“Thanks, mom,” I told her, rubbing her back. “We’d better get inside before you freeze to death! It’s too cold to be out here without a coat.”
She nodded briskly, but even as she stepped toward the door, she was looking over her shoulder at Max. “And who’s this?”
Her bright tone had me cringing.
Could she be any more obvious?
Still, Max looked oblivious as he helped me out of my coat then handed his over to her.
“I’m Max.”
“Max,” she murmured softly. “Well, I’m Jessica’s mother, Sarah.” She tilted her head and called over her shoulder, “Steve, Jessica’s here! Turn off the television, we have another guest too.”
As we headed out of the hallway and toward the kitchen, I heard the sounds of the TV switching off, and then my father’s trudging steps. When he appeared in the kitchen door, I looked him over. My mother was slender and trim, still youthful thanks to her dyed hair and the care she took with her makeup. My father looked older; his face was lined and he was almost totally bald. He was heavy-set, but my mother controlled his diet so if he did have a tendency towards a belly, it was kept strictly in check with her monitoring—she was anal about things like that.
“Pumpkin,” he told me, a happy note to his voice as he opened his arms to me.
No, we’d never been close but he loved me and I loved him. There was a warm acceptance whenever we were together; like he never expected me to be anything other than what I was. It was only after Nida that I’d come to appreciate him more. I kind of regretted that, but more than anything, I regretted that I barely got a chance to see him.
He finished work at eight every night save Sunday then had an hour’s commute home. Sundays, he was free, but he’d always slept late, and then had spent his hours in his den with the TV on and football switched on. Throughout the week, after work, he ate and pretty much fell into bed.
It wasn’t, I realized, much of a life.
Would it have been so much for my mother to have gotten a part time job?
Despite myself, in my father’s arms, I found myself angry at her for putting so much on him. It wasn’t fair.
She also refused to move, even though the house was way too big for them now my sister and I had left. They were still paying the mortgage, and they could have reduced that by selling and getting somewhere smaller. Closer too, to reduce his commute, but nope. My mother liked it here and that was that.
I sighed into the hug, and murmured, “It’s great to see you, daddy.”
He patted my back. “Happy birthday, sweetheart. It’s great to see you too.”
I pulled back when he bussed the side of my cheek. “I want to introduce you to someone.”
His gaze drifted over to Max. “I can see that.” He held out a hand. “Martin.”
“Max,” came his reply, even as he took my father’s hand and shook it. “I’m Jessica’s partner.”
My eyes widened at that.
Not only at the blunt declaration which seemed to amuse my father, if his smile was anything to go by, as well as stun my mother, who gasped. But also at the word.
Partner?
Not girlfriend.
But partner?
I cast him a look, saw the surety in his gaze and sucked down a breath. Was I relieved? Nervous? I wasn’t sure what his statement made me feel if I was being honest. I just knew that something deep inside of me settled down in response to it.
And that, I realized, was the best birthday present he could have given me.
Chapter 9
Max
When I tumbled Jessica out of the car and onto the parking deck of my building, she was half asleep and I had to carry her to the elevator. Mackenzie’s low chuckle followed me even as he drove off and back to his and Eileen’s house.
I felt guilty for keeping him out so late but I hadn’t realized how long tonight would be. After Steve had discovered I’d played college football, he’d been curious to know more. Then, when he’d learned I was the ‘Wall’, he’d hammered out so many games that I realized he’d been a fan of mine.
That had been surreal, but funny too.
It had certainly oiled the awkward moments that had appeared over the meal. Well, the awkward moments that had stemmed between mother and daughter. There seemed to be none between her and her father, just Jessica and Sarah.
Considering what she’d told me, I could understand. Jessica hadn’t forgiven her mother for not being there for her, and I empathized.
That kind of betrayal cut. It cut deep.
With her in my arms, I cuddled her close even as the elevator doors closed behind me. Slipping in the pin code to my apartment, I watched as the lights pinged and we soared upward to the floor that was only accessible by those six digits.
My place was eighty stories high so the journey upward wasn’t exactly brief.
Still, I didn’t mind. Not when Jessica was so close and in my arms. At last.
Not that I intended on doing anything untoward, but it was just good having her here, where she should always be, I mused.
When the doors to my apartment opened, the lights flared on automatically and I swept her through the open plan space toward my bedroom. Nothing would happen tonight, and I’d be on my best behavior even if it was killing me, but she was going to sleep here. With me.
We were ready for that. She was ready for that.
When I made it to the threshold of my room, I carefully lowered her as I murmured, “Sleepyhead, it’s time to change for bed.”
She blinked up at me wearily. “Huh?”
“It’s time for bed,” I informed her again, amused at her blank look.
“Where are we?”
“My apartment.”
That had her eyes widening, but she didn’t step back, didn’t move away from me. If anything, she yawned. “Why are we here?”
“Because I want you in my arms tonight as we fall asleep.”
A stillness overcame her at that. “You do?”
I nodded, utterly serious. “I do.”
Though her brow puckered, she murmured, “I’m tired.”
“I am too.” My matter-of-fact statement had her studying me again.
“I don’t understand.”
That had me laughing. “You don’t have to understand anything, baby. Go into the bathroom and get undressed. I’ll bring you something to change into, okay?”
Her nod was stilted, but her movements were fluid as she went where my finger pointed. She looked over her shoulder twice on her short journey over there, but I just nodded and smiled at her encouragingly.
More than anything, I felt her confusion. Not her fear or her surprise. That alone told me I was doing the right thing here.
I wanted her to get used to me in that way. I wanted her to get used to sleeping at my side, to being in my arms. It was a small step to many people, but it would be huge for us.
I wasn’t a saint. These past few months had been hard on me. Abstaining had been tough, but at the same time, totally worth it because it was for her.
I was well aware of how crazy it sounded.
Derek thought I’d finally done it and lost my mind, and Alex, though he was amused by the entire situation, was close to thinking the same. Especially after our conversation last week when I told him we hadn’t had sex yet.
Some might think it was bad form to tell him that, but I told him everything. I trusted him with my life, why not with that information? It was good to share, good to tell him my feelings because they were overwhelming sometimes.
I felt so much and from out of nowhere, it kind of blew me away.
Even now, just watching her toddle off to my bathroom, I felt overwhelmed. I’d thought about her being in here so much, and for so long, that to see her in the flesh in my space had my cock primed and ready for action.
Though the lower half of my body was aggressive, the top half wasn’t. I was so relieved she wasn’t going to fight me on this, so happy
that she was willing to spend the night, I felt shaky with it.
She’d changed my life. Had walked into my life that day and I knew I wouldn’t survive if she walked back out of it again.
Love had never even been on the cards for me. It hadn’t interested me. Being tied to one woman had meant nothing. But that was because it hadn’t made sense, would never begin to make sense to me until she came into my world and showed me how it should be.
I was so much more because of her.
She made me more aware, more effective. My work productivity might have decreased, but the quality? Even Derek was impressed. I’d gone back to my real love; coding. I did it at odd moments through the day. I’d gone into an administrative role ever since I’d made it big and Avalon had set itself up as a beacon of light in the tech world. Why? I’m not sure. I guess, once I’d made that much money, the control freak in me had needed to make certain said money wasn’t going any damn where.
I’d been poor once. Never again.
My love for coding had taken a back seat as a result, but with Jessica at my side? Yeah, it was coming to the fore again.
I stripped off. Casually dumping my clothes on the chair beside the chest of drawers that sat opposite the bed.
My place was kind of sparse, probably lacking in a woman’s eyes. Interior decoration wasn’t exactly my forte, but I didn’t give enough of a fuck to hire someone to make this place shine.
Eileen and my mom had given me lists of all the crap I’d need when I moved in. I’d handed that to Derek who’d handed it onto someone else and one day, I’d had a hugeass delivery from one of the top end department stores.
Problem solved.
I’d have probably asked my mom for help with the furniture too but, for whatever reason, she refused to leave Florida so I’d strong-armed Eileen into that too.
It had never bothered me before, but now?
I did wonder what Jessica’s reaction would be in the morning. Would she be disappointed? Would she be cutting about the serious lack of a homey-vibe. It wasn’t the first time she’d been in the apartment, but it was the first time she’d been in here.
And over the years, Eileen had bought me stuff to make the place less of a bachelor pad. I had flowers in vases of all things, and I knew she had some secret underhand deal with one of the cleaners to make sure those flowers were changed—even if, some weeks, I barely came home.
But my bedroom was pretty much a blank canvas.
I looked around the space and grimaced as I dumped more of my clothes on the chair, knowing my cleaner, Lena, would pick them up, launder and sort them for me after.
Bland and white.
Sighing, I decided not to worry about it. Then, as that thought crossed my mind, I realized I had been worried about it. A notion that astonished me.
When had I worried over anything but Avalon’s stock prices or the portfolio or an HR issue or… A thousand other things that came hand in hand with running a company of Avalon’s size?
Uncertain about whether I should be concerned or not over this sudden attack of the interior design nerves, I shrugged it off as pointless because it wasn’t like there was a damn thing I could do about it now, was there?
That in mind, I climbed into bed. Then, I laid there, and wondered if she’d fallen into the bath or something because she was still in the bathroom.
Before I could get overly concerned, the door opened.
The fan sounded until she switched off the light, and she shuffled in, only visible through the faint lights from the city through the windows. I saw her eyes were pretty much glued together and had to laughingly ask, “Did you fall asleep on the toilet, baby?”
Her nod was slight and I knew she was still half-asleep. Still shuffling, I grabbed her hand as she neared the bed and carefully guided her onto the mattress, moving over to the other side so she could climb on.
Her long slender legs gleamed like cream silk and my palms itched with the need to caress them, but she was more than half asleep still and I was stifling laughter at the image of her on the porcelain crown, drifting off to the Land of Nod.
She immediately curled up beside me, her nose smushing into my arm and her leg coming to rest on my thigh. Though I tensed at first, surprised by her comfort level with me, I blew out a happy sigh at her proximity.
When I’d thought tonight through, I’d expected a lot more complaining on her behalf, a lot more enticing on mine.
I’d even expected her to end up in my guest room, if I were being honest. Her agreeing, if not entirely, with my plan.
But to have her here? It was heaven.
Though I knew my cock was starting up a hate petition against me, I didn’t care. And if I hadn’t known how head over heels I was for this woman, that was the major clue, because when hadn’t it been about sex with me?
When had it been about having a woman spend the actual night with me?
Asleep.
No sex.
I’d never wanted to share my bed with anyone before. Preferring to spend the night at theirs and then head out to my place afterward. It was easier that way, fewer messy goodbyes.
That wasn’t to say it hadn’t happened in all my thirty-eight years. But their octopus-like legs and clinging vines for arms had only made me feel claustrophobic and more determined than ever to never spend the night here in my own personal space.
With Jessica?
Shit, I felt like she couldn’t get close enough.
In fact, I couldn’t wait for her to get closer.
The thought, of course, stirred my cock.
With a shudder, I willed myself to calm down and sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and focused on the code I’d been working on. Though usually it would amp me up, and I’d work on it mentally until my alarm blared, with Jessica at my side, I found that I could rest. That I wanted to rest. So when I started to drift into sleep, I didn’t fight it, was just content to have this incredible woman at my side and in my arms for the night.
Chapter 10
Jessica
When I felt Max’s morning wood against my lower back, my eyes flared wide open. Immediate recognition whispered through me, but what surprised me in its absence, was a lack of panic.
More than anything, what astonished me was the knowledge that I was asleep with him.
I didn’t remember getting into bed with him, even. So waking up with him?
But nothing had happened.
I didn’t even have to do a mental check of the state of my body to be aware of that. Max treated me like I was cut glass; there was no way, no how he’d have done anything with me or to me in my state of fatigue last night.
And that alone told me how much I trusted him.
I trusted him with me at my most vulnerable—when I was sleeping.
The realization had a shudder of emotion ripping through me. It tore into my very sense of self, destroyed the walls I’d built up around me over the past two years—walls he’d steadily been destabilizing—and instead of the fear and trepidation that usually coated every moment of my life, I felt hot.
Feverish.
His cock was hard. Big too if the lump in my back was anything to go by.
I licked my lips as my palms itched with the errant desire to cup him, to feel his hot hardness in my grip. Another shudder washed through me, this time with longing.
Fuck, I wanted him.
The knowledge seared me, scored me to the core. It both awakened me and tempted me.
I wanted this man.
I wanted him to be mine.
How long I sat there, buzzing with tension, I wasn’t sure. But he didn’t stir. Or if he had, he was playing possum. But I didn’t think so. I’d have noticed if he’d jerked even the tiniest bit to attention. We were too close, our bodies wrapped too tightly together in sleep for me to fail to pick up on the tiny signs, especially when I was so hyperaware of him.
I blew out a shuddery breath at just how hyperaware I was of the damn man.
I knew he hadn’t planned this. For whatever reason, he’d wanted to sleep with me, but not to pressure me into sleeping with him in the Biblical sense. That didn’t mean to say that wasn’t where my mind had led me.
Before Nida, I’d been a regular woman with wants and needs, desires and longings.
My body had known what it wanted, and it had wanted regularly.
With him, all those lost sensations were being remembered and my body responded, until I could feel myself turning molten without even a single touch from him.
He was a caveman in so many ways.
So dominant and Alpha.
Protective and vigilant.
But I loved that. He made me feel safe—not just in the big wide world, but in his bed.
Because if these past months had taught me something, my body, my heart, and my very self were in good hands with this man.
It was time to show him how much I appreciated him, how much I wanted him.
I reached back and palmed him. His boxers were a silky cotton blend that felt good against my skin, and I squeezed, gently at first, then a little harder. The position was awkward, but just touching him like this was enough to set me alight. I felt on fire. More so than I had before.
He was just as big, just as hot as I’d imagined.
Panic fluttered through me, but it was a wonderful kind of panic. My brain, addled with desire and need, was suddenly terrified he wouldn’t fit. That was how large he was, dammit.
I licked my lips, wondering how he’d taste, wondering how all that silk would feel against my palm. But I contented myself with simply shaping him through his boxers.
I knew he’d worn them for my benefit. He was too at ease with his body to need boxers for bed, and a part of me was looking forward to the day when nothing would be separating us.
He let out a moan that I felt deep in my core. It was slow, soft, but so sensual I wanted to scream as it reverberated through my eardrums. I licked my lips again, unable to help it, wishing like hell my mouth was my fingers.
Then, he detonated something inside me by whispering, in a broken, hoarse, morning voice, “Jeh-sih-kuh.”
Cherishing Her: A Protector Office Romance Page 10
