because from now on we’re spending every night together.”
Every night?
Vex scoops me up into his arms. “Yes. Every night.”
Is he reading my mind now? “You’re carrying me to bed, aren’t you?”
“Yes. It’s been a long day and we need to sleep.”
I like the sound of those words way too much, but Vex can’t think he’s going to walk all over me. “You know I’m still going to be friends with Max.”
“I do.”
“And you know I’m still going to make people cookies.”
“That’s where I put my foot down. You don’t get to make another man cookies ever again.”
“Impossible. I bake. It’s what I do. I can’t show up at someone’s house without bringing something.”
He starts up the stairs. “We’ll go to a nice bakery and pick something up.”
I lean my head on his shoulder. This discussion isn’t over, but I’m too tired to fight with him tonight.
***
Peace. It took two point five seconds after we got into bed, well I got under the covers and Vex laid on top of them, for me to completely relax. In about two more seconds, I’m going to fall asleep with my head on his chest. “Vex?”
“Yes, Dahl.” His voice is already rough.
“Do you think I’m going to be ready to kiss you soon?”
He chuckles. “Go to sleep, Dahl.”