by London Hale
“But the door, beautiful. Jesus, you’re driving me crazy. You can’t just leave the door open! Anyone can walk in. Please don’t tell me you do this every day.”
“It’s the first time I’ve come down here alone since I basically moved in to your place, so, no. Not every day.” Her laughter rang in the hallway. “You are such a grumpy, overprotective bear sometimes.”
I blew out a relieved breath. “Yeah, well, I have this gorgeous girl I’d like to keep around for a very long time. I get to be an overprotective bear as long as it keeps her safe.”
When she got to the top of the stairs, she turned and stopped me with a hand to my chest, pausing me two steps below her. “I love you for being so caring, even if it can be ridiculous.”
Slipping an arm around her, I hauled her up against me and continued up the stairs. “You know how crazy it makes me to hear you say you love me?” I kissed her jaw, nibbled along the length of her neck. Bringing my lips to her ear, I brushed them along the shell. “Think I can make you come again in the time it takes for our food to get here?”
She laughed as she wrapped her legs around my hips. “I’m up for the challenge if you are.”
With a grin, I carried her into the apartment, shutting and locking the door behind us. Prepared to show her just how up for the challenge I was.
I’d never thought being in a relationship could be so freeing. Every night, I fell asleep in Connor’s bed. In his arms. And every morning, we had breakfast together before we separated to start our days. His shifts at the police station varied, but I kept busy with school and scouring the internet for potential jobs. I’d need money eventually, but I wanted to find the right position considering how long I’d been working toward my degree. Rumor’s gift would keep me afloat until I found it. Hopefully.
High on the happiness being with someone who truly cared for me offered, I danced around our bathroom as I got ready for our date night. Once I had my favorite stretchy pencil skirt on, I grabbed one of Connor’s sweatshirts I’d permanently borrowed from him and tossed it over my tank top. I loved wearing his clothes, especially when we went out. There was something comforting in knowing anyone could tell the shirts weren’t mine. That they were too big, too masculine. That I had someone who cared enough about me to share everything he had with me. Plus, his were softer than mine, and they looked amazing over my skirts.
As I finished putting on my makeup, a knock sounded at the door. Connor didn’t knock on his own door, and he wasn’t in the living room when I stepped out to see what was going on. I tiptoed across the floor, suddenly nervous. Was the person at the door an old client of mine? Had someone tracked me down? What if Dave, the last John I’d gone to see, the one I had run out on, turned me in? Connor would be furious, especially since he wasn’t with me. The man was cautious about me almost to a fault. A burly, overbearing, caring sweetheart who only wanted me safe and taken care of. And he obviously wasn’t in the apartment with me.
Shit.
“Who is it?” I yelled through the locked door, grabbing my phone just in case.
“Open up, beautiful.”
I yanked open the door, smiling up at Connor. “You scared me.”
He grabbed me, wrapping his arms around my body and pulling me in tight. “The car’s warming up, so I don’t have my keys. Sorry.”
“You’re forgiven.” I rose up to give him a kiss, one he deepened immediately. He moved his hands to my ass and pulled me off the floor, pressing me against him. Slipping his fingers under my skirt to tease the bare flesh of my thighs. Overpowering me as usual. And I loved it.
“Maybe we should stay in,” he mumbled as he moved to my neck, kissing and nibbling the length of it. Making me shiver as his cold skin brushed against my warmth.
I was tempted—so very tempted—to say yes and avoid leaving the apartment, but he’d been so excited about us going out. He was giving me an out, a chance to keep hiding from the reality outside our walls. I loved him for it, but I couldn’t give in. I had to be brave…for him. “Maybe we should go out instead, so I can tease you all night before you bring me home to that big bed of yours.”
“Mmm…not bad, but my idea gets you naked sooner.”
Charmer, for sure. Though he had a point. Still. “My idea gives us the opportunity to see how much we can get away with without anyone noticing.”
He jerked back, those sexy blue eyes of his definitely interested. “No one gets to see that look on your face when you come. No one but me.”
There he was, my overprotective bear of a man. “No one will. I’m sure there are a few convenient closets at the bar.”
He blinked, staring, then his smile grew. “Such a dirty girl. I love it. Let’s go.”
My stomach knotted, the thought of leaving the safety of the four-plex something I’d been dreading. But Connor was excited to see his friends, so I would go. And I would smile. And hopefully, I would stay as invisible as possible behind him.
We headed to the bar down the street, Connor driving the car he’d been warming up at the curb. God forbid I be cold on his watch. The bar was a local dive called The Beerhive, usually only frequented by other people who lived in the neighborhood behind the factory. There wasn’t even a sign over the door or in the parking lot—nothing lit. Instead, there was a dark plaque taller than me on the wall with the name and the shape of a beehive in gold-toned metal. If you drove by, it would look like any other squat, brick building. But this one served burgers and alcohol.
I’d never actually been inside, though Connor was a regular. He used to invite me to go with him sometimes before we’d crossed that friend-to-lover threshold, but I’d never wanted to. Being in public always carried a risk for me. What if I was recognized? What if someone had seen my picture and knew what I did for a living? What if I got caught?
Nope. I wasn’t a bar girl. But with Connor, I knew he’d make sure we had a good time.
The place wasn’t crowded when we walked inside, the high-top tables mostly empty. But there was a definite feeling of camaraderie there. Everyone hollered a hello to Connor, all eyes darting to me as he held my hand and smiled. I’d never felt so exposed.
Connor must have sensed my unease, or he simply knew I’d be uncomfortable. He yanked me right into his side, keeping his arm tight around my shoulders. Keeping me tucked in my own private nook as he escorted me across the room. As we reached the bar, he nodded at the bartender—a tall, skinny woman with bleached hair and an eyebrow ring who was wearing a Muggles Gotta Muggle tank top. I liked her immediately.
“Hey, Star. I’ll have my usual, and she’ll have a hard cider. You got the green apple ones?” He glanced down at me, his brow furrowed. “You’re still drinking the green ones, right?”
I nodded, biting back a grin. The man knew me too well.
Connor handed the bartender his card to start a tab when she brought back the bottles. I took a sip of mine, thankful for the cold crispness of the alcohol. Needing it.
“They know you’re with me,” Connor said, almost whispering into my ear. “I know every single person in this bar right now. You have any problems, you can go to any one of them, all right?”
I nodded, my face burning. But the people of the bar, the handful of men and women I’d seen over the years in the neighborhood, all smiled when our eyes met. All seemed welcoming. Accepting me immediately as Connor’s girl. A fact I took a lot of comfort in.
“Want to play Around the Clock?” Connor asked once he’d drunk about half his beer.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“C’mon, I’ll show you.” Connor grabbed my hand and led me to the back corner of the bar where three dart boards were set up. “Have you ever played?”
“No, but when I lived on the farm back home, I was pretty good with a throwing knife.”
Connor’s eyebrows shot up at that, his disbelief plain, and the telltale gleam of arousal in his eyes caught my attention.
I leaned back, cocking my head. U
nable not to give him my are-you-kidding-me look. “You cannot be that easy.”
“I’m always easy where you’re concerned.”
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed one of the darts from the case he’d set on a table. There was more heft to them than I’d have thought, but still, nothing compared to what I was used to. “What am I trying to do?”
“How about we start with you hitting the board, badass.” He leaned against a barstool, grabbing his beer and bringing it to his lips. His thick, soft, pink lips. The ones that could do such naughty things to my—
Nope. Back to the game. Hit the board. Right. I refused to get distracted by the way his shirt sleeves pulled tight across his biceps or how his pink tongue flicked out a second before the glass bottle touched his lip. I refused to fall prey to such obvious tactics.
I really should have worn jeans. I had a feeling my skirt was going to give the man ideas. Hell, if I was super honest with myself, I was looking forward to when those ideas came to life.
Focusing on the board, I gripped the dart between my fingers and thumb. Connor suddenly came up behind me, his big body pressing against mine, his hands—as usual—finding their way to my hips. Tugging the fabric of my skirt up my thighs a little.
“Twist.” He tugged on my hips, forcing me to move my body to face the board at more of an angle. “Light and easy. It needs a little power to stick, but if you give it too much, the dart will bounce back. You have to get the right pressure.”
Dammit, the way he said that last word. The sexual sort of whisper he used. He was trying hard to break my concentration. It wouldn’t work, couldn’t. I needed to throw the dart—to get one to stick.
Connor had his thumbs under my tank top, rubbing along the waistband of my skirt. Pressure? He wanted to talk about pressure? I’d show him pressure. I leaned back into him, making sure to press my ass against his cock. Teasing him with a little extra rub.
“This good?”
He groaned and dropped a kiss on my shoulder, sneaking a quick bite as well. “So good.”
Taking a deep breath, trying hard to focus on the board and not the way Connor was slowly moving his hand up toward my breast under the giant sweatshirt I wore, I aimed, pulled back, and released. The dart flew through the air, landing with a thump on a black section with the number twenty along the edge.
“How was that?” I spun around, grinning, elated the dart had stuck.
His smile was huge, the expression on his face one I couldn’t turn away from. One of love and pride and heat. “Good, beautiful.” He pulled me close, giving me a quick kiss. “Just what I’d expect from a knife-throwing rock star.”
“Ecuador is not for the faint of heart, my friend. Someday, I’ll take you to see the farm my family owns. Teach you to be the one throwing the knives.”
“I wouldn’t miss it. Now how about you try to throw another one?” His hand was back under my shirt, his thumb brushing against my nipple and making me want to moan. “Try to hit the nineteen this time.”
And so started the longest, dirtiest game of darts that little bar had probably ever seen. Connor’s hands roamed under my bulky shirt, and I made sure to pay attention to his cock with any part of my body that was close enough. He helped me improve my throw by plastering his body to my back and rocking his hips with mine, and I argued his counting method was off while stepping between his legs as he sat on a barstool. I couldn’t keep my hands off him, and luckily, he seemed to feel the same way.
Two hard ciders and three beers into the night, our private bubble evaporated. In a good way.
“Connor.” A man walked into the dart area, one who looked an awful lot like Connor. Supersized. “Good to see you.”
“Hey, man.” The two met for one of those back-slapping man-hugs, breaking apart when two women walked into the room. Two I recognized.
“Where have you been, stranger?” A girl with wild light-brown curls smiled up at Connor, her shirt riding up as she reached to hug him. I knew her from school, from a couple of my business-track classes. A younger woman stood to her side, her long, dark hair accenting her pale skin and puffy, pink lips. Another one who looked familiar.
“I’ve seen you around campus, right?” I asked the dark-haired girl.
She smiled softly, almost appearing shy. “I think so, yeah.”
Connor stepped up at that moment, pulling me into his side. “I’m sorry, beautiful. I’m an ass. Everyone this is my girlfriend, Lola. Lo, this is my little brother, Riley, my baby sister, Claire, and a friend of the family, Evie.”
“Hi,” I said, doing my best to give them all a wide smile. Connor was introducing me to his family. Somehow that felt so much more important than even us moving in together. So much more real. They all greeted me and seemed nice, too. That was definitely something to smile about.
As the two guys signaled for more drinks, Connor turned his attention to the dark-haired girl—Evie, he’d said—even though his hand kept playing at the place where the waist of my skirt met my stomach.
“What, no Nate tonight? I thought he got off at nine.”
Evie shook her head as she settled herself on a barstool. “He got stuck doing some paperwork. He’ll be here soon.”
“I can’t believe he let you come up here without him.”
She shrugged. “I told him I’d be with Riley and Claire. He was fine after that.”
Connor raised his chin once in acceptance, then leaned down to kiss my cheek and whisper in my ear. “There’s no way he was okay with anything. You think I’m overprotective? Nate takes it to a whole other level with Eve. Not that I can blame him.” He slid his hand up higher, pulling me closer. “When you find the woman of your dreams, there’s no way you’d let anything happen to her.”
“Yo, Connor,” Riley yelled from across the room. “Let’s play some darts.”
Connor never turned away from me, though. “In a minute.”
I stared up at him, feeling warm from the drinks but also from him. From having his love shine on me the way it did. From the sensation of being his, being protected, being cared for in ways I’d never imagined. This man…
“I love you, Connor,” I whispered, running a finger along his scratchy cheek. “I really do.”
“Love you, too, beautiful.” He kissed my nose and gave me another squeeze before heading off to play darts with his brother.
The room grew louder and more boisterous, the men taking over the dart games and talking smack to one another as they threw. So much like how my own family interacted. I missed them like crazy, missed family dinners and weekends like this where we were all together. Seeing Connor and his siblings in that same light warmed my heart and reminded me of what a family really was. I sat against the wall, just watching them—taking everything in—a cider in my hand and my eyes on the Nash kids. Happy. Comfortable. And a little tipsy, if I was being honest.
“What did you do for the holidays?” Evie asked as the guys came over to grab their beers.
“Family as usual,” Connor said with a shrug, thumbing toward where Riley and Claire sat arguing over whose bottle had more beer left. “Listening to those two arguing, and food for days.”
Evie turned her attention to me, still smiling. “What about you, Lola?”
“Oh, I don’t celebrate much.” When they all stared at me blankly, I rushed to fill the suddenly awkward silence. “I don’t really have anyone here. My family moved back to Ecuador as soon as I graduated high school. Holidays aren’t the same without family to celebrate with, so I skip them…mostly.”
Evie’s face pinched into an uncomfortable expression, and she simply nodded before moving on to another topic. Connor stared at me with a pained expression on his face, and I knew that caretaker side of him was doing a number on his attitude. Something I could help with.
“Stop,” I whispered, leaning in close. “I never told you how I spent my holidays because it didn’t matter all that much to me. It’s fine.”
His frown only deepene
d. “Next year, we’re getting the biggest fucking Christmas tree on the island.”
My laugh was loud, my hands clinging as I reached for him. “Whatever you say, boss.”
He yanked me closer, cornering me. Pulling me right into his body once again. “I’d like to take you home and show you how much of a boss I can be.”
I stole a kiss from him, sucking his bottom lip between my teeth for a moment. “Later. Enjoy your time with your family.”
Connor looked as if he was about to argue, but Riley called him back to the game.
“Go. Play.” I squeezed his hand and slid off the barstool. My legs wobbled a little, and the room spun for that first second of being upright. Yep, a little too much to drink, but in that good way. Tipsy was fun.
“Where you going?” he asked, getting far more handsy with me than was probably appropriate considering people could see us. Tipsy Connor was fun, too.
“Bathroom.” I brushed against him as I passed, making sure to run my fingers over the front of his jeans as I did. “Maybe I’ll see you in a few.”
I didn’t wait for Connor’s response to my teasing. Instead, I headed straight back toward the sign on the wall that said restrooms. The hall to the bathroom was long and dark, but it wasn’t hard to find the ladies’ room. Single toilet, sink, mirror, and a dim overhead light—about what I expected. I hurried through what I needed to do, wanting to get back to Connor. Excited to spend time with his friends and family like a normal couple. He’d been right—this bar was all his people. I felt comfortable here, safe, didn’t feel like I was under a microscope. Hopefully, we’d spend more time here.
I washed and dried my hands once I was finished, fluffed my hair, and was just unlocking the door when someone shoved their way through it instead.
“What the—Connor?”
He shushed me with a finger to his lips, locking the door behind him. And then his hands were on me, tugging my clothing out of the way, pushing me back toward the wall. “You’ve been teasing me all fucking night. I need to have you.”
There was no question in my mind about what would come next. “Then have me.”