Chapter 24
He may have fucked this one up, Garrett thought with a heavy sigh as he made his way up his front steps and let himself inside. But even knowing that, he couldn’t regret kissing her.
Not when he wanted to kiss her again.
Christ, he wanted to do more than that, but that wasn’t an option yet. Not if he wanted this plan to work, which meant that he had to let her take the lead and pray that it didn’t kill him in the process. He-
“Start talking,” the small woman hanging off his back demanded as she tightened her hold around his shoulders.
That was followed by more wiggling, cursing, grumbling, and a heavy sigh as she gave up trying to take him down with what he could only assume was supposed to be a chokehold and simply hung there.
“Where do you want to do this, the bedroom or the office?” Garrett asked as he stood there, biting back a yawn.
There was a slight pause before he heard the muttered, “Bedroom,” against his back.
Nodding, he made his way past the frame he put up for the stairs and headed towards the back.
Within seconds, he was cutting through the kitchen and making his way up the back stairs, careful of the small woman grumbling against his back as he went and headed towards his room.
He paused by the door to toe off his shoes as he reached back and pulled the small woman, who refused to release her hold on him until he talked, off his back and tossed her on the bed next to the dog.
“Bastard,” came the muffled mutter against his comforter as he made his way to the bathroom, deciding that it would probably be for the best if he gave her a few minutes to regroup.
He closed the door behind him and-
“Evil bastard.”
-couldn’t help but chuckle when he heard the grumbling begin. That was followed by a heartfelt sigh and-
“Guten Tag?”
So. Fucking. Adorable, Garrett thought as he reached back and grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled it off while he listened to Kristen try to win Blanket over in the other room with a few basic words in German.
He tossed his shirt on the hamper before he unsnapped his jeans and shoved them down along with his boxer briefs and tossed them on the hamper along with his socks.
As he climbed into the shower and turned on the water, he couldn’t help but wonder what her next move was going to be, wait to ambush him in his room with an adorable glare or-
“What game are you playing at?” came the demand as the bathroom door was suddenly thrown open.
“What makes you think that I’m playing a game?” Garrett asked, dipping his head beneath the hot water as he heard the shower door slide back open seconds before he felt the glare aimed at the middle of his back.
“It’s either that or you’re really trying to piss me off,” Kristen bit out, making his lips twitch.
“Always a possibility,” Garrett drawled as he glanced over his shoulder and-
“Is that my tee-shirt?” he found himself asking as he took in the Bradford Construction tee-shirt that she was wearing, the same one that she most likely found after tearing through his bureau.
“Mine now. Consider it payment for pissing me off,” Kristen said, crossing her arms over her chest as she sent him a look that dared him to bitch about it, but that was the last thing that he wanted to do.
He liked the way that she looked in his shirt, especially since she’d ditched her pants, giving him an unobstructed view of short, shapely tan legs and cute little toes. She-
Had him frowning as she cleared her throat, drawing his attention to find her glaring at him as she gestured for him to step aside.
Curious to see what she was up to, he stepped out of the way as she moved past him, adjusted the temperature of the water to scalding and released a satisfied sigh as she stole his spot, leaving him with no choice but to glare down at the little brat.
“Is there a reason why you felt the need to commandeer my shower and my shirt?” Garrett asked as he watched her readjust the showerhead so that the hot water hit her just right, leaving him standing to the side, freezing his ass off.
“Did I not mention that you pissed me off?” Kristen asked, closing her eyes and dropped her head back while she released a happy little sigh that had his hands twitching with the need to spank her ass.
“I believe it was mentioned,” Garrett bit out.
“Then, this shouldn’t surprise you,” Kristen said, not really sounding all that concerned that he was naked or freezing his ass off.
“This couldn’t have waited until after my shower?” Garrett asked, glaring down at her for a few more seconds before he gave up, grabbed the bottle of shampoo off the shelf as he dipped his head beneath the spray of hot water and-
Jesus-Fucking-Christ!
-went back to glaring at the small woman even as he couldn’t help but wonder if enjoying water hot enough to forge metal was a sign of the devil.
“Wimp,” Kristen said, not bothering to open her eyes as he reached past her and lowered the temperature.
“You’re evil, did you know that?” Garrett asked, moving to squeeze shampoo into his hand only to be taken by surprise when Kristen plucked the bottle out of his hand.
“You made my life a living hell for six years and then, suddenly, you’re professing your undying love for me? I’m not buying it,” Kristen said, shaking her head as she squeezed shampoo into her hand.
“I don’t remember professing my undying love for you,” Garrett said, watching as she placed the bottle back on the shelf and gestured for him to lean down.
“It was implied,” she said as she tore a groan from him when she began working the shampoo through his hair.
Christ, that felt good, Garrett thought as he was forced to reach past her and press his hands against the wall as she slowly massaged his scalp.
He’d never felt anything this good before, Garrett thought, praying that she never realized just how much power she had over him.
He didn’t even want to think about just how quickly she’d break him if she ever figured it out.
“This whole thing feels like a badly written plotline,” Kristen said as she massaged his scalp with her incredibly talented fingertips, making it really fucking difficult to focus right now.
“Is this where I accept the fact that I’ve been caught, admit that I’m trying to lure you into a false sense of security to make you fall in love with me so that I can finally get the revenge that I’ve been waiting six years for?” Garrett asked, opening his eyes when he felt her fingers go still.
“Something like that,” Kristen murmured, dropping her hands away.
Never taking his eyes off her, Garrett dipped his head beneath the spray of hot water and rinsed his hair before he reached for the bottle of conditioner and-
“Tell me that you don’t love me,” he said when she plucked the bottle out of his hands and took over.
“I don’t know what I feel,” Kristen said after a slight hesitation as she made quick work of squeezing conditioner in her hand and setting to work, nearly bringing him to his knees as he struggled to bite back a groan.
“But you did at one time,” Garrett said, watching her as she worked her fingers through his hair.
“Once upon a time, I loved you more than anything,” she said with a sad smile that damn near broke his heart.
“And then I ruined everything,” Garrett said, dropping his head back beneath the spray of hot water as soon as she dropped her hands away.
“Yes, you did,” Kristen said, moving to grab the bottle of body wash off the shelf only to frown when he reached past her and turned the water off.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, only to panic when he reached for her.
“Amending the agreement.”
“That’s better,” the large bastard that decided to manhandle her said with a satisfied sigh as he shifted to get more comfortable on the bed while she sat there, forced to share her displeasure at having her interrogation interrupted with a glare.
Just when they were getting somewhere, at least in her mind they were, the bastard turned the hot water off, threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the shower.
Before she could do anything more than grumble, he was placing her on the bathroom sink counter, tossing a towel over her head and using that time to quickly dry off and pull a pair of gray boxer briefs on, which, if she was going to be honest, helped her focus.
That was followed by tossing her a clean shirt and closing his eyes while he waited for her to change.
Once she did, he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her back into his bedroom, where he readjusted her in his arms, dropped down on the bed and forced her to straddle his thighs, which she had to admit, made it easier with the glaring and all.
“Blanket, Auf deinen Platz,” he said, never taking his eyes off her seconds before the large golden retriever got off the bed and made his way across the room, where he settled down on what appeared to be a dog bed covered in a blanket.
“You’re going to leave me with no choice but to make you cry,” Kristen pointed out, ensuring that her glare never wavered as she followed that move up by folding her arms over her chest, ensuring that he knew just how close he was to getting the ultimate glare, the one that they both knew would destroy him.
“So fucking adorable,” Garrett said, reaching back to adjust the mound of pillows behind his back, the move causing her to shift a bit there, mutter to herself, and shift again to get more comfortable.
For a moment, she debated climbing off his legs, but since this worked for her, she was going to continue sitting here, glaring to her heart’s content. With that in mind, she said, “You were in the process of pissing me off,” as she gestured for him to get on with it.
“Well, since I won the game at the diner,” he drawled, making her eyes narrow.
“I believe I cheated at that game fair and square and was given the win,” Kristen said with a sniffle, making his lips twitch.
“Whatever you say, champ,” Garrett said, reaching up and playfully tapped her on the nose, further pissing her off and giving her one more reason to kick his ass one day.
“I’m not playing another game,” Kristen said, mostly because she didn’t feel like losing again.
“No games,” Garrett said, placing his hands on her thighs.
“Then, what’s the plan?” Kristen asked as she ran her eyes over him, absently noting the way that he watched her before she ran her eyes over his chest and arms, taking in every perfectly sculptured muscle and found herself debating grabbing one of the pillows and beating the shit out of him with it.
“You don’t trust me,” he pointed out, absently caressing her skin with his thumbs.
“No, I don’t,” Kristen said, because no matter how tempted she was to pretend that the last six years never happened, she just...
She couldn’t do it.
“We’re going to fix that,” Garrett said softly as he reached up and traced her jawline with his fingertips.
“And how exactly are we going to do that?”
“That’s up to you,” Garrett said, locking his gaze with hers. “Whatever you need to do in order to trust me.”
“So, I can ask you anything and you’ll tell me the truth?” Kristen asked, watching him curiously.
“Anything,” he said with absolutely no hesitation.
“And if I decide that I need to tie you to the bed in order to do that?” Kristen asked, already climbing off him to do just that.
“If that’s what you need to do in order to trust me,” Garrett said as she climbed off the bed and made her way to his closet.
“I see,” Kristen murmured absently as she took her time selecting the perfect neck ties for the job. “When exactly did you realize that you were in love with me?”
“When I willingly walked that plank for you when we were ten,” Garrett said, making her lips twitch as she selected two navy blue ties.
“I thought you were going to say the first time that you saw me in that play tube,” Kristen said, closing the closet door behind her as she made her way back to the bed.
“That’s when I decided to keep you,” Garrett said as his gaze flickered to the ties in her hand.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked with a pointed look at the headboard as she climbed back onto the bed. Never taking his eyes off her, he reached back and grabbed hold of the top metal bar while she climbed back onto his lap.
“It’s complicated,” Garrett said as she leaned over him, the move causing her breasts to brush against his chest, tearing a small groan from him that had her lips twitching.
“That’s not exactly trust-inducing,” she pointed out with a heartfelt sigh as she wrapped the first tie around his left wrist before attaching it to the bar.
“Consider it my one skip,” he said, making her lips twitch.
“Fair enough,” Kristen murmured absently as she secured his wrist to the frame, making sure that it wasn’t cutting off circulation. “And when you miraculously realized that you were still in love with me?”
“I never stopped loving you, Kristen,” Garrett said softly as she reached for the other tie.
“And it really showed over the last six years when you made my life a living hell,” Kristen drawled, making quick work of securing his arm to the bed frame.
“I’m an asshole.”
“I figured that out for myself, what with you telling me that a few weeks ago and everything,” Kristen said, double-checking the knots. “What I want to know is how you went from wanting a second chance to suddenly professing your undying love for me.”
“Because I’m done pretending that I can live without you,” Garrett said as she climbed off his lap.
“Yet, you did it for six years,” Kristen pointed out, grabbing her clothes off his bureau.
“I don’t know what else to say,” Garrett said as she made her way to the door.
“You’ve said enough,” Kristen said, never taking her eyes off him. “Blanket, Komm.”
“I thought you wanted answers,” Garrett said, yanking on his restraints as the large golden retriever got up and quickly made his way to her side.
“This is a good start,” Kristen said, unable to help but smile when the threats to spank her ass followed her as she made her way downstairs.