Chapter Twenty-four – Heal Me #2
“It’s a lot to ask of someone,” she said quietly. “And it isn’t just the fact I come with a target on my back that could easily impact you…and Luca… It’s that I’m so…broken…”
“You’re not broken, Havoc. We all have baggage. We all have triggers. I’m sure we’ll stumble into a few of mine along the way.”
She let that settle for a second before she said, “Eden hurt you. Deeply.”
“She did. But what hurt more than her sleeping with other men, rejecting things I loved, or saying they weren’t good enough for her, was the way she treated Luca.
She rarely acknowledged he existed. He had to practically scream in her face to get her to look up from her phone.
I thought she’d be glad to hand him over to me when I finally divorced her.
But her manager convinced her that fighting for her son somehow made her a champion of all mothers in the eyes of her fans and the media, so she put all her money and fame to use, using a past relationship with a judge to get equal custody. ”
“It had to kill you to leave him with her.”
Every agonizing moment of walking away from my kid returned with a vengeance.
As if sensing it, Andie leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my lips.
Everything vanished. All the pain. All the to-do lists. Everything but the sweet scent of her. The warmth of her mouth. The desire that burned between us.
She licked at the seam of my mouth, and I opened for her, letting her lead. She wasn’t tentative, but she wasn’t forceful either. It was a slow exploration, as if she was absorbing everything about me simply from the caress.
I kept my hands loose at her waist, fighting the urge to flip her on her back, lift that shirt over her head, and see if she really did have any underwear on underneath that T-shirt.
Her palms slid down my chest, tracing every muscle and line on my body, and I grabbed them before they could reach the waistband of my bottoms.
“Baby, you keep going, and I’m not going to be able to hold back.
And as much as I want you… As much as I want to show you exactly how a real man should cherish a woman and make our own memories to banish him once and for all…
it shouldn’t be tonight. Not while you’re drained from opening up for the first time in years, and I want to strangle the people who hurt you. ”
She placed another soft, quick kiss on my lips before snuggling into my arms.
And that, her relaxed and comfortable with me, was almost a bigger turn-on than the climax we could have had if I’d let her continue.
As her breathing turned soft and her body unwound, the realization hit me. She hadn’t had sex with the guy in Idaho, and she hadn’t had a single date that anyone knew about since she’d moved to Rivers. Did it mean she hadn’t slept with anyone since she’d been with the bastard Eddie?
I’d thought it had been a long time for me, but my months didn’t stack up to her years.
It was just another reason to go slower than I’d imagined us going. To take our time and get it right. For both of us.
? ? ?
I’d slept, but badly, with my mind full of what I needed to do to keep Andie and this town safe.
As gray started to creep through the darkness, I finally gave up, grabbed my uniform, and headed to Luca’s bathroom to shower so I wouldn’t wake her.
But when I came out, the shower was running in my bathroom anyway.
I made coffee, and while I waited for it to brew, I typed out the first of many emails for the day. Heels clicking on the hardwood drew my gaze, and when she walked in, the cup I’d been lifting to my mouth froze.
The stunning professional I’d first met stood before me in a gray sheath dress she’d paired with a red half-jacket with crisscrossing zippered pockets and oversized buttons that matched her kitten heels.
Her makeup was perfect, hiding both her scars and the remnants of the tears she’d shed.
That image of the phoenix came to mind again.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
A smile lit up her face, pure pleasure at the inadequate compliment.
She deserved better words, but I didn’t have any because she’d ripped my thoughts right out of my chest. So instead of a smooth line, I set the coffee cup down, crossed the kitchen in two strides, and dipped her backward, just as my father had done with my mom the night before.
I placed a soft, lingering kiss on her mouth, infusing the embrace with the complicated mix of emotions welling inside me—respect, desire, admiration.
When I righted us and looked down into her face, her eyes sparkled, reducing the shadows that lingered.
“Wow…that was quite a good morning,” she said breathlessly.
Inordinately pleased, I rubbed a finger along her cheek and told her the simple truth.
“It would be better if neither of us had to go to work, and I could show you just how much I appreciate that dress.” I let my gaze linger over every curve.
“The purple stilettos you wore yesterday just about killed me. They did incredible things to your legs, but red might be my favorite color on you. Knowing this is what’s waiting for me at the end of my day…
” I shook my head. “Torture, Havoc. But also an incentive.”
She lifted a brow, dragging her gaze down my body the same way I’d done to her. “I can guarantee, I’ll be thinking about you in your uniform just as much.”
Hope mingled with longing. Maybe we’d be able to finish what we’d started last night sooner than later.
With reluctance, I dragged myself away from her and headed for the coffeepot, offering her a cup.
“Thank you, but no. I really need to get to the ranch. I should have already been there by now.”
It wasn’t that I’d forgotten she had to get to the ranch for the wedding today, it wasn’t like she’d worn the damn outfit to sit around my house, but my chest still tightened thinking about her surrounded by strangers.
“Misty’s handling a lot of the details, right? And Fallon will be there?”
“Fallon is still dealing with three sick kids, and Anika is…challenging. I don’t want Misty to feel like I abandoned her the first time out of the gate by not getting there early.”
“I’ve already sent an email to my friend in LA to see when he can make it out here to search your house. If I don’t hear from him first thing, I’ll follow it up with a call. Do you have an extra key in case I need to get inside?”
She’d placed her purse on the table when she’d come into the kitchen, and now she dug inside it. After a second, her pace turned almost frantic before she dumped the entire contents out.
“I…my extra key is gone.”
I strode over to the table, pushing a hand through her belongings, an ugly thought emerging.
Finally, she stopped searching. Her shoulders slumped, and her hand went to her perfectly coiled bun. “This is how they got in…”
I kept my tone even, trying to ensure she didn’t panic, but a grim foreboding filled me. “Most likely. Where do you leave it when you’re at the ranch?”
“The bottom drawer of my desk.”
“Is your office locked when you’re not in it?”
She shook her head sadly. “No. Fallon and Olivia are usually in and out all day, leaving me notes if I’m not there. It seemed silly to lock it.”
Someone had known just where she kept it.
Someone at the ranch. “I’ll ask Jonesy from the hardware store if he can get out here today to switch the locks.
” Although, I wasn’t sure it would make a difference.
She’d changed her locks in Idaho, and they’d still gotten in. “You need a working alarm system.”
She swallowed, glancing at the clock on the microwave before shoving all her things back into her purse. “I’ll ask Lance if someone on the team can install one this week. And I’ll figure out a way to secure my things at the ranch going forward. Right now, I just need to get to work.”
I didn’t like that she was uptight, frazzled, and getting into a car.
But she was already headed for the door before I could think of a reason to drive her myself without making her feel smothered and controlled the way Eddie had made her feel.
I caught up, determined to at least soothe her before she walked out. Do something to bring back the smile that had lit her face after I’d kissed her. Something to prove she had someone on her side who wouldn’t stop until she was safe.