"I wasn't about to leave you to wait here all day by yourself, stubborn girl."
I could hardly believe what was happening. Not only had Stefan arranged to have my car fixed today, but now here he was. I still had trouble grasping that the man I spent years refusing to think about had become a constant presence in my life the past few days. Part of me still waited to wake up from this dream, while the other part wanted to make it all go away. While seeing him was a blast from the past, the fact was it changed nothing. Stefan Harrison was still my best friend, father of my child, and the man that abandoned me when I most needed him. So now he was nothing to me but my ex-husband and a mistake from my youth.
If only my heart would get that message.
"I didn't ask you to do any of this, Stef. The medical bills, car repairs and now coming down here to spend the day waiting around-it is far too much."
He shrugged his shoulders as he shook his head and took stock of the room.
"It's not, Greyson Rose, so stop worrying so much about it."
"How is it not too much? You're a big business man, Stef. You can't tell me you had nothing else going on today."
My eyes followed his large hands ceaselessly as he grabbed a paper cup and began pouring coffee in it. The thought to stop him crossed my mind, but quickly left as I listened to the deep velvet voice surround and soothe me.
He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk across his lips. "Yes, I had other things to do today, but I'm also the boss so I have the ability to make the rules."
I crossed one leg over the other and the subtle movement captured his attention. Stefan stared without shame, his eyes caressed the curves of my tanned legs, desire flickered deep in the blues of his eyes. I had to avert my gaze from his before I began to feel the effects of his powerful stare. Instead I tried to be as irritated as I should have been by his presence.
"Is that supposed to impress me?"
His deep chuckle rang into my ears making it almost impossible to hate him. "No, beautiful girl, only giving you facts."
From the corner of my eye I watched Stefan put the coffee cup to his lips and take a large gulp. The entire time I stared at the soft bob of his Adam's apple and even found myself licking my lips. This was beyond ridiculous-what the hell was my problem!?
Seconds later a choking sound came from Stefan as he cleared the disgusting coffee from his throat. He held up the cup and looked into it as if he was going to find an obvious cause as to why it tasted so horrible. Despite my attempts I couldn't hold back a rich bubble of laughter.
His eyes cast a look toward me. Pointing to the cup he asked, "Did you know about this?"
Another laugh escaped as I nodded my head up and down. Stefan's head shook in disgust while the corner of his lips pulled up into a reluctant smile.
"Fuck, that's bad. I didn't even realize it was possible to screw up coffee so badly." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Guess it is."
Stefan continued to stare at the drink for another minute before shaking his head and finally tossing the cup out. "At least they can fix cars better than they can make coffee," he relented.
I giggled again and took a sip of my water, ever thankful that I chose to listen to him. "Where did you get that?" Stefan asked, pointing to my bottle.
I pointed to the fridge and a loud, 'ah' came out as he grabbed two. He went to the candy machine, slipped a quarter in, and a handful of runts came pouring out. After popping a single one into his mouth he made his way to the half a dozen chairs in place around me. The six chairs formed an L with three chairs against each wall. I prayed that Stefan would sit anywhere but the one chair next to me. I wasn't trying to be a total bitch, but it was already difficult having him in the same room. I could only imagine what it would be like to have him so much closer. The smell of his cologne overpowering me, the warmth of his body taking down the walls I tried desperately to keep between us. Even the thought of it sent an intense shiver throughout my veins.
Of course I wasn't fortunate enough to keep a safe distance between us as Stefan plopped himself down onto the chair directly next to me. Just as I expected, his subtle amount of cologne took hold of my senses and intoxicated every part of me. My mind became fuzzy as I tried to pull myself from the spell I was falling under. Stefan reached out and put the second bottle on the table, placed his ankle on his knee and threw his arm around the back of my chair.
In seconds I went from having a safe bubble of protection surrounding me to being enveloped by everything Stefan.