Protecting His Home

by Ember Davis

  I shrug, “Where’d the fun be in that?”

  Beckett steps even closer and wraps an arm around my waist and splays his hand open on the small of my back, holding me firmly in place. He runs his nose along my neck. “Fuck, Amelia. You smell so good.” I shiver in his arms and he kisses right under my ear. “I missed you.”

  Damn it, the yearning and longing in his voice does me in and I feel the walls I painstakingly erected crumble around me. I sigh, “I missed you too, which is crazy, right?”

  He pulls back and looks into my eyes with so much affection that it makes my knees weak. “No, Baby, that’s not crazy.” He studies my face, “I want you to know I really am sorry about the way I treated you at my shop. I know you were just being nice to Troy and Walsh, but it pissed me off because I knew you were mine the moment I heard you laugh when you and Andrea were coming into my shop.”

  My eyebrows knit together. What the fuck is he talking about? I guess I may have laughed outside, but how did he hear me? That’s all it took for him to want me? To know I am his? What universe is this?

  Beckett grins down at me, “I was outside grabbing my daytime cig and heard you laugh. I’ve never had that kind of reaction to a woman’s laugh before or reaction to anything like that before. When I came in and you and Troy were being flirty, it brought me back to my cheating ex.” I go to open my mouth, but he cuts me off. “I knew I didn’t have the right to be upset about it, that I didn’t even know your name, but it still pissed me off which freaked me out a little bit.”

  I nod slowly, “I’m not your ex. I’ve never cheated on anyone or on anything in my life.”

  Beckett cups my cheek with his other hand, “I know, Baby.” He cocks his head to the side and gives me a small smile, “I’m not your ex either. Whoever he was and whatever he did, I promise you that I’m not him.”

  I sigh and I feel Beckett pull me closer. I grip the sides of his henley. “Touché.”

  His hand cupping my cheek pushes back into the hair at the nape of my neck. He looks into my eyes earnestly, the green of his eyes is like an adventure I’ve always wanted to go on. “Do you think we could start over, Amelia? I really want to start over.”

  I shake my head slowly and I watch his face fall. “We can’t start over Beckett, what happened did happen.” His shoulders slump slightly and the look in his eyes almost breaks my heart. “We can forgive and move forward, though. I can forgive your grumpy bullshit and snapping at me. You can forgive my over enthusiastic fakeness.” I shrug, “That’s not really who I am.”

  His smile is so full of hope and joy that it makes my breath hitch. “Nothing to forgive, Baby. You were just doing your best to make the most of an uncomfortable situation that you shouldn’t have been put in in the first place.” He grips my hair just a little tighter and I almost melt into him completely, he smirks down at me. “You sure you can forgive and move forward? I’d really like that.”

  He licks his lips and I track the movement, nodding slowly at whatever he just asked me. Though, I’m not sure I could repeat it at the moment. I murmur, “Uh huh. I’d really like that, too.”

  He tilts my head back slightly and glances between my eyes and my lips. I bite my lip and he groans softly. “I’m going to kiss you now, Amelia. If you have any objections, now is the time to tell me.”

  Objections? What the hell does that word even mean? I’m pretty sure if he doesn’t kiss me, I’m going to explode. I slide my hands around his torso and up his back. He grins and then crashes his lips against mine.

  If I thought him touching my wrist was like lighting, this is like an electric storm. All the lightning. I gasp and he takes the opportunity to slip is tongue into my mouth and explore. Just as I’m about to deepen the kiss even more, cheers and hollers erupt around us and I blush.

  Beckett pulls back slowly before kissing me chastely one more time and I whisper, “Everyone’s watching us, aren’t they?”

  “Yup,” he responds, and he pops the p.

  I open my eyes slowly and bury my face in Beckett’s chest. Oh, and what a chest it is. He chuckles and I feel it all the way in my toes. He gives me a little squeeze and then addresses the group.

  “Okay, show’s over guys.”

  Troy and Walsh rush us and wrap their arms around us and mock cry. Troy jokes, “That was beautiful guys.”

  Beckett laughs and pushes them off us. Beckett pulls me into his side and looks down at me, “You want a beer, Baby?”

  I smile up at him, “That’d be great.”

  He squeezes my hip and then saunters over to the cooler. Fuck, he has more swagger now. The confidence and relief coming off him is hot as fuck.

  Dex catches my eye from the deck and gives me a huge smile and pumps his fist. Beckett shakes his head and opens a beer for each of us. He hands me mine and wraps his arm around me, his hand resting on my hip.

  I smile up at him, “Thank you.”

  Beckett smiles at me and winks. Walsh and Troy are still standing with us in the kitchen. They look like little kids on Christmas morning. While I know they’re excited about this development between Beckett and I; I also know there’s more to their excitement.

  Beckett gives me a questioning look, but I just give him a big smile in return.

  Troy tries to be diplomatic, “So…I’m glad we got that out of the way.”

  Beckett gives my hip a little squeeze and I take a drink from my beer.

  Walsh has no such pretense; he rubs his hands together. “Sweetcheeks, you know why we’re here. I got my papers out, I’d be happy to roll up a joint.” He drops to his knees and raises his hands like he’s praying and pleads, “Please, please, please.”

  I reach into my purse and fish out the little jar. I hold it out to him, “I’ll tell you what, roll up two and we’ll go from there.” He goes to take it from me, but I snatch it back before he can get his fingers on it and he pouts. “I’m trusting you to be responsible.”

  I let him take it from my hands and he shoots me a huge smile and he clutches it to his chest. “Oh yes, my precious.” He hops up off the floor. “Not to worry, Sweetcheeks, we’re not freeloaders. Dex picked up today and we all chipped in already.” He heads back toward the living room, but adds over his shoulder, “I’ll roll up and then the rest will be returned to you.”

  Beckett whispers in my ear, “You can trust the guys. What was that, anyway?”

  I smile up at him, “I know I can. It’s just fun to mess with them.” I wink at him and he grins. I nod toward the living room, “It’s a new hybrid of clementine and purple punch called Mimosa. We just got it in the shop and it’s not even being sold yet, but I get the first bit to try out so I can post about it on social media and train the staff on it. I already told the guys that if they post about it then they have to tag the shop.”

  He grins at me and starts leading me toward the living room. “We better get seats then.” He sighs, “It’s really awesome that you work at Green Space and that you smoke.”

  Something about the way he says it tugs at me, “Your ex wasn’t a fan, huh?” He shakes his head and I wrap my arm around his waist. “Hmmm, neither was mine so I get it. It was a big point of contention actually.”

  As we walk out of the kitchen we pass by Olivia and Mr. Serious. Beckett stops and nods toward them. “Amelia, you didn’t get a chance to meet the other day, this is Zeke.”

  I smile “Hey, nice to meet you.” He gives a nod and his lips turn up slightly at the ends.

  Olivia gives a bright smile and gives my shoulder a squeeze and a little squeal. “I’m so glad you guys worked it out. You’re so cute together.”

  I blush and smile. “Thanks. Oh! Since I didn’t know I was coming here tonight, I gave Andrea your hats to give to you tomorrow.”

  “Awesome! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to see them.”

  Zeke asks me, “So, you were in the shop the other day?” I nod in response. “Did you get a tattoo?”

  I shake my head and point towa
rd Andrea, “No, I was just there for support. Andrea got one though. She’ll be starting tomorrow as the new office manager for the shop.”

  Zeke looks over at Andrea and nods his head slowly. “I’ve heard. That’s cool, we’ve needed one.” He looks back at me, “Olivia told me you work at Green Space.”

  “Yup,” I grin, “I’m the manager there, which means I just corral stoners most of the time.”

  Zeke smiles, a real, not Mr. Serious smile, and I’m taken aback for a moment. His smile makes him look younger and fucking gorgeous. “Best shop in the city by far.”

  “Thank you! Walsh is rolling up some new stuff that we’ve never sold before. I had the inside scoop on it.”

  Olivia races out of the room with that news, pulling Zeke behind her. Beckett chuckles. When we get to the living room, there’s only one empty seat around the coffee table. It’s a slightly oversized chair, but I’m still pretty sure that Beckett and I can’t fit onto it together.

  Beckett takes my hand and entwines our fingers and leads me over to the chair. He nods toward it and gives my hand a little squeeze.

  I shrug, “I don’t mind standing.”

  He gives me a look and shakes his head, “Sit.”

  I part of me wants to scoff at his order, but another part of me knows that he’s just being considerate. That part of me wins and I sit down and wedge my purse in the chair next to me. Beckett plops down on the floor next to me and uses one side of the chair to lean back against and his long legs stretch out underneath he coffee table. He looks over his shoulder and smiles up at me like he’s just happy that I’m there.

  He wraps an arm around my leg and his fingers trail over the skin at my ankle. I have never known my ankle to be an erogenous zone, but right now I swear I feel every brush of his fingers against my clit. What the hell?

  I pull his beanie off his head and he looks back at me in surprise. I grin and shrug as I tuck his hat into my purse. He runs his fingers through his hair, but even though it’s been in a hat for who knows how long it only makes him look sexily disheveled. I bet his hair is soft.

  Walsh finishes rolling up and tosses my little jar to Beckett who hands it to me so I can tuck it away. Walsh gives me a wink and sparks up the first joint. I let myself enjoy the conversations and good-natured ribbing going on around me that only happens when you’re amongst a group of good friends.

  The joint makes it to me and of course, I partake, I mean I’m the one that brought it. I pass it off to Beckett who gives me a huge smile. I hear a few people commenting on the strain and I make sure to pay attention to their comments. This is like the perfect focus group for new product.

  In the past I’ve usually felt uncomfortable at parties and never really knew what to do with myself. I force myself when working, but I secretly hate small talk. While I’ll carry on a conversation, I don’t always feel the need to fill all the silence. Even with the party going on around us, I don’t feel pressured to fill the silence between me and Beckett, which is a totally new sensation. It’s nice.

  Before I even realize it, my fingers are idly running through the hair at the back of his head. It feels nice; more than nice. It feels comfortable. It feels right. Is this right? My fingers falter for a moment and Beckett gives me a questioning look.

  “Sorry, I didn’t even realize I was doing that,” I try to deflect and pull my hand back.

  He shrugs and grins, “Don’t be sorry, I like you touching me.”

  I blush but need to change the subject. “Thanks, by the way, for posting that picture of you in the hat. I’ve gotten some orders out of it and even a few people have come into the shop just to buy a beanie which never happened before.”

  He gives me a huge smile and I think I literally swoon. Crap, who am I right now? I finish my beer to cover my swooning. Because apparently, I’m someone who needs to hide my swoons now.

  He gives a little shrug, “It was the least I could do, and it really is the best hat I’ve ever had.”

  I cock my head to the side, assessing him, “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

  He gives me a shy smile, “It fits really great and it’s cozy, but the best thing about it is that you made it.”

  I return his shy smile. “That’s really sweet.”

  It looks like he’s about to say something else, but the joint makes its way back to us and I notice that it only has a few more hits left in it. I give Beckett’s shoulder a squeeze, “I’m going to take this out to Dex since he’s on the grill.” Beckett smiles and releases my leg.

  I stand and catch Walsh’s eye and point to the other joint he rolled. “Beckett sparks the next one.” Beckett grins up at me and I motion with my fingers that I’m keeping my eyes on Walsh, who just laughs and passes the unlit joint and a lighter across the coffee table to Beckett.

  I nod toward the empty beer bottle Beckett put on the coffee table, “You want another on my way back?”

  “You sure? I can get up and grab one.”

  I shake my head and smile, “I’ll grab it. I’ll be right back.” I point to my seat, “Guard my seat.”

  He gives me a huge smile and that swooning issue is back, damn it. “Of course, Baby. Thank you.”

  I catch the questioning look Troy shoots Beckett as I turn and head toward the kitchen. I hear Beckett explain, “She’s taking the last few hits out to Dex since he’s making food.”

  Troy chuckles, “Of course she is.” He gives a sigh of contentment, “We needed someone to take care of us.”

  Right before I head outside, I’m pretty sure I hear Beckett say, “Yeah, she’s perfect.”

  It puts a huge smile on my face, only matched by the grateful grin Dex gives me as I sidle up next to him and hand him the last of the joint.

  CHAPTER 6

  BECKETT

  Fucking hell, I hate Amelia walking away from me, but it is the best fucking view I’ve ever had. Her oversized sweater covers most of her ass in those jeans. Still, she couldn’t hide those mouthwatering curves, even if she wanted to, with the way her sweater clings to them. I take the joint from Walsh and light it up before passing it. Hopefully Amelia will be back right on time for it to make it back to her.

  She looks stunning tonight. She didn’t cake on makeup and doesn’t look overdone. She looks simple, natural and cozy. She looks like home. Fucking perfect.

  I have to admit, I have been going a little crazy over the last five days since she was in my shop. I’ve gotten a lot of traffic on my selfie post in her hat and I’ve been hoping that it was equating to orders for her and interest in her work. She deserves it.

  When she told me that she’d gotten some orders and sold more beanies at her shop, fuck, that warmed my heart and made me feel fucking giddy. I know the guys are all jealous of my hat and I bet it won’t take long before they’re hounding her for their own.

  I have to say it kind of stung to know that she had accepted everyone else’s social media requests but hadn’t responded to mine. I understood, I hadn’t earned that right yet. Still stung. You better believe that by the end of the night I’m going to get my hands on her phone. I’ll make sure all my contacts are entered and our social media is synced up. She’s mine and she damn well knows it.

  I was so desperate that I went by Green Space two nights ago looking for her before meeting up with the crew for our regular Friday beer night. I knew they had been trying to get her to agree to meet up with us, but she had been firm in her no. It was driving me up the wall. I hoped that maybe I would catch her before she left work for the day and I would be able to talk her into going out. I didn’t want another night at the bar without her by my side. Really, I wanted her by my side all the time.

  That shit about absence making the heart grow fonder? Totally real. I have been snapping at my friends. I wasn’t sleeping very well. I couldn’t fully concentrate on my art, unless I was drawing her which I’ve done quite a few more times. I even started a painting of her. I just couldn’t get her beautiful smile and face out of m
y mind. I swear I was hearing her voice in random places, too. Every time the door to my shop opened, I was hoping it was her. I was a mess.

  This morning at the shop the guys finally had enough. I explained to them that I tried to get in touch with her and that I had even sent her a message on her business account but that she didn’t respond. That’s when Dex reminded us about his BBQ tonight. I could see the wheels turning in Troy’s scheming mind.

  It didn’t take much for Troy to recruit Walsh into his wild plans of kidnapping Amelia and bringing her to the party, whether she wanted to or not. Walsh reached out to Andrea, who was more than happy help my hooligan friends with their plan. Not that I was complaining, I wanted to see her. No, I needed to see her, fucking badly.

  They joked about ski masks and handcuffs, but I told them that would be a horrible idea and to not, under any circumstance, use either. I warned them that if they did, I’d kick both their asses. The mischievous smiles on their faces when they headed out of the shop before picking up Andrea and implementing Operation Get Beckett’s Girl told me that they may not listen to me.

  Once I got to Dex’s house, it felt like I was waiting forever for them to arrive, but I know it was about an hour since we closed the shop and they went on their mission. I tried to keep myself busy and helped Dex get the burgers ready to go on the grill and puttered around in the kitchen. It took all my willpower not to sit on the front steps waiting for them.

  The moment I saw Troy and he gave me a shit eating grin; I knew they were successful. My fucking palms started sweating. Let me tell you, I’ve never ever, ever had that sort of reaction to a woman. Not even when I was a teenager. I was always calm and cool, but not with Amelia. I wanted to feel that lightning again so badly. I wanted to make sure that what I was feeling was real and that I wasn’t alone in it.

  Then she walked into the kitchen and I almost swallowed my tongue. Count on Troy to cut through the tension like only he can. He’s a good friend. Which he made abundantly clear when he made a swift retreat from the kitchen.

  I can’t describe the relief I felt when she smiled up at me. It was the green light I needed to touch her. Touching her is addictive and her bared shoulder was calling out to me. I couldn’t stop myself from burying my face in the crook of her neck, she smells so good. Delicious. Apples and vanilla.