by Marie Skye
"So, when you said you had to go, was it so you could send me memes all day?"
He laughed. "The memes were bonus points. I actually had somewhere I had to be. Hold on one sec." I heard his voice get muffled, and voices in the background. Female voice from the sound of it. Weirdly enough I felt myself getting jealous.
He came back on the phone, right when I heard someone yell, "Bye babe!" in an all too stickily sweet voice. My stomach turned.
"Sorry about that. What were we saying?"
He already forgot. Figures. "It wasn't important. Sounds like you had a good night after work." I was hoping I didn't sound jealous, and, why should I? We weren't dating and never would be. Just because he held my hair back while I puked and took care of me, and made me feel safer than any guy ever did, didn't mean we were dating, or that I had feelings for him. We're friends. He can fuck whoever he wants, and so could I.
"Yeah. I was able to relieve some stress. It was nice."
Oh, I bet he relieved some stress, alright. What's her name, Sasha? She sounded like a Sasha. Maybe Veronica. Geez, I needed to get a grip.
“So, what else did you do today, Gwen? Did you get some rest like I told you to?”
Damn he was bossy. I rolled my eyes. “Off and on. I was busy.”
“Is that so? Doing what?”
Fucking an Adonis that’s what. “Just hanging around. Making plans with the girls, that’s all, amongst other things.”
“Other things, huh?”
“Yep.” I faked a yawn. “I should go, you probably have more stress you should be getting back to.”
I heard him sigh. “Sweet dreams, Gwen.”
I clicked off without saying goodnight. Why the hell was I jealous? I threw the blanket off me, and stared at the ceiling. Fuck these feelings. Fuck them hard.
Nine
Hawkins
“How many men do you want?”
I did a mental calculation in my head. Knowing Grayson, he would want to be over the top. “At least twelve. I’m not taking any chances.” I knew that was about six more men, then what I needed, but after everything that went down with Carson, and Grayson damn near losing Emmalin when she got shot in the chest, he practically had the words ‘her safety comes first’ tattooed on my chest.
“I want to see their credentials first. I don’t want any half-assed shitballs coming my way. If they can’t even be up to par to my expectations, then don’t even fucking bother sending them my way. And if you so much as suggest Sanders, after that stunt he pulled six months ago, you might as well kick your own ass right now. I’m not dealing with his shit again, Garrison.”
Garrison held up his hands. “Hey I hear ya, but that wasn’t my doing. Sanders was a cocky shit bag.
I smirked. “A cocky shit bag that almost got himself killed. Although that would’ve done everyone a favor if he had gotten himself killed. Piece of shit.”
I focused on my upcoming assignment.
“Rebecca’s in town.”
I froze.
“And?”
Garrison, lightly chuckled as he got up and headed for the door. “Just thought you would want to know that’s all.”
I turned my attention back to the screen, and shut my eyes. Fuck. Of all the names for him to bring up. Rebecca and I had history. Hated fuck history. We’d dated on and off for three years before we finally said fuck it and got married. That lasted six months, before she decided fucking her business partner was an important aspect of our marriage.
The last time Rebecca was back in town we spent three hours fucking. That’s all there is between us. Fucking. Nothing more. We do it because we’re familiar with each other. As if right on cue, my phone buzzed.
Rebecca: I’m available.
I smirked. Of course, she was. She always was, when she hit the windy city. I had no doubt her husband knew she was fucking around on him, but he was too much of a pussy to stand up to her. She had a standing reservation at The Langham, because I wouldn’t dare use one of Grayson’s hotels. That was too fucking dangerous, so I settled elsewhere. I stared at my phone. All I had to do was text back, and no matter what she was doing, she would stop doing it, and be in her room, in whatever position I told her to be, because she wanted to fuck.
But, I didn’t want to fuck her. Not even a little bit. In fact, fucking her after she destroyed me, was the worst thing I ever did. Scratch that. Marrying her was the worst decision I ever made. And now, the thought of her made my skin crawl. There was only one person I wanted in my bed. One person I wanted spread out before me, as I watched her beg, until she couldn’t fight it anymore.
I sighed as I got hard merely thinking of Gwen. Fuck. But I couldn’t, I would be too much for her. Yet the thought of another man going anywhere near her made me want to put a bullet through their brain, and I had the means to do it.
I was taking a huge risk, leading security for their girls’ night, and I knew it. I had a job to do, and had to put that first, not watch Gwen, and try not to beat the shit out of any guy that so much as looked at her. I could do this. I would do this. I replied back to Rebecca.
Me: No
Then blocked her number.
Ten
Gwen
“You are not wearing that!”
I looked down at the black shorts I was wearing, with fishnet stockings, with a black sheer top, then back up at Isabella.
“Why not? Black is slimming.”
She rolled her eyes, dragging me into her bedroom. “I don’t know why you think you’re huge, Gwen. You’re not. You have an amazing body. You’re curvy. I would kill for this ass!” I yelped as she smacked my ass. “You know people actually pay for an ass like this? People actually pay for ass implants, and you have it! Let that sink in.”
Emmalin giggled as she pulled her dress down. “She’s right, you know. You do have an amazing body Gwen, I don’t know how many times we have to tell you. Plus, you’ve lost weight since I first met you, and you didn’t even need to. You’re perfect.”
Isabella came back into the room, shoving a dress at me. “Here. Take what you’re wearing off, and put this on.”
My mouth dropped to the floor, as I held the dress up. I started to laugh. “You’re kidding, right? Where’d you get this? This won’t even fit me!”
“Put it on, Gwen. You just might be surprised; I have a knack for these things.”
I hesitated as I slowly undressed and held the red dress out in front of me as if it were going to bite me. It was beautiful, but there was no way in hell this thing was going to fit. Oh well.
Three minutes later, I was practically gawking at myself in front of the mirror. Isabella and Emmalin were standing behind me, and Isabella zipped me up with ease. The red dress fell mid-thigh, with a deep scalloped V neck, and it hugged me in all the right places.
“I told you,” Isabella whispered.
I finally swallowed, looking at her in the mirror. “What size is this?”
She shrugged, as she held out a pair of shoes to me. “What size do you think?”
I turned, so I could look at myself from behind. “I don’t know. I normally wear a fourteen.”
She smiled, holding up some jewelry. “That’s a size ten, doll. You’re swimming in your clothes, and you don’t even know it.”
I looked back at myself in the mirror. Emmalin came up behind me. With her wearing all white, and me wearing all red, she looked the part of the angel and me the devil. She smiled. “You’re a fucking goddess, Gwen.” My eyes lit up, as I slowly exhaled. I think for the first time tonight, I was going to have some fun.
Eleven
Hawkins
“How much longer?”
I chuckled at the voice coming through my ear piece. “ETA two minutes, sir.” I heard him sigh. Grayson was losing his patience. I stood outside of ELM, waiting for the car to pull up with Emmalin and the girls. The club was almost at capacity, which unnerved Grayson even more.
“Perimeter been checked?”
“Thank fuck,” I heard Grayson mumble.
I stood outside the car, and smiled as I heard loud singing of…The Spice Girls, followed by laughter. I stood to the side, as the driver opened the door, as they each came out.
“Emmalin, I’m your head security tonight. Everyone has already been briefed, and they’re to follow my lead.”
“Thank you, Hawkins. You’ve met Isabella. This is Gwen.” I nodded at Isabella, then paused at Gwen, as I slowly looked her up and down. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Gwen’s eyes met mine briefly before she looked away. I glanced back at Emmalin, whose eyes narrowed at mine, and I cleared my throat and straightened.
“As, I’ve said, I’ll be on watch.” I motioned for the door as I followed them inside. As I walked behind them it took everything in me not to stare at Gwen’s luscious ass. When the fuck did she all of a sudden have an ass? I knew she had an ass, but she chose this night of all nights to show it off! Is she trying to kill me?
As we made our way through the club, I was already on guard. I counted one, two, three guys that had already turned their gazes onto Gwen, while she laughed with Emmalin and Isabella. The good thing she was completely oblivious at the moment, but for how long?
An hour later, I was standing off to the side, teeth gritted as the girls danced in the middle of the club. I had Grayson throwing a fit in my ear about what clothes Emmalin wasn’t wearing, and some wise ass, coming up on Gwen. I swear to fuck if he grabbed her one more time, I was going to lose my shit. Damn, I needed to focus. Wait…where the fuck was Emmalin? Where the fuck was Emmalin?! Oh, she’s standing beside me.
“Having a good time, Hawk? Do people call you Hawk?” I kept my eyes forward. Good, she’s drunk.
“Sometimes,” I answered.
She let out a soft sigh. “I can give it to you.”
“What the fuck?!” Grayson was screaming in my ear and I cringed as I lowered the volume discreetly. I gazed at Emmalin. She started to take a small step back, and began to sway, and I reached out to grab her.
“Thanks. Gwen—I can give you her number.” My eyes shot over to where Gwen was standing, next to some dumb fuck trying to dance with her.
“What makes you think I want her number?”
Her mouth dropped. “Um, let’s see. You can’t stop staring at her. I mean, unless she has something hanging from her teeth, which she doesn’t, she’s obviously fucking gorgeous. She’s single. You’re single...wait, you’re single, right?” I nodded. “Okay, you’re single.” She suddenly stopped talking, and sighed. “She’s really nice.”
I smiled. “And you’ve had enough to drink.”
She rolled her eyes. “You sound like Grayson. He’s here, isn’t he?”
I didn’t say anything. “Fine, don’t answer. If he’s here, tell him to come dance with me, otherwise he can watch me dance with someone else.”
I chuckled, because we both knew, that was a way to get a reaction out of him. Thirty seconds later, I had a direct order from boss man.
“Leave your post, I’ll take it from here.”
Thank fuck.
I headed back up to VIP, where Gwen and Isabella had gone. First thing I saw was some asshole sidling up to Gwen. She smiled kindly at him, but she clearly looked uncomfortable. I waved Brody over. "Get him the fuck out of here. Now," I said through gritted teeth. Brody looked over at Gwen.
"She doesn't..."
Before he could say anymore, I dug my pistol into his back. "I said now." I made sure to emphasize each word. Brody nodded, making his way over to Gwen and the asshole. My eyes cut to Garrison, who was laughing, and I heard him speak through my ear.
"Real smooth, Hawkins."
I shrugged my shoulders. "There's too many people in VIP. It's a security violation."
"Right. When the person you're keeping watch on is with the boss."
"Fuck you, Garrison. I didn't ask for your opinion." Before he could even respond, I cut his line. Brody escorted asshole out, and I made my way over to Gwen. She watched me walk over, and her face blushed, as she stared at the ground. I hated when she did that.
"Hey."
"Hey," she answered breathlessly. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes on her eyes, and not letting them trail down her body.
"He won't be bothering you anymore."
She softly shook her head. "He wasn't bothering me."
I stepped closer. "Well, he was bothering me."
I watched her throat, as she swallowed, and she slowly trembled, as she licked her lips. Son of a bitch. "Why is that?" she softly whispered out.
I arched a brow as I stepped closer to her, as I brushed up against her. "I think you know why." I leaned into her, where only she could hear me. "But in case you don't," I whispered. "I don't like any man near you, because it makes me fucking jealous, but at the same time, it makes me hard as fuck." I pressed up against her, and she gasped. "And you want to know why? Because they want something they can't have, and that's not going to happen. If any man so much as touches you, I'll kill them. You're not theirs."
I smiled at the heavy breathing in my ear. I leaned back. "You look hot as fuck by the way." Her cheeks reddened again. I liked making her blush. I wanted to see what else I could make blush. She damn near matched her dress.
I suddenly paused as Grayson came through my ear piece. "We're heading up."
"Yes, sir."
I righted myself, as I looked around the vicinity. I was working, after all. Right when I was about to step away from Gwen, Grayson's voice came through again. "Emmalin, asked if you would join the party, Hawkins?"
I smiled. "I would love to, sir."
"Consider yourself off duty. The rest of the staff remains."
"Yes, sir. Give Emmalin my thanks."
"Noted."
I turned back to Gwen, who was watching me closely. I realized I put a lot out there, without even asking her thoughts on it. Hell, for all I know, she didn't feel the same about me, as I felt for her. Before I could approach her, Isabella came over.
"Well, it was only a matter of time before Grayson crashed our girls’ night. ‘Course I'm surprised it took him this long." She slung her arm around Gwen, and stared at me. "What about you, Hawkins? Any girl fancy your eye tonight?"
My eyes darted to Gwen's. Before I could say anything, Isabella, who apparently had an attention span of a gnat when she drinks squealed as her phone vibrated, and her eyes lit up when she saw the screen. She held her phone up.
"I think I'll call it a night, ladies!"
Emmalin looked over at her. "Hey! How are you getting home?"
Isabella was already heading toward the exit. "I have a ride! Don't worry about me." She waved her hand as she headed downstairs.
Grayson snapped to security. "Walk her down, and don't leave until she's in a vehicle, and do not move until that vehicle is out of your sight."
I turned my attention back to Gwen. "We need to talk. But I need your mind with me one hundred percent."
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That would be best. I'm not exactly in the right frame of mind to make any rash decisions right now."
I looked over her shoulder as Grayson waved, signaling him and Emmalin were leaving, and nodded. "You're coming home with me."
She gasped. I don't know if it was from the shock at what I said or what. She nervously twirled a lock of hair. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, before finally looking back up at me. "I don't know if that's a good idea. Rash decision, remember?"
She was so cute. I pulled her to me. "You didn't hear me. I said you're coming home with me. I wasn't asking you." Before she had time to respond, I was already pulling her toward the door. Before we reached the exit, I took off my suit jacket and wrapped it around her. I didn't need any more men ogling her tonight. She was fucking mine.
I held her close as I waited for my car to be brought around, letting it be known she was mine. She felt so good tucked under my arm, like she belonged there. She did belong there.
Once we stepped into my apartment, she appeared nervous. I went straight into the kitchen, grabbing her a bottle of water, and led her over to the couch. "Drink this, all of it, you had a lot of alcohol tonight."
I sat on the coffee table in front of her, and started removing her shoes. She watched me closely, a bit nervous, as I undid each strap. "Were you keeping track of how many drinks I had?"
"Yes." I moved to the other heel. "You had four vodka cranberries, two shots of tequila, and a glass of cranberry juice."
I stared at her, as she looked at me with wide eyes.
"Wow," she breathed out. Then she frowned. "I didn't have cranberry juice."
"You did. I had the server make your fifth vodka cranberry, just cranberry."
She knotted her brow, as realization sank in. "I thought it tasted weak." Then the giggling took over, followed quickly by a yawn. I liked hearing her laugh.
I helped her up off the couch. "Come on, let's go to bed." When we got into my bedroom, I dimmed the lights, and she paused staring at the bed in the middle of the room.
"Um...bathroom?"
I nodded of course. Then it dawned on me, she couldn't sleep in that dress, as much as I wanted her naked. "Hold on!"
I went to the closet, grabbing a shirt, and handed it to her. "You can sleep in this. I'll just be out here." She gave me a shy smile, before disappearing into the bathroom. I put on a pair of pajamas pants I managed to find, which took some digging, since I normally sleep naked. Five minutes later, Gwen stepped out timidly, looking at me shyly. My eyes widened. I don't know what was sexier. Seeing Gwen in my shirt, that fell just mid-thigh, or that one day, hopefully soon, I would see what was under that shirt.
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