31. AVERY #2
I nod, unable to vocalize anything further because I’m completely overwhelmed by the conversation. I didn’t see it coming.
“And you?” He audibly swallows, making it very clear that he is also feeling the magnitude of his question.
“Yes.”
“Would you like to move in with me?”
It’s been a strange couple of days, and I’m pretty certain that my sanity and senses have abandoned me. But still, nothing would change my answer as I nod. My insides are a mess of butterflies and knots. My chest aches with the push and pull of recent events.
“I’ll have to talk to Iris about it, and Jo. I don’t want to overwhelm either of them or abandon Jo.”
“I know, and there isn’t a timeframe on this.
It’s just…” He pauses as footsteps sound from the steps nearby.
“I realized something today. As silly as it may sound, I guess the whole situation and the will…it made me think about tomorrow and the day after that and every morning and night after. Rowan’s right—I’m not exactly getting any younger, and I want to give you everything. ”
“I know,” I murmur, trying to breathe through all the emotions and feelings swelling in my chest.
“I want to whisper good night when you’re falling asleep beside me and wake up with you curled into me because you’ve kicked off the sheets in the middle of the night but now you need my body heat to keep you warm.”
“You’re always so damn hot,” I laugh because it’s true.
He gets so warm during the night that it’s like having a human water bottle beside me.
“Thanks,” he snickers back. “I do think I’m…pretty fucking sexy.” Running his fingers through his hair, he slicks it back with a wiggle of his brows that sets me off in a fit of schoolgirl giggles. “And that laugh…”
The air leaves my lungs as his hand slips through the slit of my dress, tracing up my bare thigh to my hip where his fingers knot around the side of my lacy underwear. My breaths shallow with the stutter of my heart and the heat that courses through me from his touch.
“I want to hear that gorgeous laugh every damn day I have left in this world,” he whispers over my lips, eyes flitting between mine as he pulls me flush to his body.
Hand roving down to my ass, he drags my panties down with it as he takes us into the shadows of the terrace, tucking us into a walled corner semi-secluded by all the potted topiaries.
Kneading my tender flesh with one hand, he kisses me deeply while the other tangles in my hair.
When I threaten to slip down the wall, he presses his thigh between my legs, holding me up as he devours my kiss with low groans and sharp inhales.
Before I can get my wits in check, Rhett’s got my hand laced with his as we race up the stairs and back inside.
We manage to navigate the room all the way to the triple-width double doors that lead out toward the cloakroom.
I’m calling up our car from the valet at the front desk while he grabs our coats and lets Rowan know we’re heading back to the house.
“Fancy seeing you here,” the cold, familiar voice bites from behind me, and my already racing heart begins to pound harder and harder as I turn slowly to come face-to-face with my living, breathing nightmare.
There’s a fraction of a second where I cower away from the dark gleam in his eyes. The way they crawl up and down my body makes me shiver. But then it dawns on me that I have nothing to be scared of. If anything, he’s doing me a favor by breaking the terms of the protective order.
“I was just leaving,” I tell him as I try to put enough distance between us while I walk past him.
“Listen!” Carl snaps, grabbing my arm hard enough that a whimper escapes me as he hauls me to his side.
He’s drunk, and the stale smell of cognac clings to his every breath as he inhales at my hair.
No matter how hard I try to free myself, his grasp tightens to the point that it feels as though he might snap my bone.
And panic begins to set in hard enough that before he can hurt me anymore, I scratch at his face, catching his eye before he blinks it shut.
I’m not even sorry as he stumbles back cursing and yelling.
“No!” I bark at him, shoving him farther away from me with both my hands.
People stop to stare. That’s all they do—watch on as he comes at me again. Except this time one of the staff from behind the desk jumps between us.
For once, I’m not the one cowering away. I don’t care who hears all the poison he’s spewing at me.
“Get the fuck off me!” he spits at the guy holding him at bay as he rams him against the desk, but before he can get to me, Rhett is pulling me behind him, and as much as I would love to let him beat the shit out of Carl again…it’s not worth the implications it would have on him. Or us.
“Let’s go.” I thread my fingers through his and tug him in the direction of the exit. The onlookers are beginning to feel like a crowd.
“I warned you last time…” Rhett grits out, taking a step closer as Rowan stands in his way.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” he states so calm and so low that it’s cold and menacing.
Right now, I see the reckless hothead he’s told me about.
All the stories about acting first and thinking later that he’s shared with me and that Rowan has joked about don’t seem so out of character when he’s like this.
Yet, I still feel safest beside him as I tug and tug at his hand.
It’s a pointless task. Rhett doesn’t budge while he stands waiting for Rowan to do as he asked.
This is bad. This is worse than that first time Carl showed up the ranch.
Grasping his bicep, I tell him, “Let’s go, Doc. Please, honey, let’s get out of here.”
“Listen to her,” Rowan says, calmly taking a step forward and turning him toward the exit. “Think of the bigger picture. It’s not just you or her…think of Iris.”
Relief floods through me as he manages to get Rhett to move, the standoff coming to an abrupt end as the security that the front desk called for finally arrives and tries to herd Carl away.
“This isn’t over!” he spits as we walk past him, and if it wasn’t for Rowan, he would’ve been flat out on his back from the look on Rhett’s face. “You can’t take what’s mine, farmhand.”
“Shut up, Carl.” I spin so fast that I almost stumble. “And stay the hell away from me and my daughter, or so help me God…”
“Or what?”
“You come near us one more time and you won’t ever see the light of day again.”
“Are you going to send your farm boy for me, Avery? Is that why you’re fucking him?”
“I’ll kill you myself!” All the anger and frustration that keeps coming and going and beating at the dam I’ve built inside me bursts through in one yell that reverberates around us.
Tears cloud my vision as it continues echoing inside me.
My own shrill voice ricochets in my eardrums and around my chest. The words keep swelling in my throat as I stand paralyzed by my fury.
“I wish you were dead and buried in the dirt. It’s not me that’s the waste, it’s you. It’s always been you.”
“Careful…”
“Or what? Are you going to beat me again?” I ask, barely above a whisper.
“You’re not worth it anymore.” A manic laugh pushes past his lips, and before I can say anything else, Mike ushers me toward the exit. “He’s got what’s coming to him, doll. That son of a bitch has run out of lives.”
“That bastard will get you too! You’ll see!” Carl continues shouting behind us. “You’ll regret this!”