Chapter Three #2
“Okay, fine. I appreciate you making sure I get home safely.” I’d be a fool to fight Jason’s protective nature.
“You still don’t get it. But you will.” He shakes his head, amusement warring with a more serious expression. “You’re coming home with me, sweetness. I’m not leaving you here or in that shitty walk-up with a crappy lock your brother could break with one good kick.”
“Hey! That’s my apartment you’re insulting!” And all I can afford.
“It’s only an insult if I’m wrong.” He studies me, as if daring me to argue.
“I can’t just move in with you!”
He sighs. “Fine. You need someone to vouch for me? We can call my partners. Or my sister. Or… Hey, Sam! Am I trustworthy?” Jason yells out to the man who is just climbing down a ladder, my clean window staring back at me.
Sam strides up to us and looks from Jason to me and back again. “Best man I know. Take a look at this.” Reaching into his pocket, Sam pulls out his phone, then begins scrolling through his pictures.
“This is my girl.” He turns the phone so I can see a picture of a grinning little pixie with a bright smile and a pom-pom hat on her bald head, no hair hanging down beneath the folded brim.
“She’s beautiful,” I say, sliding my finger over her face.
“And if it wasn’t for this guy introducing us to his sister, I don’t think my wife and I would have made it through the roughest parts of her illness.” He shoves his phone back into his pocket.
Looking up at Jason from beneath my lashes, I catch a flush on his cheeks.
“It just so happens I could help you, man. But I’m glad Sienna could do her part. She loves fundraising and doing anything she can for kids who’ve been through what she has.”
I would like to help her one day, when there’s no danger following me around, I think sadly. For now, though, I have to fight through my own problems and not bring them into other people’s lives.
“Thanks, Sam.” Jason all but dismisses his friend, who waves and walks back to the other guy helping him.
“So? Still think I’m a serial killer?” Jason asks me.
“I never said—”
“Oh, by the way, my cousin ate one of your marshmallow pops and went crazy for them. She’d like you to contact her about doing the party favors for her son’s birthday party.
So now I’m hooking you up with business.
I really think you can trust me to keep you safe. ” He grins at his smug proclamation.
I want to smack him … and kiss him at the same time. He has my head spinning, and I know that’s his intention. To keep me off-balance and win me over at the same time. So I am too overwhelmed to say no to his proposition about me moving in with him.
But I have to be smart about things. “I’m not questioning your ability to keep me safe, I’m wondering why you’re taking me on as your responsibility?” My tone along with my emotions sober.
He grasps my hand and pulls me into the back kitchen area, where we can be alone. Backing me against the prep counter, his big body hovers over mine.
“From the second we met, there was a connection between us. I felt it and so did you. Then I ignored your tire and my gut screaming it was more than vandalism, and this happened. Now I know I should have paid attention.” He draws a deep breath.
So do I, and his delicious cologne sweeps over me. I steel myself against his appeal because what we are discussing now is deadly serious.
“There’s a lot about me I don’t talk about,” he goes on.
“I’m not saying never, I’m just saying for now.
All you need to understand is that I’ve been in this situation before, being able to possibly prevent something bad from happening and ignoring my gut.
I won’t do that again. So when I say you’re coming home with me? I mean it.”
This is the second time he’s mentioned the connection between us, and despite my wariness, I agree that there is one. But if I go to his home, it has to be about necessity, not desire.
“Thank you.” I appreciate his honesty and feel he deserves mine in return. “I’ll come with you, but connection or not, we’re not sleeping together.”
An amused smirk pulls at that sexy mouth. “I was planning on giving you your own room.”
“Oh.” Now I feel stupid, and my cheeks burn with embarrassment.
He brushes his hand down my cheek and my body trembles with awareness. “But if you get scared in the middle of the night, feel free to come sleep with me.”
* * *
Jason
I grit my teeth as we walk up the dark stairs to Faith’s apartment so she can pack up her clothing and stay with me.
The building is small and narrow, with plenty of dark corners for someone to hide in, and I’m glad I’m getting her out of here before something worse than building damage happens.
Her brother will have to go through me in order to get to her.
While she disappears into the bedroom to gather her things, I dial Gabe, a man who has Alpha Security, the best firm available, on retainer. At this point, I’m going to owe my cousin more than just money for the favors I’m accruing, but it can’t be helped.
“Gabe? I need something. Your private investigator? I have someone I need him to dig into. Colton Holland,” I say, giving Gabe Faith’s former last name.
“Start in Cedar Pointe, Iowa, but I think he’s here now.
Drug addict, so he isn’t hanging out with the best people in town. Whatever he can find on him, I need.”
I go on to explain what has been happening with Faith so Gabe can give the PI the rundown. At best, I want her brother behind bars. At the very least, I intend to make sure he’s out of Faith’s life for good.
“I’m on it,” Gabe says. “I’ll have Jack Renault contact you personally so you can deal directly with him.”
“Thanks, cousin.”
“So much for not seeing her again,” Gabe says, chuckling as he disconnects the call.
At that moment, Faith walks out of the bedroom, rolling a suitcase behind her. I shove my phone into his back pocket. “Ready?” I ask her.
She nods, letting me take the suitcase from her hand.
“Don’t you have a club to run?” she asks.
“Yes. And two partners to help in case of emergencies. Getting you out of here and settled at my place is an emergency.”
Her lower lip juts out in a pout, and it’s all I can do not to kiss her and taste that plump flesh for the first time.
I understand she’s frustrated with the situation, that doing as I say bumps up against her independent streak, but she’s also smart and knows that I’m right about her apartment and its location.
“Come on.” I follow her out the door, wait as she locks up, and together we head for my car.
She settles into the plush seat, the sweet scent I’ve come to associate with her filling the air around me.
Little by little, in the smallest ways, she’s making herself a part of my life.
I break into a sweat because despite how hard I’m pushing her to move in and be safe, I’m breaching my own defenses in the process.
She’ll be living in my house, a room apart from me.
And though I want her in my bed, I have a gut feeling once I taste her, touch her, have her, she’ll burrow so deep inside me, I’ll never get her out.
I never felt this way about any of the women I slept with before.
There is something different about Faith, and it shakes me to my core.
The core I’m determined to protect from more pain and loss.
I clear my throat. “So I have a doorman who won’t let anyone up who isn’t cleared on a list,” I say into the silence that has overtaken us as I drive.
“That’s good.”
“I’ll drive you to the store in the morning, and I can work from there during the day.”
She freezes, turning slowly in her seat. “You don’t need to be by my side twenty-four hours a day.”
One hand on the wheel, I glance at her. “Do you want to be alone in the shop when your brother shows up?”
She sighs and shakes her head. “No.”
“Then me working from your store it is.”
Before she can say another word, I turn into the parking garage beneath my apartment building. In silence, I guide her up the elevator, taking her silence as nerves.
We walk down the bright hallway, a stark contrast from where she lives. I unlock the door and unset the alarm before letting her step inside.
“So here we are. I’ll give you the code and a set of keys, but you’re not going out alone. Not until your brother is behind bars. Speaking of, did you tell the police about him?”
I roll her luggage inside, close and lock the door.
“No. I didn’t. If it wasn’t Colton, I didn’t want to send them after him and anger him even more.
Besides, we have no proof it was him. If the police find fingerprints on the brick, they’ll have evidence then.
Can we stop talking about this?” She turns away and I step closer, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey. It’s going to be okay. Let me show you around the place,” I say to distract her from her problems.
She perks up at the subject change. “Show me the palace,” she says.
Grinning, I mock bow and walk her through the overly large apartment I’ve rented.
When the nightclub was starting up, the guys and I shared an apartment for the first six months until we realized we might kill each other.
We spread out to our own places, and since the club started earning right away, with the addition of my trust fund from my errant father, I moved into this gorgeous spread.
“The kitchen is fairly new and large for a Manhattan apartment,” I say as we pass the entryway.
“Wow,” she says, peeking inside. “This is amazing. Do you use it much?”
I shake my head. “Not my thing. I’m not home for meals very often. But while you’re here, consider my kitchen your kitchen.”
“You know I will. This is a great apartment. Big for Manhattan.”
I nod. “I rented this place because there are two extra-large bedrooms, and my family is from Florida. This way, my mom can come visit, and up until a few months ago, my sister would come by, too. Now she lives in New York City, as well.”
“You mentioned your mother. What about your father?” Faith asks, as I walk through the living area with my large-screen television and ultra-comfortable oversized sofa.
“That is a long story for another time.” One I won’t be getting into now.
“But my mom insisted on flying up and helping me match colors so I could impress any women I brought home,” I say with a grin.
“Typical mom, she wants her kids married and settled.” Savannah Dare might have gone the nontraditional mistress route herself, but for her children? She wants the best.
“And will she get that?” Faith turns to me, looking up at me with those curious, gorgeous green eyes.
“Well, let’s see. My sister went the untraditional route, getting pregnant first, but there’s no question she and her husband, Ethan, are head-over-heels in love.
Alex is married to a great woman and they had a baby girl recently.
” No point getting into the half-sibling thing now.
I hope she’ll end the conversation there.
“And you’re the eternal bachelor?” she asks, dispelling that optimistic thought.
“Something like that.” Winking at her, I grasp her elbow and lead her to the far side of the apartment, where the two bedrooms are located. “Come. You can check out your room.”
I lead her to the bedroom beside mine, one my mother decorated to her taste, with a—cough—bright floral comforter and matching valence above the window.
“Oooh, it’s so pretty!” she says, grasping her suitcase from my hand and pulling it inside.
“I’ll be sure to let my mother know you like it,” I mutter. I’ve never forgiven her for the flowered room, but I love her anyway.
“Wouldn’t that be admitting you brought a woman to your apartment?” she teases me before sitting down on the bed, her shoulders hunching over as she finally lets herself relax.
“I was going to ask if you’re hungry but you look beat.”
She lifts her head. “I’m both. Would you mind if I shut my eyes for half an hour before we eat?”
“Of course not. I’ll order us something. Do you want anything in particular?”
She shakes her head as she kicks off her shoes. “You choose.” She swings her feet up onto the bed, closes her eyes, and if I’m not mistaken, she’s out before her head hits the pillow.
I head to my bedroom, completely aware of the woman sleeping in the next room. I change into a pair of sweats and a tee shirt, order a large pizza, and settle onto my couch, watching Sports Center on television.
I’m not surprised to see a clip of my brother, Alex, on the screen.
Once an NFL football player, he was forced, on doctor’s orders, to retire due to a severe concussion.
He can’t take the chance of another head injury without risking permanent damage.
Seeing an opportunity, our half-brother Ian, president of the Miami Thunder, ironically the opposing team to the one Alex played for in Tampa, offered him a job teaching players about preparing for the future beyond football.
The program has been adopted by the NFL, and Alex does a lot of promotion and training around the country, including television interviews like the one I just saw.
I lift my glass of soda to my brother. “Go, you,” I say to my sibling on TV.
A few minutes later, dinner arrives. I place it on the table and walk back to where Faith sleeps. Cute little snores sound in the room, and I grin.
Although she said to wake her, I don’t have the heart. She must have been so wiped out to fall asleep so fast, the stress of handling her brother alone for so long catching up with her.
I walk in, pick up an afghan blanket and cover her, standing like a creeper and watching her sleep. What is it about this woman that gets to me?
Obviously, she’s beautiful, but I have been with my share of gorgeous women over the years, and I’ve let them go when our time together came to an end.
But Faith is more than pretty. Clearly, she is strong.
She picked up and left her home, coming to a big city and making her own way without help.
She also hasn’t lost her sense of humor during a difficult time, nor is she willing to give up her independence easily.
All of which I admire. But there is so much more to Faith than any of that, and now I’ll have the chance to see exactly what makes her tick.
I wanted a date, and instead, I have her under my roof, in the room next to mine. I don’t like the reasons for our forced togetherness, but I sure as hell can’t say I mind it. And that is a first for me.