Chapter 7 Austin
austin
I looked around my place one last time and swallowed hard.
Bringing her here was risky, but the idea of taking her to a restaurant in town or the one at the ski resort, sharing her with others, didn’t set well with me.
Not when I was dying for her undivided attention.
Not when I knew the truth was going to need to come out sooner or later.
She had already called me her stalker, and I’d basically confessed to being in her home while she’d been asleep and following her around on her morning runs. But it was time.
I was well and truly fucked.
“I left the cooking instructions right on top of every dish. Oven is already warming up,” Brett said as he stepped out of my kitchen, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Thanks, man.” I cleared my thorat.
He nodded and studied me for a moment. I could tell he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure if he should.
We weren’t buddy-buddy, but after our little chat, I’d taken his words to heart, and when this date idea popped into my head, I’d asked for his help.
Brett had been right—it was time for me to do something and stop wasting time.
I’d known it was coming. I had to make a move before she returned to work or worse, moved away without warning.
But listening to Elizabeth’s little sister suggesting a hundred and one ways for her to meet someone in town for Valentine’s Day had definitely lit a fire under my ass.
All the events felt like my hometown was dead set on taking her away from me. Curse or not, Elizabeth was mine. I’d fight the devil himself if I had to.
“If you have any questions, just call me. I’ll be at the brewery,” he finally said, and I nodded.
“Thanks again. I know this isn’t in your wheelhouse of work requirements but—“
“Honestly, man, I’m just glad you’re stepping up and making a move.” He chuckled low before walking out. The guy really liked having the last word. I glanced at my watch. I didn’t have time to fuck around. It was almost four thirty, and I would be damned if I was late to picking up my woman.
As I hurried out the door, I touched the material I carried on me since that first night I’d snuck into her place.
The black lace rubbed against my fingers, and the animal inside of me that had been awakened by Elizabeth found satisfaction in the connection.
It wasn’t warm from her body but from being washed with my things after I came all over it when I returned home from her place to get everything ready.
Bash and Onyx were shocked as fuck when I told them last minute I wasn’t coming in for the next couple of days and to find someone to take over for me.
Bash had tried to argue that Valentine’s Day was right around the corner, but that wasn’t my problem.
Not when I was looking to secure my very own valentine for myself.
I hopped into my truck and grinned at the red roses on my passenger seat.
Not to mention the bouquet waiting for her back at my place.
They were deep red. The color reminded me of that damn lipstick she seemed to gravitate towards when she went out.
A lipstick I hoped like hell she’d be wearing tonight.
Not that I had any expectations when it came to tonight other than the pleasure of her company.
But I wouldn’t turn her down if she offered me more.
Getting to her place was a blur. I was so deep in my thoughts my mind raced with what tonight meant and what was on the line.
I could be charming. I was good looking.
But Elizabeth was all that and so much more.
She wouldn’t be impressed by smooth lines and magnetic smiles.
She’d want it all. And I was finally ready to give her that.
As I parked in her driveaway, I wondered if this was how Merritt had felt.
My older brother had gone off into the crazy deep end of stalking when he’d met his wife.
I almost wondered if this obsessive hunger that seemed to thrive and grow was genetic.
Maybe it was part of the curse? I swallowed as I stared at her door.
It was ten to five. I was early and was sitting in my truck thinking about a fucking curse?
I had to get off that cross.
I wasn’t about to die on it.
Not when the consequences of that would risk losing Elizabeth.
My thoughts drifted to Shep. My brother was hardly in town nowadays.
Back in the day, he’d been in love but had run off far and fast when things got a little too serious for him.
He’d lost the love of his life to his stupid belief in the curse.
He’d been a teenager back then, but I was determined to do better.
I wasn’t going to lose the love of my life like the others had.
Life was too damn short and too damn precious to find yourself on your deathbed wondering about all the what-ifs and regretting all the things you didn’t do.
I got out of the car with her flowers in hand, adjusted the collar of my shirt, and walked right to her front door.
It was weird to get to this part of her house when the sun was just starting to set instead of the middle of the night like I was used to.
Odd to ring the doorbell instead of sneaking in.
When the door opened, every thought in my head vanished.
Poof. Everything disappeared.
All that existed was the gorgeous women standing in front of me.
Elizabeth had left her hair down in loose curls, the strands brushing past her shoulders.
The sight of her silky strands made my hands ache to touch her.
Literally ache. They fisted and relaxed at my sides with so much yearning that it made my teeth ache.
My eyes dropped to her face. The moment her eyes locked with mine, breathing became much harder.
Her makeup was very similar to when I’d seen her at the brewery.
My favorite shade of red stained her plush lips, and I was losing the fight with my dick to behave.
If that wasn’t enough, she was wearing the prettiest fucking dress I’d ever seen on a woman.
It was a deep shade of black with a sweetheart neckline that plunged slightly, making her cleavage and the exposed golden-tanned kin contrast against the dark material.
It fit and molded against her voluptuous breasts and tiny waist only to flair out just slightly, hitting just above her knees.
Tiny little cap sleeves brushed against her delicately feminine shoulders.
It fit her beautifully. Elizabeth was breathtaking
“You look beautiful,” I rasped, and if I wasn’t mistaken, my hoarse compliment made her blush.
“You think so?” She tipped her head, making the curly strands of her hair sway back and forth before she turned in a circle, giving me a three-hundred-sixty view of the dress.
The front was sweet and innocent, but the back?
It was practically backless with the way it dipped into a scoop that rested on her lower back.
It was so low I had to swallow at the sight of the skirt bumping upward with the curvature of her perfectly-shaped ass.
An appreciative groan that couldn’t be contained rumbled through me in an almost animalistic sound, and the cheeky little smile she gave me only confirmed she’d heard me.
“I know so. Come here.” I quirked my finger, urging her to get closer.
I needed her in my space, in my air, more than I needed gravity to keep me grounded so I wouldn’t float into orbit.
Shit, that was exactly how she made me feel.
Like I was floating just above the ground with giddiness.
I had no idea where the hell I found the patience to stay where I was as she sauntered towards me, her hips swaying this way and that. My cock throbbed behind my slacks.
Fuck, how the hell am I supposed to keep my hands off her?
The moment she was within reach, I knew the answer to that question. I wasn’t even going to try. I pulled her into me with my hands curved around her hip, and it didn’t go unnoticed how perfectly they fit there.
Mine. Made for me. Mine. The words ping-ponged around in my head.
“You’re fucking gorgeous.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” She grinned and stepped back, then signaled for me to turn. I rolled my eyes but did as she asked. She whistled, and I chuckled as I turned back fully to face her. “You definitely fill out a dress shirt.”
“And you’re lucky we’re going to my place, or I’d make you change.” I was smirking, but I knew I’d fucked up when she frowned.
“Excuse me?” she asked with that hint of attitude I loved so much. I immediately pulled her back into my arms. “Austin,“ she warned, but I wasn’t worried.
“I just mean you look so damn pretty I know I’d end up getting in a fight by the end of the night if I took you out around other guys. Or worse, arrested.”
“That wouldn’t be my fault or my dress’, Hart.”
“Oh, I definitely know that, Elizabeth.”
“Liz,” she quietly corrected, but for some reason, I liked being the one to call her by her full name.
“Angel, it would be some dumb guy staring at you like he’s undressing you with his eyes, and I’d have to punch him out for even thinking he could disrespect you like that.”
“You know you wouldn’t have to.” She blushed, but something in her eyes heated slightly. She didn’t mind the idea of me stepping up to defend her honor. “Plus, you’re acting like you didn’t just see me this morning.”
“Honestly, baby, it feels like every minute until now was too damn long.” She blinked then rolled her eyes.
“You’re too smooth for your own good, Hart.” Hart. She was cute trying to be all tough girl around me. Something flashed in her gaze for a split second, something that gave me a little peek into her vulnerable underbelly. That’s when it hit me—she thought I was playing her.