I shook my head. “Not usually, no.”
“Mine neither. Contrary to popular belief, dental hygiene is usually pretty boring.” She laughed. “I’m kidding. No one thinks being a dental hygienist is exciting.”
“You never know. I know a secretary who—” Realizing I was talking about Elizabeth, I cut myself off. “Oh, wow. It’s really coming down out there now.”
She looked out the window next to our table and nodded. “Channel Two said it’s supposed to rain for the next couple of days. Who knows if they’ll get it right, though. They predicted it would snow this week.”
I nodded along and ran my hands down my thighs under the table. I slightly felt like I was being tortured. I just wanted to go home. It wasn’t her. She was nice and obviously sweet, but I just didn’t want to pretend like I was someone that she could be with. I wasn’t normal. I was never going to be normal. I couldn’t help but doubt that I’d ever be the soccer dad that she was probably looking for.
For the first time since the explosion, I wasn’t feeling down because I doubted a woman would ever want to be with me. I was feeling down because I’d realized that it would take a very particular woman to make it work. Someone who was a little crazy and wasn’t looking for cookie-cutter. Someone like fucking Elizabeth.
That realization sucked because Elizabeth was off limits. She was too insane. She was also self-absorbed and didn’t know when to stop. She was pushing everything around her too far and it wasn’t right for me. It couldn’t be. Not when she did things like call me up and scare the shit out of me just to prance me around like a fucking show pony.
I couldn’t help but think of the expression on her face when I’d told her I was done, though. It’d been crushed. Her eyes were big and these fat tears had welled up in them. It was enough to almost convince me to turn around and go back to her. I didn’t want to walk away. I just knew that I couldn’t deal with everything and her all at the same time.
“Branson? What’s my name?”
I looked up at her and frowned. “Sorry?”
“My name. What is it?”
I wracked my brain and came up blank. I blinked a few times and sighed. “I’m sorry. My brain isn’t here tonight.”
She smiled. “I know. Lauren was worried this would happen. It’s okay, though. It was nice to get out.”
“I’m really sorry. There’s just a lot going on.”
“No hurt feelings. What do you say we finish our meal as new friends and then call it a night?”
Relief streaked through me. I extended my hand to her and shook hers. “Branson. And you are?”
She laughed. “Meg. Nice to meet you, friend.”
“Thanks for being understanding.”
“I get it. Lauren’s been a mess, too. I’m assuming whatever’s going on is big if it’s got you upset, too.” She frowned. “Should I be worried for Lauren?”
“I don’t know. A friend of ours is in trouble and we don’t know how to help him yet.”
“Mercer?” She chuckled when she saw the surprise on my face. “Lauren would never say that she’s in love with him, but she obviously is. All of us think she is. She’d be furious at us if she knew we talked about it as much as we do.”
I nodded. “She likes to think she plays that card closer to her chest than she does.”
“But he’s okay?”
I stared out the window and shrugged. “We don’t know.”
Chapter 18
Elizabeth
I sat outside of Red, the secret sex club that Helena Stelton avidly participated in. It was the lone brick building that she’d stopped at the first time I’d followed her. I’d followed her a few more times since then and she stopped there almost every night.
My budding relationship with Brenda had proven more than helpful. While the last act with Branson had cost me everything with him, it’d worked for Brenda. We started having lunch together every day and when I’d mentioned seeing Helena go into the unmarked building, she’d been giddy to tell me the truth.
Red was upscale and very private. As I’d watched Helena go in, she’d always flashed something to the guard. Brenda told me it was a membership card. She’d had to contact Red to get new cards made for Helena multiple times after Helena lost them. She was sworn to secrecy with the NDA, but she’d told me that she didn’t think telling me was that bad since I was a secretary for the company, too.
I’d come to adore Brenda. I hadn’t told her that Branson had walked out after the stunt I’d pulled, but she could tell something was wrong the next day. She’d brought me candy to cheer me up. I felt bad keeping the secret of what’d happened on her desk from her, but I didn’t want to tell anyone else in the office. So, for the moment, I was keeping the secret. In my new awareness of myself, I felt shitty for taking information from her, but I had to find out the truth about Helena. I’d make it up to Brenda later.
I wanted to get inside of Red and find out if Helena was into the same stuff inside as she’d been with Paul. Maybe she’d hurt other people. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I wanted to know. Another part of me wanted to see what the place was all about, too. I’d never been to anything like it. I doubted most people had.
When I found myself staring at the building and wondering if Branson had ever been in a sex club, I decided I was done for the night. It was nuts to drive myself so crazy thinking things like that. Branson was done with me. There was no sense entertaining dirty fantasies about him.
I started my car and drove home, chalking the night up as a loss. I didn’t even really know why I was following Helena. It wasn’t like she was going to have her driver take her to the murder scene so she could recite a poem about how she’d murdered him or anything. I was probably wasting my time.
I was feeling down on myself. I’d been a jerk to Branson and he wasn’t coming back around. I hadn’t been spending as much time with Sammie and Devon and I really missed them. I wasn’t being completely open with Brenda and I was worried she’d end up hating me, too. I was behind on my work at the office, too.
I felt like throwing a tantrum. Instead, I decided to do some pampering and try to perk up. As soon as I figured everything out with Helena, things would go back to normal.
I took a long bath when I got inside my apartment. I soaked for ages with a bath bomb before washing my hair and rinsing off. I braided my hair in pigtail French braids and dressed in my favorite pajamas. Valentine’s Day pajamas that Sammie had given me weren’t the sexiest, but they felt plush to the touch and they came with a long-sleeved top that made me feel like a kid again.
I put in toe separators and painted my toes a bright pink that matched the heart-covered pants. Then I put on a face mask and made popcorn. I planned to watch a sad movie and cry. Maybe I was getting my period. I was unreasonably sad about Branson. I was unreasonably sad about most things.
I flipped through the channels a few times before loading The Other Sister into the DVD player and curling up on Dad’s couch. The first half of the movie played and I found myself wishing I had a cat to cuddle with. It would be my luck that the cat hated me, though. Maybe a dog would be better. A dog to chew up my purses when I was a mean person. Yeah, that’d work.
The end credits of the movie were rolling when I snapped up. I’d fallen asleep. I looked around and blinked. Something had woken me up.
A knock sounded at the door and I jumped. “Shit.”
When I spoke, I remembered my face mask and groaned. My skin was stretched tight with the dried mask and everything felt like it was going to snap if I moved my face too much.
I hurried over to the door and pulled it open, expecting Sammie or Devon. Instead, Branson stood in front of me. He looked me over and one side of his mouth lifted.
Chapter 19
“What are you doing here?” My stomach fluttered and I cursed it.
“I came to check on you.” Branson nodded to the door. “You didn’t check the peephole.”
I frow
ned up at him. Without my normal heels on, he was so much taller than me. “I figured it’d be Sammie or Devon.”
“Not one of your boyfriends?”
My breath caught in my throat. That little sign, him fishing for information, was even more of a sign than him being at my doorstep. “I don’t have any boyfriends. Shame on you for assuming that I did when I’ve been throwing myself at you.”
He nodded to my apartment behind me. “Can I come in?”
I nodded. “Make yourself comfortable. I’m going to go wash my face.”
“Oh, don’t get all dolled up on my account.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t get smart. You can get kicked out just as fast as you got invited in.”
He rolled his eyes before dropping onto the couch. “You look real cute with all that junk on your face.”
“It’s a face mask, Branson.” I hurried into the bathroom and gasped when I saw my reflection. The mask had dried and cracked. My face looked like something out of a horror movie. I scrubbed it off and then stared at my red-faced reflection.
“Have you been staying out of trouble?”
A little concealer wouldn’t hurt to hide the dark bags under my eyes. I dabbed it on and looked out at the back of his head to make sure he was staying put. “Oh, yeah. Of course.”
“Elizabeth…”
“What?” I looked washed-out with just the concealer, so I added a bit of bronzer and blush.
“Don’t lie to me.”
My eyes looked completely blank without mascara, so I brushed some on. I dabbed on some chapstick and then gasped at my hair. I looked like a little kid. I unbraided it and fluffed it out. It was wet, but it was better than looking five. My top was ridiculous, so I quickly stripped it off and pulled on a tank top from the top of my hamper. It still smelled clean, so it was good to go.
I looked more human, so I headed out to face Branson. “I wasn’t lying. I haven’t been in trouble.”
He didn’t respond. I walked around the couch, expecting to find him rolling his eyes at me, but instead I found him passed out cold. His head was back and his mouth had fallen open slightly. He looked peaceful for the first time since I’d met him, even with a light growl-like snore coming from his open mouth.
I smiled down at him. He was painfully handsome. With his head back, I could see more scarring on his neck, but it did nothing to take away from his good looks. I grabbed a blanket from my bed and gently draped it over him.
Not wanting to bother him, I quietly turned all the lights off and retreated to the bathroom to undo all that I’d done to impress him. I brushed my teeth and then headed to bed. Annoyingly, I slept better than I had in weeks.
***
I woke up early the next morning, even before my alarm went off, and went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I was on my way back to my bedroom when I saw Branson asleep on the couch still. He’d moved to his side on the couch and the blanket had fallen off of him. I walked over, just going to fix the blanket, but I felt powerless to resist staring down at him for a few seconds.
His hair was in his face and his long eyelashes rested against his cheeks so perfectly. It was like someone had arranged him to look just so. His lips were pursed in his sleep and I would almost call him pretty. Never to his face. All the tension was gone and I found myself wondering if that was what he’d look like if he was really happy all the time. Worse, I found myself wanting to make him look that way.
My stomach twisted as I watched him. The feeling of realizing I liked him was like being punched. I didn’t have good luck with guys. I didn’t want to like him. I stifled a sigh and grabbed the blanket.
I draped it over his body and leaned down to cover his arms when I suddenly found all the air knocked out of my chest and a tight arm wrapped around me. Snarling sounded from next to my ear for a second before it silenced and all the pressure on my neck disappeared.
I coughed and rolled off the couch. “What the actual fuck?”
Branson stood up and cursed. He pulled me to my feet and checked me out. “Fuck, Elizabeth. I’m sorry. I… I thought you were… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I could tell he was upset and I was still reeling from the icky feelings of liking him, or I would’ve really chewed him out. “What the hell was that? You were dead asleep and then you were trying to choke me out. Can you teach me that?”
He rubbed his hands down his face and stepped back. “No. Definitely not. What time is it?”
“Early. I was just trying to cover you up. You passed out last night.”
“Shit. I’m sorry. I was more tired than I realized, I guess. I should go.” He moved towards the door, patting his pants pockets as he went. “I’ll come back and we can talk later. I just wanted to make sure you were being safe.”
I nodded. “Sure.”
He opened the door and turned to me. “You’re cute like this. Less threatening.”
I frowned. I didn’t want to be less threatening. I didn’t want to be accessible. “I’m no less dangerous.”
Branson held my gaze and let out a small laugh. “I have no doubt of that, Elizabeth.”
He didn’t leave and I didn’t close the door. I told myself to close the door. I was sure he was going to walk away at any second. He didn’t, though. And I didn’t.
“Goodbye, Branson.” I had to make a move to send him away. He was leaving. I leaned forward, careful not to touch him anywhere else, and gently pressed my lips to his.
Those same steel arms wrapped around my back immediately. He kissed me harder, just pressing his mouth to mine. Such a simple thing, yet I felt my body reacting like it had no business reacting.
When he pulled back, I swayed. He pressed his hands to my shoulders and held me still. “Goodbye, Elizabeth.”
When he still stood there, I threw caution to the wind. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him back into my apartment. Everything started happening so fast that I wasn’t sure who was doing what.
The front door was kicked closed and my top was off in seconds. I was pressed against the wall, but I couldn’t even tell if that was all Branson, because I was clutching at his shoulders so tight.
Branson’s hands cupped my breasts, his thumbs stroking over my nipples. When I gasped, he caught my bottom lip between his teeth and bit down. His knee wedged between my thighs and rubbed against me in the best way.
I stroked my hands up and into his hair, pulling his face to mine so I could kiss him. I stroked his lips with my tongue and moaned when he parted his then and deepened the kiss. One of his hands went down to my ass and pulled my hips forward. My body rubbed against his thigh harder and I pulled his hair as wild sensations flooded my body. I’d been turned on before, I was sure, but I couldn’t remember it. I couldn’t recall ever feeling anything as intense as having Branson pressed up against me like he was.
He kissed across my jaw and down my neck. He was eager in his movements and his teeth were rough against my skin in spots, but I found that I loved it. There was a roughness to him that I couldn’t get enough of. He dropped to his knees and captured my breasts in his hands again before covering my nipple with his mouth. He used his tongue and teeth to torment me until I didn’t even know what I was saying, but I knew my mouth was moving.
Branson devoured my chest, leaving me panting and writhing between his body and the wall, before taking me by the hips and turning me around. I opened my mouth to complain when I felt his lips on my spine. He planted open-mouthed kisses down my back. His fingers slipped into my pants at my hips and slowly pushed them down. His mouth trailed lower, over my cheeks and to the cleft below them.
I cried out, my world shattering with that touch. I’d never. My mind reeled as he pushed on my lower back with his big hand, making me arch my back more, reveal more of my core to him. His tongue stroked me again and I turned to mush.
“Branson…”
He held onto my hips, his fingers digging into my skin, as he curled h
is tongue and pushed it into me. The sensation was wild. I was helpless, my fingers sliding against the smooth surface of the wall, finding no purchase. I arched my back even more and spread my legs, needing him even more. Branson didn’t disappoint. He flatted his tongue and stroked from my core to my clit, then back again.
My heart raced and I couldn’t catch my breath as pleasure skyrocketed through me. I’d never had it easy coming for men, but there I was, plastered against the wall, so close that I felt like dying for it.
Suddenly, he pulled back and bit the sensitive skin of my ass. When I whined, he turned me around again and looked up at me with such hunger in his eyes. “Patience.”
I grabbed his hair and shook my head. “I’ve been patient. I’ve wanted this since I saw you in that coffee shop. Stop playing hard to get.”
His slow grin was too sexy for words. “I saw you first. And I didn’t think it was possible for you to get sexier, but I was wrong.”
I shifted my hips, trying to get closer to him. “I need you.”
He easily lifted my leg and rested my thigh on his shoulder. “You’ll have me.”
I let out a startled shriek as he buried his face between my legs and stroked me with his strong tongue. He found the right angle and slowly fucked me like that, his hot tongue rigid in me. I was right back on the ledge again that quickly.
He pulled away again and looked up at me. “Bedroom. Now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I stepped out of my pants and hurried across to room. I crawled up the bed and leaned across to fish a condom out of my side table.
“Fuck.” Branson’s voice was deeper, husky.
I looked back and found him standing at the end of the bed, staring at me. I flashed him a smile and then bit my lip. “I want to see you.”
I watched as the flame in his eyes dimmed, but he gritted his teeth and yanked his shirt over his head. Seeing the angry-looking scars that marked his body, laced across and around all the tattoos that he’d been hiding, hit me hard. I felt a flash of irrational anger at whoever had done that to him, but it didn’t change anything. I wanted him.
Black Dog Security- Complete 5-Part Series Page 26