He finally pulled out and then collapsed next to her. She reached over and pulled lightly on his hair.
“Let’s do that again. At least a couple more times today,” she breathed. “Next time, I’m on top.”
“Oh, yeah. I want you to dangle those mouthwatering nips right over my mouth so I can nibble on them.” He turned his head to look at her with a sexy smile. “I love your tits.”
She rolled her eyes. “What is it with that word?”
“I’m a guy,” he shrugged. “Let’s eat something. I’m hungry.”
They got up to clean themselves then she threw some sweats on while he put on his jeans.
“I need a new set of clothes,” he said. “Let’s eat, then go pick up my bike and stop by my place for some things. It’s supposed to rain later so I wanna get the Harley into the garage.”
They did just that and spent the next several hours hopping around the City picking up his bike, going for a long ride before the rain hit, then stopping by his place to pick up clothes for the next day. They took a taxi back to her place and by the time they’d made it to her apartment it was well after lunch and pouring rain.
After making sandwiches and chilling out on the sofa, they ate in companionable silence, glancing at each other every few seconds with knowing smiles and looks. It was one of those lazy days where one could listen to the thunder and the rain, enjoying it even more since there was nothing that had to be done.
“So tell me why you called me on Saturday night,” he said once he finished his sandwich. “What made you change your mind about everything?”
She settled into the cushions and pushed at his leg playfully with her foot.
“The girls.”
His eyebrow went up. “Explain.”
“Ryann called all of the girls to get together for brunch on Saturday morning while you guys finished up your last training.”
He nodded. “And?”
“And before you all walked in, which just about made me have a panic attack, by the way –”
“When I saw you,” he swallowed. “Baby, I wanted to take you, toss you over my shoulder and make you come home with me.”
“I wanted you to,” she said, practically in tears. “I followed you out.”
“What?” His face was incredulous.
“I followed you out of the restaurant. But you’d already gotten on the bike and you didn’t hear me yelling.”
“Baby,” he moaned and pulled her to him. After a second, he said quietly, “I couldn’t stay. Just seeing you, knowing that you didn’t want to tell me your feelings. Plus, Jon had just told me you’d been out with Ollie the night before -”
“I’m gonna kill him when I see him again,” she grumbled. “He knew I didn’t have feelings for Ollie. He totally only did that to see what you would do.”
Mike shrugged with grin. “I figured. I would’ve done the same thing to a friend if I thought it would push them into action. Plus, he’s like the big brother.”
“Well, I was ready to see you, to talk. That’s what I was talking about with the girls.” She took a deep breath and let it go. “I told them I thought I was in love with you.”
He looked at her tenderly but with a note of shock. “You did?”
She told him her reasons for not always sharing herself with people and delved more into the history with her high school boyfriend and friendship with Taylor. “The two weeks without you,” she swallowed. “They were really hard. That’s why I had off today. Joe was worried about me and wanted me to rest or work from home.”
“Em,” he said with commiseration.
“When I got to the restaurant on Saturday morning, I guess I didn’t look that great which made Janie recall a conversation with you where you were a little short with her, and everyone started asking questions about us.”
“You looked tired,” he said sympathetically.
“So did you.” She reached her hand up and touched his face. “They kind of figured something was going on with us since they knew we went to the barbeque together. And I guess they’ve seen the sparks between us.”
He nodded. “They’re kind of hard to miss.” Then with a self-deprecating smirk, he said, “I need to call Janie to apologize. I wasn’t in a good place emotionally when she called.” He pinned her with his eyes. “As you well know from my voicemail. So,” he continued, “do I have the women to thank for bringing you to your senses?”
She chuckled, “Yeah. They were great listeners. Apparently neither of us have been doing a good job of hiding our feelings from everyone.”
When he waited for her to explain, she did.
“Everyone was telling me you were upset I wasn’t at the trainings. Rene, Maurice, Jon, even Jeremy through Ryann.”
“I was upset. Don’t get me wrong, I would do the program regardless of whether you were involved, but I desperately wanted to see you. I needed to see you but I was trying to respect your boundary. Saturday was the one highlight I was looking forward to all week and then when you didn’t show that first time, it pissed me off,” he grumbled. “The second time you didn’t show put me over the edge.”
She smiled but said, “I couldn’t. It would’ve been too hard. I’d already fallen for you at that point and I was determined to let you out of the relationship so you could find another woman to play with. But then every time I thought of you with another woman, I almost threw up. I just didn’t think I could see you without losing it.”
He hauled her over to him and put her on his lap so her back was against the arm of the sofa then he held her, nuzzling her neck. They both sighed and held on to each other.
“How was my sister? Is she doing okay?”
Emily turned her head to look him in the eye. “She and Danny decided to call it quits.”
“Yes!” Once he composed himself, he said, “Did she say why? Was she okay with it?”
“She seemed okay with it,” Emily smirked. “I’ll let you call her to get the details if she wants to share.”
He sighed happily. “Good. I’m so glad that’s over. Just seeing him every day thinking what they might be doing with each other?” He shuddered. “So.” He gave her a pointed look.
She raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“Let’s talk about Luke.”
She chuckled. “Okay.”
“I was thinking I would just feel him out about Janie. Whattaya think?”
“I don’t know, hon.” She was already shaking her head. “And did you lose your balls somewhere? You’re beginning to sound like a girl,” she said dryly.
“You just called me hon,” he beamed, ignoring her comment about his missing balls. It was typical of him to only respond to her term of endearment. She rolled her eyes.
“Maybe we just need to let them both figure it out. Luke will probably think you’d have a problem with it and I can’t imagine he’ll be honest with you if he does have feelings for her. I seriously don’t even think he realizes he has feelings for her yet.”
“You really think he does?” She could tell his mind was going.
“Let’s put it this way. Ryann and Yan are practically planning the wedding already.”
“No shit. I didn’t see this one coming at all.” He leaned his head back and a sweet smile played around his lips.
“What?”
“He always goes for redheads now that I think of it. I remember Jem saying to me once that he hadn’t wanted to introduce Ryann to Luke for a while because he was afraid Luke would make a play for her. With her auburn hair, she definitely would’ve caught his attention.” Mike sighed. “It would be great if he was part of the family, though. He and Tiff practically are already.” He pursed his lips, deep in thought. “Maybe I’ll just sniff around and help them along if necessary.”
“Oh, geez.”
“I can’t help it if I want everyone to be as happy as me.”
She shook her head in slight exasperation but felt a little giddy. “Dork.”
“One
of my favorite terms of endearments,” he said holding her closer.
“Why’s that?”
“Because before you realized you loved me, you just ignored me, or called me ‘detective’ or ‘asshole’. Once you started calling me ‘dork’ I knew it had all changed. That’s when I knew you thought I was cute.”
“Oh,” she nodded as if understanding his logic. “Is that what I meant when I called you ‘dork’?”
“Yup. I could tell how much you wanted me,” he said confidently.
“Uh, huh.” She turned in his arms and pushed him down on the sofa, straddling him. “Is that right?”
“That’s right,” he said tweaking her nose and pulling her down on top of him. “What’s your week look like?” Mike murmured into her hair.
“So far, nothing major,” she said, feeling lethargic. “I usually go to the studio to work out after work. I’m home by seven.” She turned into him. “How ’bout you?” She stopped and interrupted herself, remembering something. “Hey. You caught the guy who killed that woman? The husband who was MIA?”
“Yeah.” He looked at her in confusion. “How did you know?”
“It came up when I was out with the girls. You mentioned it to Jeremy and how you’d be late for the training. Ryann told us so I figured that’s who it was.”
“It was,” he nodded. Then he said, “I wasn’t going back to work after I saw you at the restaurant.” He looked sheepish.
“I’ve kinda figured that out by now,” she smiled. “Where did you go?”
“I drove around for about an hour, then went home and crashed. Then I woke up, went to Cal’s and started drinkin’.”
She nuzzled into his neck.
“So,” he continued. “You girls talked about a lot, I guess.”
“That’s what girls do,” she said dryly. “Which reminds me I need to call a few people this week.” She cast an embarrassed side glance over to him then rested her head on his chest.
“I’m hoping the reason you need to call a few people is because you need to tell them how I’ve snagged you and I’m not letting go.” His arms tightened around her.
“My parents are gonna be surprised. Well, maybe not surprised. I’m sure Aunt April and Uncle Ethan have been yappin’ to them about you.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. You definitely got my aunt’s attention. You’re all she talked to me about that day.”
“Good. I’m glad I made a good impression. I’d like to meet them. Your parents, I mean. Do they have plans to come down anytime soon?”
“Jon and I have tossed around the idea of having Thanksgiving down here, so we’ll see. I’m gonna try to get Taylor to come down over Columbus Day, so you’ll meet her, I’m sure. I’m also gonna see if I can convince Mark to come with her. You guys are like two peas in a pod.”
“Why does that not sound like a compliment?” he said, his tone wry.
She laughed. “He’s a ladies’ man, rides a chopper, and is always pulling pranks. He gets that last part from Aunt April.”
He chuckled. “I’m looking forward to meeting all of them. And for the record, I’m only one lady’s man from this point on.” There was a moment of silence before Mike whispered, “I love you.”
She swallowed and looked up at him, lifting her head off of his chest. He was looking at her so tenderly and she couldn’t remember ever feeling so cherished and loved. She reached her hand up and stroked his cheek.
“What made you say that all of the sudden?”
“It’s not all of the sudden,” he murmured. “I’m thinking about it all of the time.”
“Mike,” she breathed. “I love you so much. I still can’t believe this is happening.”
He pulled her up his body so he could kiss her then he pulled back and said, “Well, believe it. I love you. I can’t wait to see what each day is gonna bring. You’re gonna keep me on my toes, that’s for sure.” His mouth kicked up into a lazy smile.
“As will you.”
“You wanna work out tomorrow night after work? I can meet you at the studio.”
“Okay. I can text you when I’m leaving the office.”
“Aren’t we just the domesticated couple?” He reached his hand around and buried it in her hair pulling her head to his neck. She bit at his earlobe. He grunted out a laugh. “Stay at my place tomorrow night.”
“Okay.”
“Bring clothes to keep there.”
She smiled, “Okay.”
“And I’ll do the same for here.”
She continued smiling then nodded.
“Maybe I should start looking for a bigger apartment.” He watched her, looking like he was trying to gauge her reaction. She tried to hide her surprise.
“I don’t think you need a bigger apartment, Detective. I’m kinda small so I won’t take up much room.”
He gave her a ‘duh’ look, but refrained from speaking for the next few moments. It wasn’t like him to tiptoe around the subject. Deep inside she would love for them to live together, but she still had remnants of fear that all of this was too good to be true. She didn’t want him to get bored with her. If she was always around him, wouldn’t that happen?
“I’m giving you a big heads up. I’m gonna want us to live together, sooner rather than later. So start thinking about it,” Mike said, playing with her hair. He had that determined look on his face.
“Really,” she said calmly. “You don’t think that’s a little soon?”
“Nope.” His eyes were daring her to disagree.
“You don’t think we’ll get tired of each other, always seeing each other?” she teased, trying to hide her fear.
He stilled and really looked at her. “Em?”
“What?” The air shifted and everything got really serious, really fast.
“I wanna come home each night and be able to see you, eat with you, work out with you, fight with you, talk about my day, listen to you talk about yours…make love and go to sleep with you every night.” He paused. “I want that. I really want it. And I’m not gonna be completely satisfied until I get it.” He gave her a pointed look. “Do you understand?”
Her eyes burned at the joy and terror she felt in that moment. She nodded in response to his question.
“What are your thoughts on that? Does it scare you?”
She looked away, “A little. But not in the way you think.”
“How does it scare you? Look at me.”
She did. She needed to be honest about her feelings with him. He was teaching her how to do it. She was safe with him and there wasn’t another man in this world she could share her thoughts with so completely.
“I desperately want everything you just said. And I only want it with you.”
“But?”
“But,” she let out a nervous breath, “I don’t –” Her eyes skittered to his then away again. “I don’t want you to get tired of me.”
“You don’t think I have the same fears about you getting tired of me?” he asked, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to make eye contact with him.
“You don’t look like you’re afraid of anything,” Emily said. “You astound me with how brutally honest you are, when you’re making yourself vulnerable. I wish I could be half as fearless as you when it comes to that kind of stuff.”
“Baby,” he said in a disbelieving voice. “You’re crazy if you don’t think you’re a courageous person.”
“I mean in relationships.”
“Em, you need to know that I only make myself vulnerable with you because that’s the only way I wanna be with you. I want that connection, where I can trust you with my deepest thoughts and dreams, and yes, fears. I want our relationship to be complete. I want you to feel the same.”
“I do. I just need to get over my issues.”
“We all have ’em.” He paused. “You know what scares me the most?”
“What?” She touched his face.
“Losing you. I’ve seen enough shi
t in this job to know it can happen in the blink of an eye. Some psycho on the street shoots you, or you get hit by a car. Or you wake up one morning and decide you don’t feel like this is working anymore. Those things scare me to death.” She continued touching his face then he said, “But you know what? Fuck that.”
A half laugh, half sob escaped from her mouth.
“I’m not gonna live my life like that. We’re not gonna live that way, because it’s not livin’. If we find that things get a little dry in the relationship, then we spice it up. We take control over the things we can control and don’t dwell on the things we can’t control. Life is life. Shit’s gonna happen. We’ll figure it out together.”
Tears were streaming from her eyes. “Mike,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Just for being you.” She leaned up and kissed him fiercely. “For your patience. Your love.”
“Trust me, babe. I’ll be thanking you for the same thing in the coming weeks. I can be a pain in the ass and I’m sure I’ll drive you crazy on a weekly basis.”
“You’re probably right,” she smiled, her eyes shining.
“Let’s get some pizza.”
She barked out a laugh. “That was quite a segue.”
“You build up my appetite.”
They ordered their pizza and settled in for the rest of the day, relaxing, watching movies, talking and building that connection they both desperately wanted.
And before the day was through, Emily made good on her promise about them having each other again. And she also made good on the other promise she’d made; she was on top.
Chapter 19
The next couple of days seemed to move slowly. Mike and Emily ended up working out the following evening, but at the last minute Mike was called into work so Emily stayed at her place that night alone.
The next day, Emily made her phone calls. After speaking with her mom and her aunt, and listening to them squeal on the phone, they’d all begun making loose plans to get together over Thanksgiving. She finally texted the girls to let them know that she’d talked to Mike and things were moving forward in the relationship. Of course that wasn’t nearly specific enough, each one of them sending back text after text, peppering her with questions. By the end of the day, everyone was in the know.
Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) Page 29
