“You guys are good together, really good. He smiles more and he’s more relaxed with you.”
“That’s the byproduct of regular sex, Maxine.”
She barked out a laugh down the line. “Regular sex, what’s that? It’s been so long I think I’m like Barbie down there.”
“That’s a visual I didn’t need,” I joked, but I appreciated the effort since it took the focus off me. “I’m glad we’re friends, Max.”
“Me too,” she sighed. “It was hard going for a while, because you are one tough nut to crack, but I’m glad I kept at it. You’re a good friend.”
“I don’t know about that, but I’m learning. And one of the things I’ve learned is that when you sound out of breath like that, you’re busy in the kitchen. Need a guinea pig?”
She laughed. “Sure. We’re having a tasting menu for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, the exciting life you lead. I’ve never even had a tasting menu.” It sounded expensive and likely far outside of my budget.
“Then you’re in luck because tonight, we have a big spread. Come over around seven. I need to go; if I burn the caramel, you’re cleaning the pot.”
“Then go, woman, go!”
She laughed and ended the call.
I sucked in several deep breaths and touched the smile that still lingered on my face as I finally understood what Uncle Rudy meant when he talked about the healing power of friendships. I’d honestly always thought it was just a line for all the women who lined up to babysit on Friday nights, but as it turned out, he knew his stuff. Talking with Max didn’t make the hurt go away, but it dulled the pain a little.
Baby steps.
Returning to the stacks on my coffee table, I focused on the calendars, adding everything that had already been confirmed. I made sure to include all the details, since I’d have to chase down the heroes for their photo shoots and promo for the calendar. It was nice to have something to focus on. Getting lost in work wasn’t something I’d ever experienced, but there was a soothing quality about it that I enjoyed.
Until a knock sounded on the door.
I knew my luck had run out, and when I opened the door to find Preston scowling at me, I wasn’t even surprised.
“I didn’t get your message until this morning.” The words rushed out of him like he’d been holding them in for too long.
I stared at him for a long, long time, just soaking in his masculine beauty. Preston was a good man and, someday soon, he would marry a woman that wouldn’t make his life miserable. That woman wouldn’t be me. Still, it was nice to look at him for a while. “Okay.”
“Can I come in?” He looked so earnest with his hands shoved in his jean pockets, showing off strong biceps and delicious triceps.
How could I say no? “Sure.” It would be easier if I just listened to whatever it was he felt he had to say, and then we could get on with the ignoring each other portion of our lives.
Preston stepped inside, just past me, and I caught a whiff of him, a fresh shower scent and that undeniable aroma that was all Preston. My gaze ate up his long muscular legs as he moved around my space, taking in the binders spread out over the sofa and coffee table. “My phone is waterlogged, and…” he began absently and walked into the kitchen. I followed him.
“That’s okay, Preston. You don’t need to explain.”
“The hell I don’t.” His expression was dark and cold. Angry. “I wasn’t blowing you off. I wouldn’t.” I believed him. It wasn’t in Preston to be mean. If it was, he’d have told his bitch of a mom to go to hell ages ago.
“I know.” I sighed and took a step back before he had the chance to reach out and touch me. “At least, I think I do.”
“Then what’s with the distance?” His smile was predatory but, thankfully, he stayed on his side of the room.
“There’s no distance. This is just a conversation, remember?”
His lips spread into a grin and he raised his hands. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Nothing, I changed my mind. But since you’re here, we can—”
“Bullshit.”
His words were like a slap in the face. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” One foot moved forward, but Preston didn’t advance. “Bullshit. You wanted to talk about something. Over dinner.”
“That was yesterday. I’ve changed my mind.” It was mostly true, so I didn’t know why I had to fight the urge to fidget so hard.
It was a useless effort. Preston saw it and pounced. Arms crossed, he was wearing his most smug smile. “What was for dinner?”
“Nothing special, just takeout.”
“From where, Nina?”
Why did I have to go and fall in love with the most stubborn man on the planet?
“What difference does it make?” I asked. “The food is long gone, and so is my desire to have that conversation with you.”
Yesterday, I’d been feeling brave and bold and ready to take on the world, but one little setback and I was crying like a teenage girl. That was all the proof I needed that this relationship stuff wasn’t for me.
“It matters to me. What did you order from Buddy for dinner?”
I shouldn’t have even been surprised. “Burgers.”
His shoulders relaxed and his smile brightened enough to illuminate my whole apartment. “Blue cheese for me?”
“Maybe, I don’t remember.”
“And onion rings.” This time it wasn’t a question, just a statement to accompany his big, all-knowing grin.
“Okay, so what? You want to rub in the fact that I clearly read things wrong between us? Go right ahead, Preston. It’s my fault for thinking you were better than that.”
Why I felt so itchy, so uncomfortable with this assessing gaze on me, I couldn’t say. But the fact that I lashed out, completely unreasonably, spoke volumes.
“That’s not what I’m doing, and you know it.” Though his smile had disappeared, the self-satisfied gleam in his blue eyes remained.
“Then what are you doing?”
When his big body began to move this time, it was with purpose. Serious intent. Preston’s steps were slow and deliberate as they approached me, stopping only when barely a breath stood between us. “I’m trying to get the truth out of you, because you are confusing the hell out of me.”
Join the club, buddy. “What difference does the truth make, Preston, when we’re all wrong for each other?”
“I disagree,” he stated as his hands firmly gripped my arms.
“No, you don’t. You’re a nice guy and you think saying so makes you a bad guy. You can’t argue with facts.”
“Whose facts? Yours?” He barked out a laugh that was somewhere between bitter and amused. “Or my mother’s?”
“Just plain facts, Preston.” I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, begging with my eyes for him to understand. “What happens when you get tired or too old to work your physically taxing blue-collar job, and you want to go back to your one percent upbringing? Tell me exactly where a high school graduate who tends bar fits into that life?”
His expression transformed from serious to amused in a flash, and just as quickly, I felt my hackles rise. Then, a laugh escaped. I struggled to get out of his hold, but his grip was tight. Strong.
“Nina, you nut, I’m already rich. Half of my trust fund released when I turned twenty-five and the other half comes when I turn thirty or get married, whichever comes first.”
What?
“What, no other ridiculous reasons to lob my way?”
Oh, he was so smug, I didn’t know whether to smack him or kiss him.
“It’s not ridiculous.” It wasn’t. These were perfectly reasonable concerns that any woman would have. “I’m being cautious.”
“Scared. My big, bad, tough girl is a coward.” His smile turned affectionate as he sifted his fingers through my hair. “Who’d have thought?”
“Of course, I’m a coward, I’ve never been in love before!” The
instant the words were out, my heart stopped and my eyes darted wide open. Just like my mouth. “I, uh…”
“Didn’t mean to say that,” he finished for me. “I know you didn’t mean to say it, but did you mean it? Do you love me, Nina?”
Yes. Hell yes, I did. “Doesn’t matter. We’re not right for each other.”
His smile stretched from ear to ear. “You do.” Big hands cupped my face and I watched, fascinated, as he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine in a soft, gentle kiss. I sank into him; my body refused to listen to my brain where this man was concerned. Things were just getting good when he pulled back. “We are right for each other.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I love you. And as hard as you’re working to find a reason that we won’t work, I’ll work ten times as hard to prove to you that we do work. We will.”
“You can’t know that,” I insisted, heart racing even more as this dream edged closer to being a reality.
“Do you love me, Nina.”
“Yes. I am in love with you. Happy?”
His blue gaze sparkled with contagious joy. “Hell yeah, I’m happy. Thrilled, actually. You?” His eyes stared right into me, penetrating my soul. I felt him deep inside me.
I grinned. “Terrified as hell, but yeah, happy. I think.”
It felt a lot like happiness, but I’d only had fleeting contact with the emotion so I couldn’t say for sure.
“I’m happy. I love you.”
Saying those words was scary as hell, but the look on his face was a moment I knew I’d never forget.
“I’m happy to hear you say that.”
Then his mouth was on mine, a little rougher this time. Hungrier and so intense it stole my breath. His hands were everywhere, spearing through my hair and squeezing my ass. Pulling me close, where he was long and hard against my belly.
“So glad,” he growled against my mouth, making me laugh.
“Me too,” I admitted. “But are you sure? This is going to piss off your mother. Big time.”
I shuddered to think of all the ways she would come up with to terrorize me and try to run me out of town, like in those spaghetti westerns Uncle Rudy had loved so much.
“She’ll get over it,” he said, then smacked a kiss on one side of my jaw and then the other. “Or she won’t. She can’t affect our happiness if we don’t let her, Nina.”
“It’s just that easy, huh, Worthington?”
“If we want it to be, damn straight it is.”
He flashed that boyish smile and kissed me again.
“I don’t care about any of that, Nina. I care about you. I love you and I want you. Me and you, together — how does that sound?”
“Sounds pretty good to me.”
I was still scared as hell, but the idea of loving Preston freely, of accepting his love and letting myself be happy, was as appealing as it was terrifying.
“Great. And when you’re ready, we’ll discuss moving in. And marriage.”
I let out a squeak of surprise, but before I could tell him he was moving a little fast and getting ahead of himself, his mouth crashed down on mine in a kiss that was as effective as a bomb at getting my attention and holding it.
All I could focus on was Preston — his hands, his mouth, his hard body pressed into mine.
“I’d love to wait, but I can’t,” he panted as he picked me up and lay me across the kitchen table, where he proceeded to kiss my body until I shook with need.
And then, much, much later, Preston made slow, sweet love to me.
It was the start of what I hoped would be a pretty great love story.
Epilogue
Preston
“Is all this really necessary?”
How in the hell did I let Janey and Nina talk me into making a bigger fool of myself, again? Standing in front of the fountain in my SAR uniform with my arms crossed made me feel like a wannabe super hero. Or Captain Morgan. It was a toss-up, at the moment.
Janey sighed and rolled her eyes before she disappeared behind the camera again, snapping photos like I hadn’t said a word. “Yes, Preston, it really is necessary.”
“You look sexy as hell, babe!” Nina stood about eight feet behind all the camera and lights, smiling bright and doing her best—and her job—to make me feel like a sex symbol instead of an idiot.
“Yeah, thanks.” I gave her a wink and she blew me a kiss, making me happier than a man should be that she’d hurt herself that day in the park.
“Yeah, babe, you look sexy as hell,” Ry called out from right beside her. “For an old man.”
“Why are you even here?”
Ry bust out a laugh, not even reacting when Nina smacked him in the gut. “I’m here for moral support.”
I didn’t buy that for a minute, but Janey snapped her fingers to get my attention before I could say a word. “What is this for, exactly?”
“Nina, can you talk him into taking off his shirt for a few shots?”
Janey was relentless. I felt bad for all the other so-called hometown heroes who still had to do all this.
“Yeah, Nina, come talk me into it.”
She smiled at the challenge in my tone and came forward with a smile. Over the past month, since we’d cleared the air and made the decision to move forward together, Nina had been a wonder. A delight. She was more open with her affections, especially in public, and she was more confident in our love.
“Do you want me to talk you into it,” she whispered, nibbling my earlobe.
“I want you to try,” I told her with a groan when her tongue slipped into my ear, forcing my eyes closed so I was completely at her mercy.
“You do?” she asked, moaning as she pressed her curves up against me, letting one hand roam under the heavy-duty SAR work shirt.
“I’d love to see a photo of you all sweaty, with your muscles peeking out of this green shirt. Seeing all the women drool over you and knowing you’re mine,” she whispered. “All mine.”
“Yeah?” I liked where this was going, and I didn’t give a damn that we might have an audience.
“Uh-huh. Then I’d stare and imagine all the dirty things I’d like to do to you, and the things I’m dying to have you do to me.”
Every word, every syllable was accompanied by the stroke of her hands, the flick of her tongue, and the fan of her breath. “Maybe I’d even eavesdrop to see what kinky things the single women of Tulip come up with and I’ll do that to you, too.”
“All right, fine. Ten shots and that’s it.” My voice was rough, like I’d swallowed a bag of rocks and washed it down with whiskey.
“Thanks,” she whispered with a quiet laugh as she stepped back. “I love you, Preston.”
“Love you right back.”
She let out the same tiny gasp she always did, as if she just couldn’t believe that I loved her too. It was total bullshit, but it had a way of making me feel ten feet tall — and it made me want to show her in every way possible just how worthy she was. Hell, the truth was, I didn’t deserve her.
“Good to know.” She stepped back and winked. “He said okay, Janey.”
“I said ten shots,” I clarified with a low, dark growl.
“Make it twenty,” Ry called out, mouth split into a grin that was far too amused.
“Twenty what?” asked a tiny voice that belonged to a little boy with curly blond hair.
Ry froze and looked down at the boy next to him, who gazed up at Ry with a wide, chocolate smile. “Twenty photos. Big, manly photos.”
“I do twenty, too!” He jumped up and down, nearly falling over in his excitement before Ry saved him from a face full of cement.
“Whoa, there, champ. Slow down.” The kid hung onto Ry, smiling at him in amazement like he was a real-life superhero. “What’s a little guy like you wandering around out here all alone?”
“He’s not alone.” The voice belonged to Penny Ford, a Tulip transplant who’d taken on the job of assistant to the mayor almost a year ag
o. I didn’t know much about her, and as far as I knew, no one did.
“Penny,” Ry said, his voice reflecting the recognition written all over his face. “This little wanderer is yours?”
“He is,” she said simply, one brow arched in a challenge.
There was an entire universe of tension and unspoken emotions between them, and I grinned.
“What’s going on there?” Nina leaned in and whispered as she tucked a hand into my back pocket.
“I think I’ve just identified Ry’s mystery crush.”
And now I understood his hesitation. Penny was a few years older than Ry and she seemed to be a serious woman, a sharp contrast to his easygoing nature.
“Ry, aren’t you gonna introduce us to your friend?”
It probably made me a jerk to give him a hard time when he was so clearly transfixed by this woman with her all-black outfit, and tight bun pulling all of her hair backwards, but that’s what friends are for.
He glared at me, and I decided not to comment on the hint of pink coloring his cheeks. “Guys, this is Penny, she’s Mayor Ashford’s assistant.”
I was immediately forgotten as Nina and Janey made a beeline for Penny, giving me plenty of time to corner Ry and find out more.
“So, this is the woman keeping you from dating. Interesting.”
“I date,” he insisted, but without any of his normal fire.
“You’re a terrible liar, and I hear that’s a great quality in a boyfriend.”
“What’s a date?” the little boy asked, popping his head up just late enough for us both to realize he wasn’t sleeping.
“When you make time to hang out with people you like,” I told him easily. “What’s your name, kid?”
“I’m Mikey and I’m five.” He held up a hand with five wiggling fingers and a broad smile.
“I’m Preston, and this is Ry.” He put his little hand in mine and gave it a solid shake for a five-year-old. “Nice to meet ya, kid.”
“Mice to meetcha, too!”
If there was an award for adorable, this kid’s misspoken words and boyish excitement would win hands down.
Mr. Savior: A Roommate Hero Romance Page 15
