Chapter 15 #2
“Did you need something? A new story?” I asked her. “Because there isn’t one here. Sorry to disappoint.”
“I was just passing by and saying hello,” she mumbled.
I waved. “Hello.”
“Let’s talk inside, where it’s private.” Skyler dropped his voice.
“No. You’re not coming inside. We’re done. We’ve been done for months. I don’t understand why you’re here and what it’s going to take for you to disappear but—”
“Eight years. We were together for eight years. We had a house together.”
“A house you refuse to sell.”
“Because I can’t.” He tossed up his hands.
“I walk through the door, and it still smells like you. I can still see you in the living room. I know I fucked up. I wasn’t there when I should have been.
I didn’t realize it until I came home and it wasn’t home anymore because you were gone. Don’t we owe it to each other to try?”
“Try what? We wouldn’t have made it, Skyler. There’s a reason neither of us pushed for an actual wedding. There’s a reason we never made that commitment. We wouldn’t have made it.” That was the truth I hadn’t wanted to admit for those eight years.
There hadn’t been enough loyalty, on either side.
I hadn’t made our relationship a priority.
It had always been an afterthought to what was happening with my career.
There was a reason I’d been promoted so quickly through the ranks.
I’d given my job ninety-nine percent of my heart. Skyler had only gotten fragments.
He’d been just as dedicated to his own career, and there were couples like that who made it work. But we hadn’t shared an urgency for one another.
I hadn’t even realized what we’d lacked until I’d met Griffin. I hadn’t understood what it was like to crave a person. To long for their voice, their scent, their taste.
Eight years with Skyler. One month with Griffin.
I’d choose Griffin every time.
“There’s a reason you cheated,” I told Skyler. “Because we wouldn’t have made it.”
“Winnie.” He stepped closer, his hand moving from my elbow to my shoulder.
“If you want to keep that hand attached to your body, you’ll take it off of her right now.” The deep rumbling voice behind Skyler sent a shiver racing down my spine. The thud of boots echoed before Griffin stepped onto the porch and came to my side.
The glare he aimed Skyler’s way brought a smile to my lips.
Jealousy on Griffin Eden looked incredibly sexy.
“I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing, but I’m having a conversation with Winnie,” Skyler said, standing taller.
“And I’m here to give her an orgasm before dinner. Let’s find out which one of us she’d rather have stick around.”
My jaw dropped.
Emily’s gasp was loud enough for us all to hear.
“Go home, Emily,” Griffin barked over Skyler’s shoulder.
She tensed but didn’t move.
“There’s nothing for you here,” Griff told her. “Not a story. Not me. Go home.”
She swallowed hard, her pride visibly dinged. That might cost us later, but the sight of her scurrying down the sidewalk after he’d chosen me was reward enough.
“You too,” I told Skyler. “Go home.”
He shook his head. “I get it. You wanted to screw this guy for a while and balance the scales. Fine. I can look past him if you can look past—”
“You lost her.” Griffin’s voice had an edge unlike anything I’d heard before. An edge that made me glad I was standing on his side, not the opposing. “You fucked up and lost her. She’s mine. And I won’t fuck it up.”
Mine. My heart melted into a puddle.
No man had ever claimed me before. Skyler, dressed in his signature black suit, had taken eight years and he’d never once said she’s mine.
My ex looked at me and I ignored him, too busy holding myself back from hugging the angry cowboy. “Griff . . .”
“Unlock the door, Winn.”
I fought a smile. And followed orders, but before I went inside, I gave Skyler one last glance. “Sell the house. Let it go. Let me go. Please.”
He swallowed hard. Then nodded.
“Thank you.” I took Griffin’s hand, tugging him into the house.
He slammed the door shut, dragging a hand through his hair. “I really want to punch him.”
“Don’t punch him.”
Skyler didn’t wait around this time. As quickly as Emily had vanished, so did he. For good, I suspected.
“So that was, um . . .” Awkward? Incredible? Enlightening? All of the above.
“Yeah.” Griff stalked my way, closing the distance between us in a single stride. Then his mouth was on mine, sending a flutter to my heart and a trembling to my knees.
He claimed me. One sweep of his tongue and those words he’d told Skyler raced through my body.
She’s mine.
He was mine too.
It was dark outside by the time we emerged from the bedroom. As promised, Griffin had delivered on his orgasm before dinner. Three, actually.
“Are we calling in for food?” I opened my fridge. “Or do you want cheese and crackers?”
“Pizza.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, his bare chest hot against my back. Then he closed the fridge. “Definitely pizza.”
I sagged against him. “Are we going to talk about earlier?”
“Probably should,” he murmured against my hair.
“We’re not really casual, are we?”
He shifted, loosening his arm so he could turn me to face him. Those piercing blue eyes seared into mine. “No. We are not.”
“Okay.” That word seemed too small for this. I’d say okay to a latte. To a glass of champagne. Not to Griffin proposing, well . . . whatever it was he was proposing. Nothing at the moment. But the promise of a future needed more than a simple okay.
“You good with that?”
“Yes.” Another word, too small. Or maybe it was the perfect word.
The two of us had started with a yes, whispered into his ear as we’d come together in the back of his truck.
“I want to take you to dinner,” he declared. “On a date.”
“All right.” My head was spinning. “Tonight?”
“No.” He grinned and dug his phone from his jeans pocket. After tapping the screen a few times, he pressed it to his ear.
My phone rang in the living room, so I brushed past Griffin as he ordered pizza and hurried to the floor where I’d dropped my purse earlier. I found my personal phone first, but it had been dead for days. I kept digging until I had my work phone in hand. The station’s number flashed.
Shit.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Hi, Chief,” Mitch said, his voice tight. There was no smile.
“What’s going on?”
“Got a call from Frank Nigel.”
My heart galloped. Frank would only call if there was an emergency. He’d probably tried my personal phone, and when I hadn’t answered, he’d called the station. “What happened?”
“It’s Covie. He’s at the hospital.”