16 - Bear #2
My chest tightened with the desire to protect Lane. I didn’t just want to take care of her physical safety, I wanted to let her know that she was safe here with me. That I would guard that vulnerability with my life.
I put my glass down. “Lane, I say this with all due respect but your mother has no idea what she’s talking about. I don’t know much about the legal stuff, but everything she’s said about you, I hope you know none of that is true. She should be proud of the woman she raised.”
Lane looked taken aback, blinking once at me. She laughed, but it sounded strained. “Well, I appreciate the flattery. I’ll be sure to include that in my Google review.”
There it was again, that protective shield of humor and sarcasm. But I didn’t banter with her this time. I needed her to understand that I was being serious.
“You’re amazing, Lane,” I said.
I knew that I probably shouldn’t have said those words even as they left my mouth. But fuck, I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help the way I felt when I looked at her. It was automatic, a running instinct that I couldn’t turn off even if I tried and I was sick of trying to fight it.
I put my own empty glass down, reservations gone.
I leaned in, taking her hand in mine. “I mean that. You’re one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met.
And the fact that your own family can’t see that is the height of insanity to me.
But I swear to you, as long as I’m here I’m not going to let anyone make you feel that way again. ”
Her eyes glistened with tears that she still tried to hold back until one finally escaped and I reached out to catch it with my thumb. Lane grabbed my hand and pressed the side of her face into my palm.
My body reacted before common sense did and I slowly leaned in, giving her enough time to pull away if she wanted. But she didn’t and once our lips met, she immediately started kissing me back. I could taste the wine on her mouth, and the feeling was electric.
My hands gently cupped her face and she tilted her head, her hands holding my elbows.
I was losing myself in her, it was fucking inevitable and I knew it.
But even just kissing her had the effect of tempting me to break every other rule that stood in the way.
I didn’t care right now about Dax or Cornerstone or professionalism or anything else other than the taste of her and how soft she felt in my hands.
How I wanted more of her. I wanted to use my body to show her in all the ways possible that I was going to keep her safe and that my word held weight. I wanted to prove it to her again and again…
A series of insistent, heavy thumps sounded at the door and we pulled apart. When I looked at Lane to wordlessly ask if she was expecting anyone, she just shook her head.
“I’ll get it,” I said, but she got up with me anyway and followed me to the front door.
I wasn’t exactly expecting good tidings this time of the night. Especially not with that knock.
I looked through the peephole and what do you know, if it wasn’t the resident old prick himself waiting for us on the other side of the door.
I pulled it open, my shoulder checking the frame as I stepped forward to completely block the threshold, instantly forcing Sandy to take a startled step back into the chilly hallway.
"Can I help you, Sandy?" I asked, keeping my voice level, though my jaw was locked tight.
He sneered, thrusting a crumpled piece of paper toward my chest. His voice reeked of petty, small-man entitlement.
"You can pack up your tools and get the hell out, that's what you can do.
New HOA mandate, effective immediately. Your operating hours are cut by four hours a day.
No construction noise before noon, none after four. "
I frowned, reading through the document. Lane stepped up behind me, her sharp voice slicing through the air.
"That’s completely unenforceable, Sandy.
Chicago municipal code allows residential construction from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
A private HOA cannot overrule city zoning ordinances without a unanimous board vote and a thirty-day notice period,” she said, sounding exactly like a woman who knows what the hell she’s talking about when it came to the law.
But Sandy didn't care about the law. He looked past my shoulder, glaring right at her.
"I am the president of this board, Lane!
I don't need a thirty-day notice to deal with a nuisance unit.
You think you're untouchable because you wear a cheap suit to court?
" He stepped directly into her personal space, pointing a shaking finger in her face.
"You’re a slob, your house is a circus, and your little worker boys are—"
That was his final mistake. My conditioning took over before my brain could even register the breach of protocol.
Without a word, my left hand shot out like a piston, my fingers locking hard around the collar of Sandy’s shirt and the meat of his neck.
I drove the older man backward in one fluid motion, pinning him flat against the hallway wall.
His heels left the linoleum floor, his breath catching in a pathetic, wet wheeze.
I leaned in close, my chest pressed against his. My voice came out as a low, terrifying vibration that rumbled right from my gut.
"You don't yell at her," I growled, tightening my grip just enough to show him I wasn't playing. "You don't come to this door again. We work until the city says we stop. Do you understand me?"
Sandy nodded frantically, his face quickly turning a mottled shade of purple. I held him there for one more agonizing second, letting the silence sweat him out, before I dropped him like a useless sack of mortar.
He stumbled backward toward his stairs, gasping for air and clutching his throat. He pointed a trembling, weak finger at me, scrambling to find his courage.
“I'll be reporting this misconduct to your company manager!” he hissed. “If fooling around out in the open with a client wasn't enough, the assault should certainly be enough to get you fired!”
I didn't care. I just watched him run up the stairs like the coward he was.