Chapter 29
EVER
Was he upset that I turned down his request to stay at my place and instead asked him to check into a hotel, or take up Midnight’s offer to stay at his place? He didn’t seem upset, insisting he return to Crimson. There was business that needed to be taken care of, and it had to be done in person.
Does he conduct business on the weekends too? Does Bobby ever take time off? Will his business always take him away from me? I thought I was his priority. I roll my eyes at where my thoughts are wandering. They’re taking me down the path of a needy, desperate girlfriend.
I wasn’t jealous when other women approached Carlos, or when he spoke to them, but with Bobby? I want to yank out the hair of any woman who dares to look or talk to him.
Done with my last class and needing to make a stop before I get ready for my short shift at Sweet Creations, I walk-run to the building that houses all the nursing classes. My backpack thumps against my back. I hitch it up higher on my shoulder and push open the door of the building.
My professor said the lecture hall is to my right. That’s where Miss Hopper teaches. Her last lecture ends at noon. I have to haul ass. My shift starts at one. I hurry to the lecture hall’s double doors and push them open.
Voices drift from the front of the class.
The rows of seats are empty. I see Miss Hopper talking to a tall, muscular man.
Gwen’s there too. Of course Gwen would be there.
Miss Hopper is one of her professors. But the man?
The doors creak closed behind me. Miss Hopper stops talking to the man and looks in my direction. “Hello.”
I lift my hand and wave.
“What can I help you with?”
With my gaze locked on the tall guy’s head, I hurry down the side aisle of the lecture hall.
Tall and muscular looks familiar, and he’s standing close to Gwen.
Is it one of the twins? I met Bram and Benedict once, but they left a lasting impression.
Tall, muscular, and good-looking, with an air of arrogance about them.
They crashed Gwen’s Sasquatch-hunting party wearing expensive-looking suits.
This guy is also wearing an expensive suit.
The tailored royal-blue suit jacket clings to his broad shoulders and the impressive muscles of his back. The hem hits below his thick waist, drawing my gaze to how well his slacks mold to his tight ass.
I shouldn’t stare so hard. Bobby would be pissed if he found out I was checking out one of his twin half-brothers. The man turns, and desire grips and twists my insides into knots. Speak of the devil.
“Ever.” Bobby’s eyes widen with surprise. He acknowledges me with a nod.
My phone chimes. It’s my timer. Crap. I have to make this quick. I fumble inside my backpack and turn off the alarm on my phone.
Ignoring Bobby and Gwen, who is looking from me to Bobby with her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowed, I walk up to Miss Hopper with a piece of paper in my hand.
“I would’ve sent this to you by email, but I need to turn it in today.
” I hand the paper to her. “I’m sorry for the short notice.
Flu season is around the corner, and the place where I volunteered thought it would be a good idea to partner with your nursing students.
Nurses and pharmacists will be there to give the shots, but we thought it’d be great for the nursing students to help with the intake forms. I reached out to the dean of nursing, and she said I’d need your okay.
That you’re in charge of the curriculum. ”
Miss Hopper reads over the paperwork. Her brow lifts in surprise. “It’s at the bingo hall.”
“That’s correct. The residents find the hall to be a safe and stress-free environment.”
“I see.”
Bobby’s gaze is boring into the side of my face. I continue to ignore him.
“You need this by today?”
“Yes. It doesn’t have to be now. I can pick it up after six, if that works for you.”
“We”—she looks at Gwen—“have clinicals at six.” Her face is stern, but her unhappiness doesn’t detract from how pretty she is and how stunning she looks in a pair of navy slacks and a white buttoned-up long-sleeved blouse paired with nude heels.
“How about I pick it up from you?” Bobby addresses Miss Hopper, and the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head.
Miss Hopper is Bobby’s age, has long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She’s slim and tall and dresses in the latest style. Most of the college guys have a thing for her. Does Bobby have a thing for her? I clench my hand.
“Or you can give it to Gwen, and I’ll swing by her place after my shift,” I say to Miss Hopper, still ignoring Bobby. “The place I volunteer at closes at eight.” It’s not in the best part of Dumas, but I’ll manage.
Gwen pushes past Bobby and pulls me into a hug. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll convince her to sign,” she says near my ear.
My entire body stiffens. She’ll hate me when she finds out about me and Bobby. Gwen made it very clear that we were to stay away from her brothers. I assume it also includes the brother we girls didn’t know about.
I hug her back. “Thank you. See you later, bestie.” I’m laying it on thick. This could be the last time we part on good terms. Will the others turn their backs on me when Gwen tells them I broke one of her cardinal rules?
Panic rises in me like a rogue wave threatening to destroy what was once a calm outing on a little boat in the sea.
The alarm in my backpack goes off. The clattering tests my already frayed nerves.
I can’t lose my shit in front of Bobby, Gwen, and the gorgeous Miss Hopper, who is checking out Bobby coyly beneath her lashes.
Good God, doesn’t she realize she is not being discreet at all?
Expelling a frustrated breath that I’m prolonging the torture of watching another woman, someone perfect for Bobby with her smarts and looks and is, of course, appropriately close to his age, I rummage in my backpack, shut off the alarm on my phone, and book it out of there with a quick, “Thank you for your time.”
I zip up my backpack, sling it over my shoulder, and hurry to the double doors. My skin is clammy. My heart is beating so hard I’m afraid it’ll burst through my chest.
Tears fill my eyes, obscuring my vision. I’m such a fool for thinking our seven-year age difference wouldn’t be a problem.
Of course it’s a problem. Bobby’s twenty-eight.
Riley goes gangbuster for trivial shit, and something she told us while we passed around a bottle of RumChata, drinking it straight from the bottle, was that the average age for women to get married was twenty-eight, while men had their first marriage at the median age of thirty.
Bobby is two years away from marrying age. Miss Hopper is already at the median age. I’m lagging by a good seven years. The exact number of years that separate me and Bobby. Bobby will want kids sooner rather than later.
I push through the doors and dash at the tears.
What have I done? How could I fall for my best friend’s older brother?
I should’ve taken back everything I said to Bobby when I ran into him using my garden hose in my backyard.
I should’ve kept his number blocked. Instead, I put him back in my list of contacts.
Then there’s the problem of Braxton getting out of jail soon. I groan. I can’t deal with this shit. Ty will hurt them when he finds out. My father will send his men after them. Gwen will hate me more than she will when she finds out about me and Bobby.
I march to my car. How did I get mixed up with two Bliss brothers?
My next alarm goes off in my backpack. Shit, I won’t make it to work in time. I’m never late.
Maggie has a doctor’s appointment—it’s the appointment.
Plus, her military husband is home. I can’t ruin their special day of finding out what the sex of their baby is by being late because I’d let Bobby’s presence near a drop-dead gorgeous woman his age distract me from being quick with Miss Hopper.
Gwen told me the sex of a baby can be determined by a blood test. It’s great that couples don’t have to wait for an ultrasound. At my age, babies are the furthest thing from my mind. But for Bobby? He’ll want babies soon, won’t he?
The alarm in my backpack blares at me. I run to my car and fetch the key fob from inside my pants pocket. I hit the open button just as someone grabs my arm. I swing around. My fist comes up, ready to punch some forward frat boy in the face.
A palm blocks my swing. Large fingers wrap around my fist and unfurl my hand.
The color of his suit catches my attention before his mouth captures mine.
I open my mouth to tell him to shove off.
That I’m angry he was talking to a beautiful woman his age.
Except all thoughts leave my mind the moment Bobby’s tongue sinks inside my mouth, and my anger fades, replaced with hot longing.
“Bobby.” His name leaves my mouth in a breathy murmur of need. I tangle my fingers in his silky ebony hair.
“I’ve missed you, sweetness.” He sinks his tongue inside my mouth again, and robbed of breath, I relax into his arms and give in to the happiness that wraps around my heart as a golden string that lights up my body from the inside out.
A noise blares past our moans, groans, and panting. Crap. I’m going to be late. I end the kiss and turn off the alarm on my cell. Bobby looks from me to the cell, then to my car. He tips his head at something I missed in my rush to get inside my car.
We’re standing near his motorcycle.
“Need a ride, baby?”
I smile from ear to ear. “You are my hero.”
“Nah, baby, I’m the villain of your story and the bad boy of your fantasy. Come here, sweetness.” He opens his arms.
Squealing with happiness, I jump into his embrace. With my arms and legs wrapped around him, I press my mouth on his and whisper, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“We good, then?” With one arm tucked under my ass, he tucks pieces of hair that have come loose from my ponytail behind my ears.
“Good?”
He tucks my hair back behind the other ear with a smirk. “Baby, the look on your face when you saw it was me talking to Gwen’s professor . . .” He shakes his head. “Remind me not to ever piss you off.”
“I shouldn’t have been jealous.” I drop my gaze and stare at his collar. “You look extra handsome. Do you or did you have a business meeting? Is that why you’re in Dumas?”
“The meeting was in Ravenna.”
“That’s where my father is.”
“I know, baby.” He drops a kiss on my forehead and my nose.
Bobby’s gaze lingers on my freckles. I turn my cheek to him. He lavishes attention on the constellation with his mouth, all while carrying me to the rear of my car. This guy of mine is great at multitasking.
“Still have the extra helmets in there like I instructed you to do?” He tips his head at the trunk.
Not only do I have extra helmets in my car, but I have an extra pair at work in the coat closet and on top of my dresser in my bedroom, next to my plushies of a princess and her dragon.
“You didn’t ‘instruct.’ From what I remember, you said, ‘These better damn well be in your car, in the house, and at work.’”
“A matter of semantics. But word for word. Also, remind me to watch what I say around you, yeah? My words will come back and bite me in the ass.” He chuckles.
I smile, but test this “matter of semantics” of his. “So when I say I’m falling in love with you, do you take that as an ‘I love you’? Or semantically, that I am falling, but it’s not the same as an ‘I love you’? Does that make sense?”
“Wait, you do?” He sets me on my feet and at arm’s length from him. His dark brows angle low to his nose, and his head is tilted to the side. Bobby is looking at me like I’ve grown two heads.
Crap! I confused him, but he looks so goddamn adorable. My voice falls to a near whisper as I lean into him while putting my arms through both straps of my backpack. “Do I do what?” I straighten. The backpack thumps against my back.
Bobby’s eyes widen. Then he shakes his head. Brows still furrowed, he belts laughter before his expression slips into one of seriousness. “Love me? Do you love me?” he repeats with his hands on his hips as he leans into my personal space.
I grab my helmet and cradle it in front of my heart like a shield. “I thought we were talking semantics?”
He shrugs. “If you say so.” There’s a hitch in his words.
Does Bobby think I’m rejecting him?
Holding on to the helmet, I stand on the tips of my toes, wrap my arms around his neck, and press my mouth over his. His eyes are open. I keep my eyes open too. For this part, it’s important that I look at him. The eyes are the window to the soul for a reason. “I do. I do love you, Bobby Bliss.”
His eyes shine, and his face softens. His arms circle my waist. “Aw, sweetness. I love you too.”
“Promise?”
He mimes crossing his heart. “I promise, baby.”
“Are we moving too fast?”
He shakes his head. “We do what feels right for us. You get me?”
I don’t think. I speak. “I do.”
The two words shock my senses. An image of Bobby down on one knee flashes across my mind. I mentally shake away the image. I have time. We both do.
Not losing the shine in his eyes and the softness on his face, Bobby tips his chin at his motorcycle. “Ready for the ride of your life?”
I clasp his head in my palms. “I’m ready for a different ride. Pick me up from work and stay the night in my bed?”
His eyes darken with desire. He tightens his hold on me. “You got it, babe.”