22. Willow #2
“I pretty much put you in the closest one to me. The door to the right of my room is an office, and the one to the left is my library,” I answer.
I’m even nervous about him being four doors down from me.
I’ve never lived in this close of quarters with someone that I find attractive, besides Grey—but that was different.
We were both working, and he was always in his room, plus I was gone all day.
“I can give you a tour of the house if you want. I mean, you will be staying here, so you should know where everything is. But we should probably wait for Grey so he can know, too,” I ramble on as the nerves build up again and I start wringing my hands.
“Willow,” he says as he grabs my shoulders, signaling for me to stop talking.
“A tour would be great,” he says while giving me another smile.
I take a breath and turn to open the door to the guest room that I put him in.
It’s nice, but basic; I haven’t taken the time to personalize the guest rooms yet, since I was busy with the rest of the house.
It’s painted the same light grey color as the rest of the house with white trim.
Knox looks around and sees the king-sized bed.
“I got the bigger beds because only my brothers have stayed at the house, and they are giants. The door over there is the walk-in closet, and the bathroom is across the hall. Feel free to unpack and meet me downstairs whenever you want. Dinner should take another forty-five minutes.” The nerves are evident in my voice.
“I don’t have much to unpack. I’ll come down with you,” is all he replies as he tosses his backpack on the bed and turns around to follow me. I decide to stop talking and just walk back to the kitchen.
I say nothing on the way there while Knox walks behind me.
When we enter the kitchen, I head straight to the fridge and open it.
“Do you want something to drink? I have beer, wine, water.” I stop talking when I feel hands on my waist and am lifted off the floor and placed on the counter next to the fridge.
Usually, I would have freaked out about being man-handled.
I may be small, but I have legs that work just fine.
I was about to say something when Knox braces his hands on both sides of me on top of the counter and leans forward, so close that our noses are almost touching, and looks into my eyes.
“Hi,” is all that he says. I can feel his breath on my face, and my nerves melt away as I start smiling at him.
“Hi,” is the only word that I can get out of my mouth at the moment, so I go with that.
“I’m going to need you to calm down, baby. It’s only me. I promise I’ll back off if me being here is too much,” he says, and I know he’s telling the truth. So far, every interaction I have had with Knox, he goes out of his way to make sure I’m comfortable. I let out a breath, settling my nerves.
“I don’t want you to go. I’m just not used to this,” I say, trying to explain before he thinks I’m always this high strung.
“Not used to what?” he asks as he pulls back a little so our faces aren’t so close together, making it easier for me to think.
“Having a guy that isn’t a part of my family here and in my space. I’m kinda lost here and freaking out,” I say, trying to be honest with him. I’m not telling him exactly how out of my depth I am. I’ll tell him that sad, pathetic story if it comes up.
“You don’t have to freak out, baby. I want to be here, and you let me be here for some reason.
It will come naturally, you just have to relax,” he says in a soft voice, still looking in my eyes.
He then kisses me on the forehead and takes a step back, holding out his hand to help me down.
I take it, jump off the counter, and go back to the fridge.
He walks over to the island and takes a seat at one of the bar stools, facing me at the fridge.
“So, did you actually want something to drink?” I ask him now that I feel better about having him here. Not sure how he knew that I needed that, but I feel a little more comfortable around him.
“I’ll take a beer,” he says, smiling at me. I grab one off the bottom shelf and turn around to hand it to him. He is still staring at me, but now, the smile is gone.
He clears his throat and asks, “Are you going to have one, too? Or are you a wine kinda girl?”
“I don’t drink that much. I usually don’t have a lot to choose from drink-wise, but I figured with you guys here, I should have some options,” I say as I turn around to get a glass down from the cabinet.
I keep things like glasses and plates on the bottom shelves so I don’t have to climb on the counter all the time, but I still have to stand on my toes in order to reach them.
I refuse to admit defeat and get a step stool.
When I grab the glass, I think I hear Knox say something, but when I turn around, he is just staring at the label on his beer. I get some ice, pour myself some tea from the pitcher, and walk over to where Knox is sitting, taking the seat next to him.
“So, how was your day?” I say as I turn my body on the chair to face him, crossing my legs and resting my elbow on the counter.
It got awkward again while I was getting the drinks, and I have no idea why.
Small talk has never been my thing, so if I’m the only hope at lightening things up, we are screwed.
He looks over at me and lets out a chuckle, and I take that as a good sign.
“It was good. I just painted at the shop and watched the clock until I could go to this beautiful woman’s house for dinner,” he says with a smirk, and I laugh at how corny he is.
“Oh, if I would have known that you already ate, I would have made a smaller lasagna,” I reply as I calm down from laughing at him. He grabs his chest and acts offended as he says, “I can’t believe you think I would just go and eat another woman’s cooking. I’m not a food slut.”
“So, not a food slut. You aren’t denying just being a regular slut,” I say, still laughing. I’m not going to pretend that he hasn’t been with a lot of women. I’ve been around Uncle Mark’s club way too long to have blinders up.
He gets serious all of a sudden and says, “Not since I saw a video of a girl taking out a bunch of MC members and hang-arounds, risking herself to save someone that she loves.”
I stare at him, shocked for a moment. He couldn’t mean that.
He seriously said no to the gorgeous, always-available women that I am sure are all over the clubhouse, just because he saw me tear apart some guys to get Sophia back?
I feel like most men wouldn’t find that attractive, but then again, how the fuck should I know?
While my brain is trying to compute what he just told me, the notification for my gate goes off again, and I lean over to grab it from where I left it on the counter when I let Knox in.
I pull up the feed, and notice that it’s Grey’s truck and open the gate.
“Grey’s here,” I say as I look up from my phone and notice Knox looking over my shoulder to see who it is on my phone.
He looks just as thrilled as I am about Grey staying here, too.
I hear knocking at the door and put my phone back down on the counter.
These shorts are comfy, and I love them, but they don’t have pockets.
I go to let Grey in, a little surprised that he is knocking at all and not just barging in, since that has been my experience with his “delightful personality.” When I get to the door and begin to open it, I feel Knox behind me pressing against my back with one of his hands resting on my hip.
I’m shocked that I didn’t notice him coming up behind me.
Usually, I am a lot more on my game, but I think Knox messes with my senses.
I open the door and see Grey with the same pissed-off expression on his handsome face.
His hazel eyes are blazing, and it only gets more intense as he notices how close Knox is to me and that his hand is on my hip.
He is wearing a tight, black T-shirt that has the Vital logo on the chest. I wonder if I should talk to my dad about providing larger shirts so I can stop fighting the urge to check him out, but I will never have that conversation with Dad, so I let it go.
He also has on the normal cargo pants that all the soldiers wear; I honestly don’t think he has any other clothes.
After living with him on the job, it’s all I ever saw him in.
His beautiful, huge, tattooed arms are on display, and I can’t help but try to see what they are.
They are so close together and detailed, it’s hard to see where one ends and the other begins.
I would have to take my time and study them up close.
I realize I am checking him out while another man is at my back and holding on to me, so I pull myself out of my “Grey daze.”
He opens his mouth to make an asshole comment, I’m sure, so I cut him off before he can.
“Dinner is in fifteen. Let me show you to your room,” I say as I turn and start to walk towards the rooms again.
I know they are both following me. I didn’t think that this was going to be a group activity, but whatever.
When I get to the door of the room that Grey will stay in, I open it, not even looking back to wait for them.
Grey enters the room, followed by Knox, and looks around.
“I’ll let you get settled. The closet is through the other door, and the bathroom is at the end of the hall.
You and Knox will have to share,” I say, turning to leave after he doesn’t say anything, and Knox follows me back to the kitchen.
We sit at the island for a few minutes before the timer goes off and I take the lasagna out.
While I let it cool a little, I start making the salad to go with it while talking to Knox about our days.
He is telling me about the shop and the new piece that he is working on, and I ask him if he has always done this or other types of art, like tattoos.