by Elle Boon
“Don’t get too cocky. You still gotta face her mother.” Hal shuddered for effect. Mrs. Evans reminded him of a mother bear protecting her cub. He appreciated the fact that Felicity was loved, but if he had his way, she would know him as her protector, too.
Brax nodded. “Did you check the internet for what she looked like?”
“I saw her driver’s license photo the night of the attack, but I couldn’t bring myself to do an internet search.” He was sweating like a whore in church the closer he got to her home.
He’d start out searching, each time deleting the words before he could finish and pull up a picture of her face. His heart and mind already recognized her, the beast within him was calmer than he’d been in the months since the attack. The only reason he’d been able to function without going crazy was the constant fires they’d been battling. Now, as they drove down the perfectly landscaped drive, he wondered if he’d made the right decision. Mr. and Mrs. Evans home had to be at least ten thousand square feet, meaning Felicity wasn’t your average working girl.
“Good lord. Your woman is richer than them 90210 families,” Brax said.
Hal grunted. “I feel like I’m on my first date.”
“Does that make me your daddy or your chauffeur?” Brax’s sense of humor lightened the mood.
Raising his hand, Hal scratched the side of his face, making sure his middle finger was extended.
“Classy, Aldridge.”
They pulled into the circular drive and came to a smooth stop. Hal was glad they’d chosen a sedan instead of opting for the sports car Brax wanted. An inner sense had told Hal they’d need all the weapons to impress the Evans, having a car that screamed playboy would’ve been a nail in his already built coffin he feared, or at least in Mrs. Evans eyes. “That’s me, a class act.”
He opened the car door and strode to the massive double entryway shielding him from his woman. Hal stumbled as the thought popped into his head.
“You gonna ring the doorbell, or you want me to do it?” Brax asked.
“Shit, don’t yell, Brax.” Hal pushed the button, waiting for a servant to answer. He was unprepared for the beautiful sight that pulled the huge door open. His breath lodged in his throat as he stared down at sparkling green eyes. The young woman couldn’t be more than early twenties, heck he wondered if she was still a teenager.
“Can I help you?” Her raspy voice had chills racing down his neck straight to his dick.
Hal opened and closed his mouth. “I’m looking for Felicity.”
When he said her name he watched her swift intake of breath. Her tan skin appeared to pale, and her hand came up to touch his face. “Are you real?”
He covered her hand with his own. “My name is Hal, and I’m definitely real.” Her fingers were fragile beneath his larger ones.
The sound of heels approaching made the woman in front of him tense. He didn’t want to release her hand, but allowed her to pull back.
“Who is it, Fliss?”
Felicity rolled her eyes. “Mother, this is the man who saved my life. I believe you’ve met him?” She kept him ensnared with her gaze, even as she spoke to her mother.
“Good afternoon, ma’am. We met previously at the 0hospital.” Brax held his hand out and waited for Mrs. Evans to take it. Hal could see the war Felicity’s mother waged at shoving them out the door or allowing them to come inside.
“Come inside, we were just getting ready for lunch. Our cook always makes enough to feed an army,” Felicity said, ushering them in and closing the door. “Mother, will you tell Maria we have two extra guests?”
“Hello, Mrs. Evans. It’s good to see you again.” Hal raised his brow.
“Mr. Aldridge, what a surprise to see you again.” She did not say it was pleasant.
“We’ll be in the garden.” Felicity reached for his hand and squeezed.
Impressed with the way she steamrolled over her mother, he ran his thumb over Felicity’s palm. The woman who he’d dubbed a drill sergeant narrowed her eyes, then turned and went back the way she’d come.
“Please tell me you’re not having cucumber sandwiches?” Brax joked as they walked down the tiled hallway.
“Nah, Maria is trying to fatten me back up. Since the…attack, I lost quite a bit of weight. Our cook seems to think it’s her job to put it back on.”
Looking at the slim woman, Hal agreed she could stand to put on some pounds. He remembered the body he’d crouched over protecting. Even under all the stress he didn’t think she was the thin creature before him. No matter her size, she called to him. Hearing her voice, he felt a calmness, a sense of rightness settle over him. She was his. He wanted her safe and healthy, above all else.
“How are you feeling?” He’d been dying to ask, but planned to wait until they were seated. His words caused her to stumble in the low heels she wore, giving him an excuse to reach out and hold her. Hal could feel the fragility beneath the thin silk of her shirt. Her ribs stuck out way too much for his liking, but her breasts were still more than a handful. He imagined palming them while he bent his head to suckle first one hard tip, and then the other.
“Are you okay?” Her question brought him out of his erotic musings. Getting a boner, probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do when you meet the woman of your dreams for the first time.
He held her chair out before answering, giving him a moment to get his mind and body under control. “Yes, I am just trying to reconcile the reality of you with who I’d…well I don’t want to say dreamt about, because that would come off sounding crazy.”
When she smiled he noticed her whiter than white teeth, but he also focused on the tightness in her jaws. The thought that she was still in pain months after her ordeal had him seeing red, and he had to fight to control his anger.
“This is all new to me as well.” She indicated her face. “There was a lot of structural damage,” she paused, “lord, I make it sound like I was a house. I guess you sort of know, since you saved me, but the surgeons had to rebuild pretty much everything. The only thing original is my eye color and my mouth. Oh, and my forehead. I think.”
Her blush spread from her cheeks down her neck. He wanted to see her flush in the throes of passion, not embarrassment.
“Felicity, your mother has said we have guests.” Mr. Evans came out the open door, a worried expression on his face.
Hal got up to greet Felicity’s father. “It’s good to see you again, under much better circumstances, sir.”
“I will owe you for the rest of my life for saving my girl. How have you been? Why didn’t you leave your information when you left?” Mr. Evans fired the questions at him one after the other.
Hal looked back at the table, then at Mr. Evans.
“Who did you bring with you?” Felicity’s father approached them.
“Mr. Evans, you remember my captain, Brax McCay.” Brax got up, shaking his hand.
“McCay, you have a great man here. Now, both of you sit down. Tell me where you disappeared to.” Mr. Evans authoritative voice amused Hal.
“Dad, please.” Felicity drew their attention.
The way she sat with her feet tucked beneath the chair, her long hair was perfectly done, Hal was beginning to rethink the smarts in coming to see her. Hell, who was he kidding? He came to claim her, after he wooed her. Maybe he should ask her out on a proper date first?
“Ah, there you are. Lunch will be served shortly. Since there are extra guests it’ll take a little extra time.” The censure was clear.
Mr. Evans waved his hand. “Who gives a hoot? I’d have food flown in if I had to. Heck, with the size of these two, we may need to have Maria make another batch.” He laughed.
“Yes, well, what can I get you to drink?” She asked the table, not looking at Hal.
“Bring us a bottle of wine. This is a celebration.” Mr. Evans slapped his hand on the table with a laugh.
As she went to walk past him, Mr. Evans grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. Hal fel
t like he was witnessing an intimate moment and turned away. He caught Felicity staring at him and couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her. He knew what she looked like before from her license, but now she was stunning. However, she’d called to him on a soul deep level even before he’d seen her. The scars from her numerous surgeries were non-existent, so much so, that it was nothing short of astonishing the way modern medicine and money could hide all traces to the naked eye.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” She whispered.
Seated in the chair closest to her, with a slight shift, he bent forward so only she could hear his words. “I’m memorizing every inch of you. For the past few months the only thing that I thought about was you, what your voice sounded like. When you were taken from the hospital and I couldn’t find where you had gone, I told myself you were fine, to let you go. No matter what my head told my heart, I couldn’t. I know that doesn’t make any sense.” He stopped before he made a complete fool of himself.
A tear fell down her cheek, and then her hand grabbed his under the table. “I kept dreaming about this larger than life man who saved me. Every day and every night I would hear your voice and I’d wake up missing someone I’ve never met. So if you’re crazy, then I’m crazy, too.”
Hal wiped her tear as her father and Brax argued over some sport. He felt that invisible tugging again and began to lean forward to see if she tasted as sweet as she looked, but stopped as they heard the unmistakable sound of her mother’s heels.
* * * *
Felicity wanted to curse her mother’s timing. She could almost taste his minty breath when he’d leaned forward. He was so much larger than her five foot six frame, easily topping out at six three or four. His blond hair was styled in a spiked way that she found sexy along with his extremely physically fit body. He was in a pair of black slacks and a light purple button down top that fit him to a T. His muscles could be seen through the material as he’d stretched to shake her father’s hand, and as he’d turned she couldn’t help but stare at his perfectly formed ass. She’d heard the girls at the boutique talk about guys with asses that you could bounce a quarter off of. Felicity had always rolled her eyes, but now she had a prime example of what they’d been talking about. Setting all those attributes aside, his best feature had to be his baby blue eyes. All she could think was the Lord must have been in a really good mood the day he’d created Hal Aldridge.
She accepted the glass of Sweet Moscato Maria had poured for all of them, waiting for her father who looked ready to make a speech. He stood from the table, glass in hand.
“A toast, to the man who saved my daughter’s life.” Felicity watched tears shimmer in her father’s eyes.
Her big Viking’s tanned skin turned a little red, endearing him even more to her.
She took a big gulp before she did something stupid, like sit on his lap and beg him to kiss her.
Within moments the kitchen staff rolled out trays with their lunch. It was the beginning of August, and although it was still relatively hot, the steaming soup was something she was looking forward to.
Hal surprised her as he filled her dish instead of allowing the staff to do it. She tried not to let her mother see how much it impressed her, knowing she’d failed as Felicia’s eyes narrowed on them. Felicity decided life was too short to let anyone take a moment of her happiness away. Looking over at the big blond man, she saw all kinds of happy reflected in his gaze.
“So, Hal, how long are you in town for?” Her dads booming voice broke into their intimate moment.
“Honestly? I don’t know, Mr. Evans.” Hal took a sip of the tomato basil soup.
“Call me Rand.”
She nearly choked on the bite of turkey she’d just eaten at her father’s words. He’d never allowed any of the guys she’d dated call him anything other than Mr. Evans. Of course, they’d never saved her life before.
“How about you, Brax?” Her father asked.
She looked at the man who came with Hal, really taking in his features for the first time. His last name suggested Irish, but his dark hair and eyes, along with his dark skin, she wasn’t sure what his nationality was. As if he felt her gaze on him, he turned liquid brown, almost black, eyes on her. Felicity felt like she was drowning in the dark pools.
“Cut it out, Braxton.” Hal growled.
“You’re trying to figure out what I am, yes? I’ll save you a few seconds. I’m what is commonly described as Irish Gypsy. My ancestors go all the way back to Ireland, with a whole lot of mixing sprinkled in. I guess some say Black Irish.” He shrugged massive shoulders.
“My mother was named after the town of Felicia California when her own mother was on a caravan. They’d stopped there because my grandma went into labor, and because it’s supposed to be the exact center of the world, my grandparents called their daughter Felicia after the town. They said she was the center of their world.” Felicity smiled across the table at the sweet look on her mom’s face.
“I know what that feels like.” Hal agreed.
Felicity coughed into her napkin, and then swiftly changed the subject. Sitting close to Hal she swore his heat seeped into her pores. A shiver stole over her.
“Are you cold?” Hal asked, pushing back from the table, he took his suit jacket off and draped it over her shoulders.
She didn’t have the heart, nor the want, to tell him no. The action brought him close enough that his body rubbed against hers. Goodness, but he smelled divine.
Throughout the rest of the meal she inhaled his masculine scent, and something settled within her. Never had she wanted a man the way she did Hal Aldridge.
“Thank you for the lovely meal, mom. I’m going to take Hal and Brax on a tour of the Hills. If you’d both like to go, that is?” Her girlie parts heated at the thought of spending time with him.
Hal’s hand covered hers where she had bunched the cloth napkin on the table. “I’d love to go with you, but Brax has to go back to the hotel. He needs to check in with base and call his daughter.”
“Oh, you have a daughter? What’s her name?” Felicity asked.
His dark eyes looked at her with true happiness. “Lita, and she’s sixteen years old.”
“Oh, I remember Felicity at that age,” Felicia said.
“Yes, well we must be going.” Felicity was the first to get up from the table. Her mother could, and would, go on and on about the mistakes she’d made as a teen.
“Thank you for the lovely meal, Mrs. Evans. It was wonderful seeing you again, Mr. Evans, I mean, Rand.” Hal shook the older man’s hand.
Felicity walked with them to the front door. “Brax, can you make it back or would you like to follow Hal and me? It’ll only take me a moment to get my car out of the garage.” She didn’t look at her mother as she asked the question.
“I’ll be fine, the car has GPS. I’ll see you back at the hotel in a couple hours, Hal. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, it was a pleasure seeing you both again. Felicity, I’m very happy to finally meet the young woman who has had the big guy here twisted up in knots.”
She smiled, hoping he was telling the truth.
“I’ll go get my car, unless you want to walk with me.” Felicity looked up at him, sure he could see her heart beating through her blouse.
Hal’s arm came behind her. “Lead the way, no way am I letting you out of my sight. You might disappear on me.”
When he flashed a toothy grin his dimples made him appear boyish. The fact her parents watched them walk away didn’t matter. Nothing did, because she was finally getting to spend time with the man behind the voice. Felicity didn’t admit to anyone, but during the dark times, before the bandages had come off her eyes, the only thing that kept her sane was focusing on the timber of her mystery man’s voice. She’d replay the way he’d called her ma petite, and pretend he was watching over her.
Five minutes later they were pulling out of the garage, Hal looking comfortable in her Mercedes convertible. He had to adjust the seat so it was pushed a
ll the way back. “Are you sure you’re not too cramped?” Felicity asked.
“My knees aren’t even touching the dash,” Hal joked.
By the time they reached downtown LA, Felicity had told him stories about her life, and listened to him talk of growing up in North Dakota. She loved his slight northern accent, especially his cute wordage. She’d never thought of big men with deep voices sounding quite so tender, but her Viking was.
She could picture herself with him, and that really scared her. What did she really know about him other than the few things they’d shared on the drive over?
“You’ve gotten awfully quiet. What’s bothering you, sweetheart?” He placed his hand on her thigh.
At the stoplight, with the sun going down, she looked over in the low dim light. His eyes were trained on her, and she knew her heart already belonged to him. When he left, and he would leave, he’d take it with him. Felicity planned to make every moment she had with him count.
“I know I said I’d show you around town, but how would you like to see my apartment?” Felicity had to take her eyes off his as the light turned green.
“We can do whatever you want.” His fingers tightened.
She nodded, navigating the short distance to the high rise she called home. The security to get into the parking garage was topnotch, as was the ability to access the lift. Her parents made sure she was protected when she moved out two years ago. Swiping the key card across the scanner, it seemed to take forever before the gate was raised, but Hal’s steady presence kept her grounded. As they rolled inside, she pushed the button to bring the top up on the convertible, his intoxicating scent filled the vehicle.
Her parking spot was near the elevator on the upper deck of the lot. She quickly backed into the space like she’d been taught in her defensive driving class.
Hal climbed out first, surprising in his quickness for such a large man and opened her door. “Thank you.” She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.
“My pleasure, ma petite.”