Chapter 17 #2
Our lips find each other. Gently at first, butterfly soft kisses that set my skin alight.
I push my fingers up into his hair and pull him closer.
Our tongues dance a sensual tango that has me breathless and needy.
Denham’s hands slide up my waist, his thumbs rolling in circles along the way until he’s holding my ribs and grazing the underside of my breasts.
“Well, fuck me if Denham King hasn’t gone and got himself a woman to finally get laid.”
We jump apart at the very unwelcome intrusion and our heads snap in the direction of the voice. It takes a second to register that I’m not imagining my perfect moment being totally ruined by a young, pretty, foul-mouthed woman.
I can feel my hackles rising.
“Um, do you want to tell me who this unexpected visitor is or do I need to go a little crazy on the pair of you?” I bite with my hands on my hips.
I’m still trying to take control of my body which is living in the feeling of two minutes ago as I take in the young girl in front of me, all legs in a pair of short shorts, a sleeveless white shirt tied at her waist, showing her belly button and a mass of blonde curls that tumble around her in all directions.
“Oooh, you got a sharp one here, big bro.” She laughs.
“Tara, what the hell are you doing here and how the fuck did you get in?”
Of course. Tara, Denham’s sister. I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Just thought I’d stop in, maybe tap you up for a little cash to tide me over.”
“You wanna tell me how you got in here?” Denham asks sharply, ignoring her plea.
“I walked through the fucking door, how do you think? Jeez, I thought you were smarter than that,” she jokes.
Regardless that I’m still very pissed off at being interrupted, the way she speaks to Denham makes me laugh.
Tara walks toward me and smiles. “It seems my brother has lost his manners. I’m Tara, his favorite sister. ” She winks.
“Tara, you’re my only sister.” Denham chuckles.
“Yeah, and therefore, your favorite.” She grins.
I hold out my hand to her. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Arianna.”
She pushes my outstretched hand out of the way and pulls me into a tight hug. “Bro, I like her.” Tara releases me and goes to the kitchen, helping herself to a beer from the fridge.
“I’m so sorry,” Denham whispers into my ear. “I’m gonna get rid of her and then we’re going to pick back up where we left off.”
“I’m loving the soft music and candles, D. Very smooooooth,” she says before popping the cap on a bottle.
“Um, what exactly are you here for, T?”
“I just wanted to see my favorite brother. Is that such a crime?”
“You want cash,” he states.
“Well, if you’re offering, just until payday. Oh, by the way, the door is open to the other penthouse. You should really be more careful,” she casually says, taking a swig from the beer she has helped herself to.
Denham reacts instantly, not even asking her what she means.
His reaction worries me and I follow him out of his door and into my apartment, watching as he switches on all the lights as he goes, frantically checking every corner, behind all the curtains and doors, even flinging the doors to the wardrobe open and slamming them with a bang that rattle right through me.
“Denham, stop … you’re worrying me.”
He stops instantly, not even realizing I was behind him. His chest is heaving with concern and his face full of worry.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I’m sorry, Ari, I didn’t mean to worry you, I just …”
“What? Please, tell me.”
“Your door was locked. And no one can get up here without the code.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask, knowing there’s an underlying reason for his frantic behavior.
“Nothing, there’s nothing to tell, it’s just …”
“What?” I insist.
“You make me not think straight! I don’t process anything rationally, and the thought of someone being in your apartment … it scares me, Ari. You could have been in there on your own.”
I know exactly what he means as I feel it too.
I’m also sure the doors were shut, but we’ve been so carefree, so caught up in each other …
it was an easy thing to overlook. “Think about it, Denham, do you actually remember closing the door? We’ve been kinda …
preoccupied.” I pull him to me, turning the tables and reassuring him for once.
“You’re staying with me tonight,” he states.
“I was planning on staying with you anyway,” I reply confidently.
Denham raises his brow at me, flashing the golden twinkle in his eye. “Oh, you were?”
“Yes. Come on.” I tug him by the arms and turn off the lights as we move through the apartment.
Denham is still on edge and scans every corner, but doesn’t argue.
His unease makes me nervous and I think there may be something he’s not telling me.
But it’s just a feeling and I convince myself that I’m looking for shadows in the darkness because I don’t truly expect life to let me be happy.
I close the door and Denham rattles the handle to make sure it’s shut properly, then hugs me tightly, exhaling deeply and kissing me on the forehead.
We enter his apartment to find Tara has made herself very comfortable on the couch. “What is up with you guys? Panic much? Relax, you probably just forgot to close it in your haste to get each other’s clothes off.”
“Don’t you have somewhere to be, sis?” Denham grumbles through gritted teeth.
“Nope,” she says, checking her watch. “Not for, like, an hour.” She smiles smugly. “Anyway, I want to get to know the woman that you deemed good enough to bring up here.”
“Tara …” he warns.
“Ah, don’t give me your big brother warning tone, D. You don’t scare me. Do me a favor and grab me another beer while you’re there, get Ari one too. Us girls can get to know one another while you make yourself busy with the washing up or something.”
Oh, she has him wrapped around her little finger. She’s so straight talking, and I instantly like her. She reminds me very much of Lottie—shoots straight from the hip and makes no apologies for it. She winks in my direction but keeps a straight face.
“Tara,” Denham says exasperatedly. “You come in here, interrupt us, then order me to get you beer. And how do you know that Arianna even likes beer?”
“Because, sweet brother, any woman who has good enough taste to spend time with my brother will happily drink beer with me.” She smiles sweetly.
I see from the twinkle in her eye that she loves to wind him up, and I also think if she hadn’t walked in at the exact moment that she did, he would be enjoying the banter.
But right now he’s a little tense. She does have a carefree, calming effect on him though and regardless of the panic that moved through both of us, I can see that he’s starting to relax.
He grabs two beers from the fridge and pops the caps.
I take them from him and whisper a thank you, kissing him on the cheek.
“You don’t have to drink that if you don’t want to,” he reassures me.
“It’s fine, just go do the washing up or something,” I quip, turning before he can say something back.
I start to walk away, but he catches me on the ass with the flick of a hand towel before I can move very far which makes me yelp.
Tara laughs so hard she almost falls off the couch and Denham’s laugh rumbles around the apartment.
Just like that, the earlier atmosphere is lifted.
Laughter really is a great cure for anything.