His Alone Page 9

  “Baby, let them be,” Miles says. Mal fake pouts and Miles changes his mind. “I can get good seats.”

  He’s easily swayed by her, and Mallory smiles. God, they’re so freaking cute I want to punch them. I think it’s more the effect Mal has had on Miles that’s so intoxicating to see. To want something like that. That a woman has the ability to light up a man’s whole world is fascinating to me and awakens a strange yearning inside me.

  “Mal, I’ll text you later. Big guy might not even make it through the night,” I say, tossing my thumb in Captain’s direction.

  “Don’t take food off her plate and you’ll be okay,” she informs him.

  “I know how to handle my kitten,” he says, lazily wrapping his arms around me. Butterflies take flight in my stomach at the “my,” and I blush. I don’t know whether I want to slam my boot onto his foot or climb him like a tree. Mal’s mouth drops open and she stares in shock.

  “Let’s go, baby. I have dinner ready,” Miles says.

  “You’re staying here, sir?” Captain asks.

  “We won’t be leaving the building.”

  Captain pulls out his phone and sends a text. Being my nosy self, I look, and see Grant was the recipient.

  “I’ll have Grant make sure Paige’s place is locked up and all the movers exit the building.”

  “Sounds good. We’ll be taking the car in the morning,” Miles says as he pulls Mal from my apartment. She’s looking over her shoulder, her mouth open. Maybe Miles can distract her enough so she doesn’t blow my phone up all night.

  “Let me grab my bag.” I step away from Captain and scurry down the hall to my bedroom.

  I barely make it through the door before Captain is on me, kicking the door shut behind him. He grabs me in his arms and presses me against the closed door. I love how easily he can move me around. It makes me feel desired and feminine, something I’ve never thought of myself as.

  “I’m starting to think this wall-pinning situation is our thing,” I mutter.

  “Anything that involves you is my thing,” he says, before his mouth falls onto mine. He kisses me like he hasn’t seen me in days. Like we didn’t spend the afternoon at the office flirting before I gave him the slip to come home and change before our date.

  When he pulls his mouth from mine, he releases me, and my legs drop to the ground.

  “Put some pants on,” he says, looking down at me.

  “Okay.” I push past him, grabbing my purse, then I make a lunge for the door, flinging it open and racing down the hallway. He catches me before I get to the front door, and throws me over his shoulder. I think he’s going to take me back to my room, but he doesn’t.

  “Guess we’ll just have to walk around like this so I don’t have to worry about anyone thinking you don’t have a man.”

  Captain opens the front door, and I try to wiggle free.

  “Sir.”

  I hear Grant’s voice, and it makes me freeze. “Shit,” I mumble. Now everyone is going to know.

  “Don’t let anyone in Paige’s room. It’s the first door on your right down the hall. Text me when everything is clear.”

  “Of course, sir,” Grant answers, as Captain carries me in a fireman’s hold toward the elevator.

  “Turner,” Grant says as we pass him. I give a small huff as a response.

  When the elevator doors open, Captain walks in and then puts me on my feet, hitting the button for the lobby. The doors close, and I cross my arms.

  “Everyone is going to know now,” I murmur.

  Captain wraps his arm around me, pulling me into him. I go easily, like I do every time he touches me. My body does whatever he wants.

  “It’s cute you think those men don’t know you’re already mine,” he says, and then he kisses me.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ryan

  * * *

  I TAKE HER hand in mine and we walk the couple blocks to Upright Brew House. When we get to the entrance, she looks at me and looks back at the building.

  “This isn’t a brewery. It’s a restaurant.”

  “I know,” I say, tugging on her hand and walking inside. “Reservation for Justice.”

  I look down at Paige, and I can almost see steam coming out her ears. She’s so adorable when she gets angry. I like working her up, as she seems to like doing to me. It’s all the sweeter when I get my hands on her and she melts for me. Only for me. The hardness she tries to give the world slips away, and I get the Paige she tries to hide. So full of passion and a sweetness of her own kind.

  “You tricked me. This is a date!” she gasps. She looks around. “Do they even serve hot dogs?”

  I have to bite back a smile. She can fight it, but I know she wants this date. She wants to be loved. I’m willing to do that for her. Break down those walls she puts up to protect herself. She’ll soon learn she doesn’t need them. I’ll always protect her. Been doing it for so long I don’t think I could ever stop. It’s part of who I am now.

  I pull her to my side as the hostess shows us to our table. When we sit down Paige looks around, and I can’t take my eyes off her. She’s so beautiful with her dark blue eyes and auburn hair.

  “That hostess needs to keep her eyes to herself,” Paige says, loudly enough for everyone around us to hear. My eyes snap back to the woman, whose face flushes before she rushes back to the hostess desk. I hadn’t even noticed her, but clearly, Paige noticed her noticing me.

  “Kitten, I’m all yours. No need to get jealous.”

  “I’m not jealous,” she lies, and fuck, does that turn me on. Her getting worked up over me even if she doesn’t have anything to worry about. I know I get worked up over her. Have been doing it for years. It’s been hard being away from her all this time, having limited contact with her. Praying no fucker was trying to take her from me. Thinking about it gave me fucking nightmares. Even though I knew I needed her out of New York and away from her father, the shit still hurt, but I’d always put her before me, and at the time it was best she was away.

  She stares at me for a second, a half smile pulling at her lips. She looks down at the menu, trying to hide it. It’s clear she likes hearing that, so I make a note to keep reminding her that I’m not going anywhere. That I am hers. “Okay, they’ve got a cheeseburger. You’re forgiven,” she says, looking over at a nearby table.

  Her gaze trails up to the ceiling, where the wood is stained like hexagonal puzzle pieces. I’m sure it’s nice; it looked that way in the pictures. But why would I look at it when I have the most beautiful thing in the world in front of me, someone I’ve been trying to make mine for what seems like forever?

  The waitress comes over, and Paige glances down at the menu, then at me. “What are you drinking?”

  “We’ll both have the seasonal white, please,” I say, without taking my eyes off Paige. She lets out another breath, like she’s annoyed, but nods, and the waitress walks away.

  “Why didn’t you just ask me out on a date?”

  I smile at her and take her hands across the table, pulling them to me so I can hold them. “Because you like to fight me instead of doing what you want.” I raise an eyebrow in question, but she doesn’t deny it. She likes when I take charge. Too many years spent doing everything on her own. “Plus, every time we’re alone, you maul me.”

  She tries to take her hands away from mine, but I hold her fast. I’m not letting her go. Because we both know she doesn’t want me to, and I don’t want to let her go, either. Never do.

  “I do not! That is totally the other way around.” She denies the charge, but her cheeks flush. The little freckles on her nose stand out even more, and she looks younger than she is. She looks innocent.

  “When I know you don’t just want me for my body, then I’ll let you have your way,” I tell her.

  She smiles at that and then shrugs. “You’re no fun.” She gives me a wink that goes straight to my cock. She got me to break last night. I just wanted to lie in bed with her. Get her used
to me being around and not going anywhere. But then having her little body under me, begging for me to do things I’ve been dreaming about for years… A man can have only so much control, and I snapped. And she was right. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a woman—long before she even came into my life. Sex was never something I’d craved before her. But with her I do. I can’t stop myself.

  The waitress comes back with our beers and asks if we’ve had a chance to look at the menu.

  “We’ll have two of the Angus burgers with bacon and cheese. She’ll have mayo and ketchup, but no onions or pickles, and I’ll take it how it comes. We want a dozen wings, half mild, half hot, an order of truffle butter popcorn, and cut fries. That should be it.”

  Paige starts to say something, but I do it for her. “And then we’d like to see the dessert menu when we’re finished.”

  She sighs loudly enough that it makes the waitress laugh, but she jots it all down and walks away.

  “You’re the worst,” Paige says, and I let go of one of her hands so she can take a drink of her beer.

  “I’m the worst because I know everything about you.”

  For a second her eyes grow wide, and then she looks away. “You don’t know everything.”

  I know everything. But I don’t need to tell her that. “I know what’s important. Like the way you take your burgers and what kind of beer you like. I know when you lean back in your chair at work you twirl your hair with your left hand. I know that you like to take the stairs two steps at a time, even though your legs are half the length of most people’s. I know you like the smell of lemons and prefer food over flowers. I know your eyelashes flutter when you’re having a bad dream, and I know that a kiss below your ear will stop them from coming.” Her deep blue eyes are locked on mine, and I run my thumb across her wrist.

  “I know that you feel something for me that scares the hell out of you, and I know I won’t take you until you recognize what that feeling is. I know that in the end, you’re going to be mine, but you’re terrified of seeing that far ahead. That it’s going to take you some time to get used to me being around. That I’m not going anywhere. That I’d never hurt you. I know all of that, Paige, and so much more.” I lean forward a little so that my words are only for her. “I know I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you, and one day, you’ll say it back. That soon you’ll see that I really do love you. That they aren’t just words. I’m going to prove it to you. Make you fall in love with me.”

  Small tears form in the corners of her eyes, but she doesn’t let them fall. She’s a fighter, that’s for damn sure. And it’s my most favorite thing about her. I want her to let me fight beside her. With her. Show her she’s not alone.

  After a moment of holding my hand, she takes a breath and smiles at me. “You don’t know what color underwear I’m wearing.” She raises her chin a little in a smug challenge. She’s teasing, because she doesn’t know what else to say. She needs time to let all I said settle in, and I’ll give it to her. I’ll give her anything she wants as long as in the end she’s mine.

  I bring her hand to my mouth and kiss the knuckles. “You’re not wearing any, kitten.”

  She tries to fight the smile, but she can’t. Instead she looks at my mouth, which is running back and forth across her hand as I feel her skin against my lips.

  “How is it you know everything about me and I don’t know anything about you?”

  I pause my movements and smile at her. “Too busy being dazzled by my incredible personality?”

  “That can’t possibly be it.”

  The waitress comes over with our food and to offer us another beer. Reluctantly, I let go of Paige’s hand so she can eat, but I don’t have much of a choice, as she really doesn’t play nice when it comes to her mealtime.

  “So tell me then.” She glances at her burger and then back to me quickly, like she’s shy about asking.

  “I was born in Ukraine and placed in an orphanage as a baby. My mother was a prostitute, from what I could find out, and she couldn’t keep me. I was adopted by my parents, who couldn’t have children and had already adopted two other kids from that area. I was three months old when they brought me to America, and I grew up in Chicago, Illinois.”

  Something passes between us, and I see understanding in her eyes. “So you have siblings?”

  “Yes. I’m the baby of the family.”

  She laughs as she looks over my big body. “Some baby.”

  “I have an older brother and sister, but we’re not very close. We love each other, and I go back home when I can, but my work keeps me busy.” I pause to take a bite while Paige thinks about which questions to ask next. She probably has a dozen to choose from.

  “What’s with the tattoos?”

  I smile and wipe my mouth, thankful for an easy question. “You don’t like them?”

  “No, I do. You just don’t seem like the type.”

  I shrug and look down at my arms. “I got most of them after I came to New York. You’re right when you say I look all-American, because that’s what most people say. I think I did it to rebel against that.” It also helped to blend in when I worked with thugs. I was a little too pretty, as many had said before. I needed something with an edge. I hold out my arm for her to see. “Did it work?”

  She rolls her eyes, but she still smiles, and that’s all I ever want.

  “I love cold weather, the Packers and chocolate chip cookies. I can’t stand champagne, I don’t trust cats and I’m skeptical of people who don’t walk barefoot in their own home. I have a birthmark on my left foot, I’ve never met a piece of bacon I didn’t like, and I have a very strong attraction to your ass.”

  Paige howls with laughter, and I sit there watching. The way her head tilts back and exposes her throat. The way her hair falls to the side. The way she places her hand on her chest. She’s laughing with her whole heart, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

  I wish I could tell her more. I wish with everything in me that I could lay it all out on the line. But I need her to fall in love with me first. I need her to see what’s standing between us and give in to it. Because when I finally come clean, I need to know the bond holding us together is strong enough that it won’t break. All the other shit doesn’t matter. How I grew up or where I came from. Small details of my life. Now is what matters. The choices I make today. At least, I pray that’s all that matters to her.

  We talk about work, and she asks me simple things that don’t require me to lie or hold back the truth. She finishes her food and some of mine before the waitress brings out the dessert menu.

  “What are we having?” I ask as she looks it over.

  “You’re not going to order for me?”

  “No.” I shake my head, and she smiles excitedly. “Dessert is the most important meal of the day. I would hate to deny you the pleasure of choosing.”

  She hands the menu back to the waitress, ordering one of everything. “Life is short.”

  She leans back in her chair, and I want to kiss her so badly. I need to pull her into my lap and hold her soft body against mine. But this isn’t the place for that, and I meant what I said to her earlier. Until she tells me she loves me, I won’t take her. We’ve been getting too close to that happening, and it needs to stop. I want more from her than a quick fuck, and I want her to respect that.

  By the time the desserts arrive, I’ve finished telling her a story about my first time taking the subway and getting lost.

  “So you paid a homeless guy twenty bucks to take you to the drugstore?” She laughs, scooping up some ice cream and taking a bite.

  “It may have been profiling, but I assumed he’d know where to find one. I had a head cold. What else was I supposed to do?” I love seeing her smile, and I would tell her stories like this all night if it kept that look on her face. “Besides, he ended up being a she, and she offered more than the directions. If you know what I mean.”

  We laugh some more, an
d then Paige tells me about her first time on the train with Mallory and how they sat in seats that faced away from the direction the train was heading, and she got scared they were going the wrong way.

  “I was yelling at the ticket guy that we needed to get off the train, but he was really nice and explained that it happens all the time.” She takes a deep breath and rubs her belly. “This has been the best surprise date I’ve ever had.”

  “I would have to agree. You ready to go?”

  “I don’t want it to end.” I can see the truth in her eyes, and I reach out, take her hand and lead her out of the restaurant.

  “Let’s go for a walk. The night’s not over yet.”

  We take the path to the park. The sun has set, but the lamps light the way along fountains and trees. It’s a beautiful night, and holding her hand isn’t enough, so I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my side.

  “What’s happening?” Paige whispers, more to herself than to me.

  “Whatever you want to happen, kitten. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Paige

  * * *

  “FUCK.” I HEAR the muttered word as I slowly open my eyes, the morning light peeking through the curtains of my bedroom. I smile against Captain, his chest hair tickling the side of my face. I give a little wiggle of my hips, feeling his morning wood press into me as I breathe him in.

  This is how I’ve woken up the last few days, with my body on top of his. I can’t ever get close enough to him. It seems I’m a cuddler. Who would have thought? Maybe years without much physical contact has my body soaking up every bit it can get while it lasts. He grips my hips to stop me from grinding against him. Instead, I sink my teeth into his chest, giving him a playful bite. He murmurs another “fuck”, but this time his voice is so deep I can feel the vibration.

  I sit up on his lap, looking down at him laid out on my bed. I still can’t get used to it. He looks like a Greek god with all his thick muscles. Too bad he won’t let me do what I want to him. He looks like he’s been awake for a while. Probably has. Captain is a morning person, and it’s the only fault I’ve found with him over the past few days. That and the fact that he’s hardly touched me since the night with the belt. I’m getting frustrated. This is totally ass backward. Isn’t the man supposed to be pushing for sex and not the woman?