Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
CIDNEY
Good girl.
Oh my GOD.
That is so damn hot.
He lowers his head, his lips brushing against mine before he speaks. “I’m too goddamn bad for you. Too old, too. Ivy’s gonna kill me.” His lips move against mine with each word he says.
I wouldn’t care what Ivy does to him at this point. All I can think about, all I can dream about, is this man’s mouth on my body and his cock inside me again. I don’t care about his age, about his club, about my cousin.
None of it matters.
Maybe it will in the morning, maybe it will when we’re finished, but as of now… no fucks given. Not a single one. But when Goose doesn’t kiss me, when he takes a step backward, all of my excitement quickly vanishes.
He clears his throat, his eyes searching mine for a moment, then shakes his head once as if he’s made some internal decision. Well, I rebuke that, because whatever it is, it’s him not kissing me, not touching me… and definitely not inside me.
“You do whatever you need to do around the house. I’m going to get my bearings and figure out where and how you need to bump up your security here,” he murmurs, his gaze shifting away from mine and not returning.
I stand, dumbfounded and rejected as he ignores my existence. I’ve never been overly confident, but I also don’t have low self-esteem—at least I didn’t until this moment. I don’t sleep around, but Goose probably thinks I do, considering he didn’t have to try too hard… or at all.
I was more than willing to let him inside me.
Practically begged him… then and now.
I feel like an idiot of epic proportions.
My teeth sink into my bottom lip, my shoulders drop, and I make my way into the bedroom. I decide to get him some sheets, blankets, and a pillow so he can sleep on the sofa.
I’m not sure where I was anticipating him sleeping when Bullet told me he would be staying with me, but it’s clear now that he's couch-bound. And that’s where he wants to be, which is highly disappointing, but maybe it’s for the best. I obviously cannot trust my judgment in men… ever.
Once I have everything gathered, I carry it into the living room and place the pile on the floor beside the couch. Goose is moving around on my small balcony, his head dipped and looking straight down when my eyes land on him.
If he senses me watching him, he doesn’t act like it. Instead, he straightens, tilts his head backward, and looks up at the balcony above mine. I stand staring at him for a moment or two longer than necessary before I force myself to head to the kitchen.
Busying myself with making a shopping list, because I know I don’t have enough food in this apartment to feed Goose, I try to focus all of my attention and energy on this task so I don’t continue staring at this man and get caught.
I don’t hear him come back into the apartment, likely because of my forced focus. It’s taking all my concentration to get this list finished. I want to continue looking at this man, watching him… consuming him in any way I can.
I feel like I’m a bit too obsessed with him, and he’s only been here an hour. I don’t know how I’m going to last with him here for days, or even weeks. Lifting my hand to my throat, I close my eyes and let out a long breath as I attempt to gather myself.
“Do you need to go into work at all?” he asks, and I almost jump out of my skin at the sound of his voice behind me.
Slowly, I turn around to see him standing just on the other side of my small bar area. He’s leaned over slightly, his palms on the countertop, his gaze focused on me and only me. The moment my eyes meet his, everything vanishes—the room, my thoughts, my words… everything.
Poof.
“Into work?” I finally ask when my brain begins working again.
Those words barely escape my lips. It takes everything inside me to actually force myself to say them, because I want to stand here and just stare at him, which makes me feel really freaking stupid.
“Yeah, into the office, where you work for Ivy.”
I blink a couple of times, then clear my throat and shake my head side to side. Swallowing, I look down at my feet, then slowly lift my gaze to meet his again.
“The office burned down. Ivy has been working from home, and right now, he’s just organizing his files and things, getting everything set up for clients.
I’ve done what I can to help, and if someone calls the old office line, it comes to my cell phone.
But until the office is open again, since I’m not a paralegal, I can’t do more than some filing, scheduling, and answering phones. ”
“Is the practice going to be opened again?” Goose asks.
“Justin decided to work from home and only take on a smaller number of clients. He doesn’t want to go back to an actual office,” I say.
My cousin hasn’t said anything to me yet, but that could be because he doesn’t want to actually tell me I’m out of a job.
I have a feeling that’s about how it’s going to work out, though.
At this point, it’s been months, and he’s continued paying me my salary, but as the days go by and there is no movement on the office front, it feels like I’m taking advantage.
“What happens when the paychecks stop coming?” Goose asks. I know he’s asking out of concern and not to be a dick, but that doesn’t mean his question doesn’t scare the absolute shit out of me, because it does, and I’ve been thinking about it more often than not, especially the past month.
“Are you asking me if I have any prospects or if I have any money saved?”
“Yes,” he states.
“No to both,” I confess. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities for someone with a small amount of secretarial work experience in Thunder Rock, and I don’t have much saved. I’ve tried to save what I can, but I only make a little above minimum wage.”
“Guess we’d better get you some answers, then, before this is done. We got some work to do on the place and on your future.”
God. He makes me sound like I’m a little kid who can’t take care of myself. I don’t like that one bit. I don’t want him to think of me that way. I want him to want me, not think about me as a child. Wrinkling my nose, I turn away from him and go back to my list.
What a dick.
GOOSE
Glancing down at the floor next to the couch, I notice that there is a pile of blankets and shit sitting there waiting for me. I don’t say anything about them, though. I won’t be using them. No way in fuck am I going to stay here in her place and not sleep beside her.
Although it’s probably safer for her if I do sleep on the couch. I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands off her, or my cock from slipping inside her. Yeah, maybe I should take the couch.
I’m not sure what she’s doing, but clearly, whatever she’s writing is important, because she’s completely focused on it. Turning away from her, I walk into the living room and take my phone out of my pocket.
I find Ivy’s number, hold the phone to my ear, and listen to it ring. He picks up on the second one. I start to talk to him, but decide to head to her bedroom, closing the door behind me. I don’t want Cidney to hear me.
“Ivy,” I mutter.
He doesn’t respond, likely knowing that I didn’t call him to bullshit. I don’t wait around for him to say anything. Instead, I continue.
“Cidney’s apartment security is shit,” I announce. “I’m going to have to order some shit,” I state.
“Okay,” he says, and I know he’s wondering what the hell that has to do with him, but I don’t give him the opportunity to ask before I continue.
“I’m concerned about her job, too. And her future.”
That is met with silence.
At least for a moment.
Then he clears his throat before he speaks.
And when he does, I can hear not only the irritation in his voice, but the annoyance and anger as well.
I don’t really give a fuck about that, though.
He’s been stringing Cidney along for months while he figures his shit out, and she’s going to be fucked over when he decides that he won’t be keeping her, because I don’t think he will.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he grinds out. “None of this shit is any of your goddamn business.”
He’s not wrong. But I also don’t care.
“I’m making it my business,” I state.
Ivy grunts but doesn’t hang up the phone the way I expect him to. Instead, he humors me and has a short conversation, clearly not wishing to go into too much detail.
“I’m never going to fuck Cidney over. She’s my family, and I think of her as a daughter. So, no matter what, I will always have her back. The fact that you’re calling me about this and attempting to call me out is fucking asinine.”
He takes a deep breath and holds it for a moment before letting it out slowly and continuing. “That being said, I’m not sure I want you there, but at the same time, I’m glad I have someone who is going to protect her. But, Goose?” he asks, waiting for me to answer before he continues.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t get in the middle of my shit with my family. I will never let anything happen to her. You want to protect her, that’s good, but the rest? Stay the fuck out.”
“Don’t think I will,” I grind out. “She’s got no job and is waiting for you, thinking you’re opening up your practice, when you and I both know that’s not going to happen.”
“Do you?” he asks. “Why don’t you fucking enlighten me on it, then?”
This conversation shouldn’t be happening. I got all in my own head about Cidney and her career, her finances, and then there was the thought that she’ll likely move if she does lose her job, meaning she won’t be here. She won’t be close to me. And that shit just does not work for me.
But I don’t tell him any of that.
He’d probably drive over here and beat my ass for uttering those words. “Just be honest with her, Ivy. She deserves that much.” Instead of waiting for a response, I end the call and walk out of the bedroom, shoving my phone in the inside pocket of my cut before I make my way out to the living room.
When I walk into the living space, I stop at the sight in front of me.
Cidney is sitting on the edge of the kitchen counter, her legs swinging back and forth as she looks down at her phone.
I don’t say a word, content in watching her, but she must sense my presence because she slowly lifts her head, and her eyes find mine.
Neither of us speaks as our gazes connect and stay that way for longer than is probably comfortable. But I can’t move. I can’t even fucking breathe. She is so goddamn beautiful sitting there.