Chapter 18
It took everything he had not to fuck her against the car inside the building. She practically climbed him like a tree when he pulled her out of the passenger seat.
“Flynn, we have to get inside. I’m not doing this here.” He lifted her off her feet and into his arms.
“Whatever you say, Marcus.”
“Where did you learn that?”
“What?” she said against his neck.
“To say that?”
She pulled back for a beat. “To say what?”
“Whatever you say, Marcus.”
“I don’t know. Just comes naturally with you.”
“You are something else.”
Her smile was bright, and he couldn’t believe he was carrying her through the scrapyard garage to his house.
Surreal—that was what she’d said earlier, and he felt it too.
Before his dream, he would’ve bet the club on the fact that he and Flynn were never going to happen. He had never been more grateful to be wrong about anything.
Sometimes, you had no idea how amazing something was, even when it was standing right in front of your face. He hadn’t been blind. He’d just been dead wrong about her.
He carried her across the concrete floor. “Hey, baby. Slap that button on the wall, will you?”
She smiled and reached around the metal track of the garage door. “Gladly.”
“Thanks,” he said, feeling something powerful coursing through his body.
This felt so perfect. So normal. So right. Like he could envision doing this for the next fifty or so years.
The motion light came on outside the building as he walked through the path of the sensor.
“Your house is so cute.”
“It’s not much, so don’t get too excited.”
“It’s perfect.”
“You haven’t even seen the inside.”
“But, Marcus, it’s a house, and it’s adorable, and you live there.”
“Come on, Stiglette. I’ll show you inside. Then you can decide. It’s unlocked. Grab the door handle, will you?” He didn’t want to put her down.
“You’re carrying me over the threshold?” She reached for the door handle. “That’s not bad luck or anything, right?”
“I am, and it’s not.”
She turned the knob. “How cool that you can leave it unlocked. Not even in my building would I leave my door unlocked. It’s like living on a different planet.”
Marcus hadn’t really thought about that.
Grandpop had never locked this door, and neither had he.
He didn’t figure he had anything worth stealing anyway, and his safe wasn’t in the house.
His mind totally lost its train of thought when they stepped inside and he used his right foot to step on the floor lamp button.
“Oh my God, Marcus, I love it.”
He looked around, trying to see the place through her eyes.
There was a leather couch and a chair with a coffee table in the living room.
Grandpop had built in bookshelves on the narrow wall that separated the avocado-colored kitchen, with its green metal cabinets and matching appliances, from the living room.
It was all original. Nothing updated. But his folks, and then Grandpop, had kept everything in perfect condition, and Marcus had followed their example, out of respect for what the old man had built with his own two hands.
Green shag carpet covered the living room floor, meeting the white-and-avocado linoleum in the kitchen.
Two doorways went off the living room, leading to the bedroom and the bathroom.
A second bedroom connected to the kitchen.
“You like it?”
Flynn turned her head until her lips were a breath from his. “I love it. It’s like a time capsule, and you get to live in it. Like … how amazing is that? And you said your grandpa built it? Just wow. The coolest. Like living in a piece of family history.”
“I never thought of it like that.”
“I guess you’re thinking about a lot of things differently lately.”
“You could say that.”
Her lips ghosted across his, and the hint of her taste was more addictive than anything he’d ever tried.
Rules. The word sounded in his mind clear as day, and he remembered why it mattered.
“Before I set you down, we need to get clear on some things.”
“That’s fine with me, but for the record, you don’t need to set me down. I like it up here.” Her fingertips slid along his neck.
Rules. The word burst into his mind again.
“Baby, focus.”
“I really like it when you call me that.”
He carried her to the couch and took a seat with her in his lap. “And I like calling you that. But first, before anything goes further, rules. No sex tonight. That can wait. It’s not why I brought you here.”
“Whatever you say, Marcus.”
She pressed her lips against his cheek and snuggled into his body. She was the sweetest armful he’d ever held.
“You’re for real on board? Because I don’t have condoms in my house. I never bring women here. And despite what we said earlier, I’m not knocking you up on our first date. That ain’t the story I want to be telling a kid.”
Flynn’s lips left his cheek, and she pulled back. “What story do you want to tell a kid?”
With only the single floor lamp lighting the interior of the small living room, her face had an ethereal glow.
“That we fell in love, got married, and decided to have a family.”
He kept his eyes locked on hers, curious if she’d think his super-conventional story was ridiculous. The smile that slid over her lips and her soft sigh before she leaned the side of her head on his shoulder said otherwise.
“That’s so sweet. You want the real deal. All of it.”
“Yeah. It probably sounds pretty boring and lame, doesn’t it?”
“No,” she said quickly, her breath brushing his ear. “It sounds perfect. Like something out of a dream. A perfect little family in this perfect little house. I love that you want that.”
“What do you want, Flynn?”
She didn’t answer for at least a full minute, and he was about to shift on the couch to see her face when she spoke.
“I want love. To love and be loved. I want that to be my life. Everything else is a bonus.”
His arms tightened around her. “I really like the sound of that,” he said.
“And I really like you.”
“Flynn,” he started.
“Yeah?”
“I really like you too.”
It was like he could feel happiness shoot through her body at his words. She hugged him tighter, and Marcus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his body.
“What am I going to do with you?” he asked.
“You’re the one making silly rules.”
“Treating you with respect isn’t silly.”
“True. I guess I don’t mind waiting. It just … makes me want you more.”
With their foreheads together, he said, “So, we have a deal? No sex. Not tonight.”
“We have a deal.”
“Good, ’cause I want you in my bed.”
He felt the shiver course through her as her legs squeezed together.
“You’re so fucking sexy, without even trying to be.” He stood with her in his arms. “Come on. I’m taking you to bed.”
“And here I thought, I would never hear you say that.”
“Trust me, you and me both.”
“But you dreamed that you wanted to.”
“I dreamed that I told you it was happening … but being honest, I knew I wanted to. I just told myself it couldn’t happen.”
He walked into his bedroom and lowered her onto his bed, grateful his parents had instilled in him the need to always make it in the morning.
“Because you thought I was too young.”
“And wild,” he added.
“And you were too old?”
“And boring and conventional.”
“Man, aren’t you glad you were wrong?”
“So glad.” He turned and slid open the drawer of his dresser. “T-shirt?”
“Really?”
He looked back down at her, with only the glow from the living room lamp cutting a slice through the doorway. “You want to sleep in your dress?”
“No.”
“Then my T-shirt it is.” He pulled one out and handed it to her.
“You are something else too, Marcus.”
“Why?”
“Because most guys seem like all they care about is getting laid.”
“That’s easy. Finding someone special you actually like being around and talking to—when you’re not naked—that’s a lot harder.”
“You sound like the voice of experience.”
“I’ve had plenty, and that’s why I’ve got rules. Especially with you. You’re different, Flynn. This feels right. Let’s keep it special.”
“Okay.” She paused. “Will you at least start the zipper on my dress? Because it was almost impossible to get zipped by myself.”
He held out a hand with a smile. “I bet.”
She rose to her feet and turned, and he found the small gold tab on the top. With a hiss, he slid it halfway down her back.
“Damn, girl. You got some ink. What are those? Angel wings?”
She slid the side of her dress forward so he could see. “Yep.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised. Not with you.”
She kept her back to him and slid the T-shirt over her head and then shimmied off the dress beneath it before turning around.
“Why shouldn’t you be surprised?”
“I should be used to it after today.” He brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “That old T-shirt looks better on you than me.”
She grinned. “Don’t be surprised if I keep it, like your sweatshirt.”
“I can’t believe you kept it.”
“Of course. Big crush. Like, huge.”
“Why?”
Flynn’s gaze dropped to the floor as she squatted to pick up her dress and shake it out.
“Because … you were … different than everyone else. Always so suave and in control. You always knew what to say and what to do. And it doesn’t hurt that you look like you stepped off a movie set with Cary Grant. Nothing seems to rattle you. Ever. You always have it all together.”
“Nothing but you … and a few other things Gabe got us into over the years.”
“I rattled you?”
“Yeah. You’re five years older than my niece. Untouchable. Off-limits.”
“I feel a lifetime older than Melanie. She’s like a child still.”
“See my point?”
Flynn’s mouth dropped open. “That was your comparison?”
“Not the whole time. But, yeah, that fucked with me.”
“You know they say age is just a number.”
“When you’re older.”
“So, that was your big hang-up? My age?”
“Mainly. And your attitude.”
“I was going through some things. Thankfully, I sorted my shit out. Even my last therapist said I didn’t need her anymore because I was well adjusted and could handle anything that came my way.”
“Therapy, eh?”
“Lots of it. More than I’d like to admit. But it helped. And I’m not that girl anymore. Thank God.”
“That’s a pretty mature thing to do.”
“It seems like the only sane option when you grow up like I did and don’t want to repeat all the messed-up patterns you learned.”
“Good for you.”
“Sorry, this probably isn’t what we’re supposed to be talking about the first time I’m all but naked in your bedroom.”
He shook his head. “I want to know about you, Flynn. What makes you tick. What you love. What you hate. Why you’re different. How to make you laugh. How not to make you cry. How to make you happy.”
She leaned toward him and pressed her forehead against his chest. “Saying stuff like that is a pretty great start.”