Dare to Hold (6 page)

“I hope so.” She curled her fingers into his shirt and rested her head against his chest with a small quivering sigh.

“I won’t let him hurt you.” He stroked the back of her hair, inhaling the fragrant scent of her shampoo. Memories of sliding into her wet heat hit him without warning, and his body responded.

He swallowed a curse, reminding himself she sought reassurance, not sex, but his stiff cock wasn’t listening. It didn’t help when she wriggled deeper into him, her face tucked against his neck, her breath hot on his skin.

He needed to think with his head. The one with common sense that knew she was frightened. “Hey.” He brushed her hair out of her face. “You’re safe now.”

“I know. I just feel so stupid, thinking a piece of paper would keep him away. And I don’t know what to do now.”

“Well, first thing, let’s get this visit documented by the police. You want everything on record.” In case something else happened, which Scott wouldn’t say to her out loud. For one thing, he didn’t want to frighten her further. And for another, he wouldn’t let that bastard near her.

She eased back to meet his gaze. “I can’t prove Mike was here.”

“I’ll talk to your neighbors. See if anyone heard him yelling or recognized his voice. Okay?”

She remained silent, not looking at him. Clearly he wasn’t helping. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything.” She pushed off him, sliding into her own space on the sofa.

He immediately missed the warmth and heat of her body, but she obviously needed distance. “Tell me.”

She blinked her thick lashes. “I promised myself I’d stand on my own, and at the first sign of a crisis, I curled up in your lap and let you take over. How’s that for falling back into old patterns?” she said, frustration and annoyance in her tone.

“Listen to me.” Needing to touch her, to maintain the contact they’d been sharing, he placed a hand beneath her chin and tilted her head.

She met his gaze with wide brown eyes, and he was struck with a connection, a sense of
knowing
he’d felt from the first time they’d met. This woman tied him up in knots, made him want to fix things so he could see her smile and light up just for him.

Shit. He shook his head, not understanding how the hell he’d gone from
never again
to invested so quickly.

“What is it?” she asked, breaking into his too-serious thoughts.

He swallowed hard. Forced himself to concentrate on the thread of their conversation and not his emotions. “There is a huge difference between accepting help from a friend who is experienced in these things and falling back into bad patterns,” he explained.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

She nodded slowly. “I realize I barely know you, my judgment sucks, but that said, yes, I do.”

The notion was humbling. “Good. So go make yourself a cup of tea or get some water. I’ll talk to the neighbors and be right back.”

“I wish I could do something useful,” she muttered, but she rose and walked into the kitchen.

He couldn’t tear his gaze from the sexy sway of her hips or the way her hair swung against her back. He bit the inside of his cheek and spent the next few minutes getting his dick to calm down so he could to talk to her neighbors.

His canvass of the two next-door apartments yielded only one result, but at least it was a good one. A middle-aged woman had heard the whole thing. And, she informed Scott, she was the same person who’d found Meg’s phone and called her friend after Meg had ended up in the hospital because of her ex the last time. Scott told her the police would be by to interview her and returned to Meg’s to find her sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of juice in her hand.

“Good news. Mrs. Booth heard Mike, and she recognized his voice. I put a call into the station and asked them to send someone to take her statement. And yours.”

She blew out a long breath and stared at her glass. “Thank you.”

He didn’t like seeing her so down. He eased into the chair beside her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, just so he could touch her again.

Her cheeks flushed, and a flicker of awareness lit her gaze.
There she was.
The passionate woman he knew had returned. “So what were you doing before Mike showed up?” he asked, changing the subject while they waited for the cops.

“Online shopping. Browsing, really. Making lists of what I need for the baby, comparing costs on the big items. Things like that.”

“Sounds fun.”

A smile lifted her lips, and damned if his gaze didn’t zero in on that sweet mouth. The desire to kiss her sucker-punched him, but he remained in his chair, one hand clenched in frustration.

“It is. I don’t know the baby’s sex, but it’s been fun to look at all the cute little baby clothes and think about how I want to decorate for him. Or her.”

“Is this a two-bedroom?” he asked, before he said screw it, threw her over his shoulder, and hauled her back to bed, to hell with any damned statements.

All he wanted to do was bury himself inside her while making her come hard and often. Then spend the rest of the night curled around her, keeping her safe and protected.

“No, just one bedroom,” she said, oblivious to his sexual frustration and X-rated thoughts.

How the hell he maintained a thread of normal conversation was beyond him.

“I’ll put the crib in my room for now. The bedroom is big enough.”

He thought about his large house, the one he’d bought as a surprise for his soon-to-be growing family
before
he’d discovered his wife had had an abortion without asking him. But he’d loved the house, and moved in anyway. Four bedrooms, three and a half baths, plenty big for… Shit.

He was not going there.

“And since my room décor is neutral, I can do whatever I want in the baby area…” Meg trailed off, realizing she was rambling, and a hot flush rushed to her cheeks. “I’m really sorry. You can’t possibly be interested in decorating talk.” She could barely meet his gaze.

“Meg?”

“Yes?” She glanced up at the sound of her name, a rumbling caress coming from his sexy mouth.

His navy eyes were focused on her, and she felt his gaze as if he were physically stroking her skin. Goose bumps lifted on her bare arms.

“Take my word for it. If you’re speaking, I’m interested.”

And that interest showed in his intent stare and focus. Not to mention, she’d felt his erection pressing against her when she’d sat on his lap earlier. She’d done her best not to squirm in her seat.

“Look, I’m sure this can’t be easy for you, but life has a way of throwing you curveballs. The important thing is how you roll with them. Have you eaten?” he asked, surprising her with the subject change.

“I was going to make myself a sandwich when I got hungry.”

Her stomach chose that moment to grumble, loudly. God, could things get any more embarrassing? She had a hot guy she wanted to jump in her living room, and she was going on about baby furniture while her stomach made unattractive noises.

She’d just have to roll with it, as he’d said. “If you’re hungry, I could make you one too? Unless you didn’t plan on staying…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just realized… Why are you here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you showed up when you did, but … why?” She’d been so thrown by Mike, so relieved to see Scott on the other side of the door, she hadn’t thought to ask.

“I came to see how you were doing. And—” He slipped a hand behind her neck, his touch a hot brand on her skin. “I didn’t like not speaking to you all week.”

Her stomach flipped delightfully at the admission. “I felt the same way,” she said, unable to not tell him the truth.

“Now that’s good to hear.” He spoke in a low, husky voice. Then he moved in, his lips
this
close to hers, his breath warm against her mouth. “Because staying away was fucking hard.”

His thumb swiped over her lower lip. A hot, aching feeling settled between her thighs along with dampness and a deep yearning for fulfillment. “Scott—” She didn’t know what she wanted to say, just that she wanted, no, needed him.

His eyes darkened with serious intent. She wanted his hot mouth on hers desperately, and barely breathing, she waited for what he’d do next.

But the doorbell rang, jarring them both. She jumped, he swore, and the moment was broken.

“That’ll be a cop to take your statement.” Scott shot her a look of regret before he rose. He paused and drew a long breath.

His hands, she noted, were clenched in tight fists. At least she wasn’t the only one frustrated.

He strode across the room to answer the door, giving Meg a chance to breathe. Stunned, she leaned back against the couch. What the hell had just happened? One minute they’d been talking about restraining orders and baby furniture and the next she’d thought he was going to fuck her right here.

Jesus. She rubbed her eyes and groaned before glancing over to where Scott spoke to a very young-looking uniformed officer.

She studied Scott, pleasure suffusing her as she took him in. In his faded jeans that molded to his hard thighs and taut ass, and navy tee shirt, he was
hot
. Well built, dark hair, and much more clean-cut-looking than the type of guy she usually went for. But everything about Scott was different, from his looks to his commanding air. Meg had been bossed around by men before, but Scott’s brand of control made her feel safe and cared for, not put down and concerned.

He affected her emotionally and sexually, tying her in knots of confusion and need. For the last week, thoughts of him had distracted her during the day. She’d sit in her classroom and recall his big hands on her breasts, his mouth on her nipples, and then she’d hear someone shout … and she’d come back to herself, realize she was sitting alone, tingling and aware.

And the nights? He’d consumed her dreams, turning them hot and erotic. She’d actually feel his thick cock pounding into her, going so far as to cause her to orgasm in her sleep. She groaned and squeezed her thighs tightly together, aware and aroused even now.

But because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, his silence for the last week had left her thinking she was distinctly forgettable. Meg didn’t sleep around often or randomly. That she’d had sex with Scott meant something, no matter how hard she fought the notion. She’d wanted to be memorable in return. Now he was here…

“Meg? Ready to talk to Officer Jenkins about what happened with Mike?” Scott called over to her.

At the mention of her ex, all hot, sexy thoughts vanished. She spent the next thirty minutes recounting her visit from her ex, providing a copy of the restraining order, and listening as the cop spoke to her neighbor. By the time the woman finished, Meg was surprised she hadn’t complained to the landlord about the problems and noise Meg’s issues had caused. But Mrs. Booth seemed sympathetic and understanding. She promised to keep an eye and ear out for her ex while Meg was at work.

Meg thanked her.

The officer jotted down some notes, then flipped the pad closed. “Okay, got it.”

“You’ll pay Mike Ashton a visit?” Scott asked, although from his tone, it came out as more of a demand.

“We’re busy tonight,” Officer Jenkins explained, though he didn’t sound too upset about it. “And since nothing really happened here other than some noise and disturbance, I’ll file the report, and it’ll be on record. Meanwhile, keep your door locked.”

Scott shook his head and muttered a curse as Meg walked the officer out and locked up behind him.

“He’s new and not on my shift.” Clearly agitated, he raked his fingers through his hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll have a talk with your asshole ex and remind him what the fuck a restraining order means.”

“No, please don’t.” The thought of Scott confronting Mike turned her stomach. “It’s fine. You don’t need to get involved. The officer said if he bothered me again, they’d talk to him. I don’t want to get you in any trouble with your superiors.”

“Baby?”

She blinked, shocked at how
that
word, the one he used when he was in seduction mode, affected her. Suddenly her body burned hot, desire pulsing inside her again.

“Yes?” she managed to ask, her mouth dry.

“Don’t kid yourself,” he murmured huskily. “I’m already involved.”

Oh.
Oh
. She swiped her tongue across her lips, and his hot gaze followed the gesture. “I… Umm…”

He grinned at how flustered she’d gotten. “Now I don’t know about you, but I’m
starving
,” he said in a tone that indicated the word could have two very different meanings.

She shivered, her nipples hardening at the various possibilities.

His gaze fell to the two points sticking out from her shirt, and a low growl sounded from inside his chest. “We’ll get to that later,” he promised, and her sex clenched at the possibility. “I don’t expect you to cook for me, so let’s go out and get something to eat. I want to make sure you have strength for later.”

And this time she knew exactly what he was referring to, and she was in complete agreement. She couldn’t resist this man and was finished trying. He’d see her get big, and the reality of a baby would send him running soon enough. She pushed that sobering thought away.

He obviously wouldn’t let her get away with anything less than a full meal. “I like to cook. Think of it as my way of thanking you for showing up when you did.” If not for Scott, she wouldn’t have thought to call the police in once Mike had left on his own.

“You don’t need to thank me, but if you’re sure, I’d love to have you
cook
for me.” He said the word cook in a rumbling tone.

So hot and gravelly was his voice, he might as well have said,
I’d love you to
fuck
me
. She didn’t know how she’d make it through the next hour of cooking, dinner, and anticipation.

She turned away, needing to focus on dinner. “I hope you like grilled cheese. I have bakery bread and some really delicious kinds of cheese.”

“I’ll
eat
anything.”

She shivered. God, everything he said made her think of sex.