Across the table, Chelsea giggled into her hand.
“Hi, Declan,” Paige said, in what I was thinking was her general cheerful tone.
“Your burger,” he rumbled, and set my burger onto the table in front of me. It was massive and smelled delicious.
I turned to look at him over my shoulder and grinned. “Thanks, Declan.”
“Anything for you.”
“What about us?” Suzanne chirped.
He feigned a scowl. “Your husband know you’re here again?”
“Oh, yeah,” Suzanne drawled and winked. “You know how he feels about you.”
Declan shook his head and rolled his eyes. He seemed exasperated by these women, and who could blame him? They were a lot to take in.
“Need anything else, Blue?” he asked and glanced around the table. “A quiet place to eat? A gun to shoot yourself in the head?”
The women laughed. I snorted and shook my head. “I think I’m good.”
“Take care then and tell Ty to give me a ring.”
“Will do.” I grinned as he walked away. Then I laughed to myself as Paige and Suzanne both placed their elbows on the table, chin in their palms and with stars in their eyes, watched as Declan sauntered away from the table and back into the kitchen.
“Damn, he’s so hot,” Paige whispered wistfully.
Suzanne raised her margarita glass high in the air. “Amen, sister.”
Chelsea and Camden both shook their heads, laughing and playing along.
I took a bite of my burger, hiding the largest grin I’d ever worn in my life.
—
“I come with gifts.” Tyson grinned and held up his hands. One held a bottle of white wine and the other a plastic bag. I assumed it contained my ice cream.
“Damn, I’m glad to you see you,” I whispered, my eyes on the treat currently calling my name. I opened the door and let Tyson through, shutting it behind him.
“I’m glad to be here.”
I smirked at his back. “I was talking about the wine.”
He shot me a look over his shoulder and huffed. “Nice to see where I fall.”
“I’m kidding.”
Tyson set down the wine and bag of ice cream on the entry table and kicked off his Adidas sandals. My gaze traveled down his body, which was dressed in a simple black T-shirt and dark gray athletic pants, down to his bare feet. He looked damn good in his suit earlier, but there was something undeniably sexy about a man in athletic attire. It clung to all the right places.
“Come on.” He grabbed my hand and picked up the bag. I snagged the bottle of wine from the table and followed him into the suite’s small living area. He sat me on the couch and took the wine from my hands. “What would you like first?”
“Wine.”
“Stay here.”
“I can help,” I said, pushing off the couch to stand.
“You can, but you’ve had a long day. I want to do this for you.”
I relaxed back into the couch and smiled. “Thank you,” I replied and rested my head against the back of the couch.
He was right. I had had a long day, but his had been equally long. The fact that he was still willing and wanted to take care of me, even though he had been working since this morning, made my heart flutter a bit faster inside my chest. This was what being with Tyson would be like. Him taking care of me. Lots of understanding and compassion.
They were things I had received from few people in my life, and never a man.
“Here,” he said quietly, and joined me, standing next to the couch. I opened my eyes and turned to him, taking the offered glass of wine out of his hands.
It was chilled and delicious. A small moan of pleasure escaped my lips as I took my first sip.
He sat next to me, bending one leg so he was facing me, and draped his arm against the back of the couch. His fingertips played with my hair. “How was it?”
“At my mom’s?”
One shoulder shrugged.
The vibe at my parents’ house was strange tonight. Cars and SUVs lined their driveway when I pulled in, and even though I hadn’t seen the numerous men that had to be there, I had definitely heard the raised voices filtering out of my father’s office. Everyone seemed tense, with emotions running high. I assumed it had to do with my father stepping down and making plans to hand over his leadership to Malik. I guessed it had more to do with what Malik had told me about other crime families threatening to take what my father believed to be his. What I witnessed and heard tonight seemed bigger…darker. As I went upstairs to see my mom, two men dressed in black suits had left my father’s office, shouting obscenities as they hustled out the front door. Before they reached the entryway, they both turned around, sent me a glare that instantly chilled my spine, and then left. It took me several moments before I was able to catch my breath and move up the stairs after that. And once I was in my mom’s room, I still didn’t feel safe.
Something was going on. Whatever my father was doing now wasn’t good. I could still feel the lingering tension and darkness in the air in my parents’ house as I sat and thought about it. I shivered and shook my head to erase the feeling.
“What is it?” Tyson asked, his hand sliding from my hair to my shoulder.
“Nothing.” I frowned, shook my head again. “My mom was fine, I guess. Sleeping, waking up only to cough. I doubt she realized I was there.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to find the words to say what I was feeling about it, but nothing came. There was nothing to say about watching someone you love lose her life with every passing breath. Fortunately, Tyson let me have my silence while we sipped our wine.
“How’s your dad handling it?”
I frowned. He hated talking about my dad, and I was surprised he’d brought him up.
“I don’t know, honestly,” I said. “Clarissa said he hasn’t been home much this week. Busy with something. He’d never let me see him hurting over her, anyway.” I forced a smile and turned to him, wanting to change the subject. “How was your day?”
Tyson’s finger slid through my hair until he reached the ends. His look was soft. Pensive. “Pain in my ass, to be honest.”
“I’m sorry.” I lifted my wine glass and tipped the top of my glass toward his, clinking them together. “At least we have alcohol.”
His eyes crinkled at the edges and then our eyes locked on each other. “Maybe what I want isn’t alcohol.”
I choked over the lump in my throat, desire already starting to build. He only looked at me with seductive intent and I understood what he wanted.
Even knowing it, I still flashed him a teasing grin. “Ice cream?”
He shook his head slowly and lifted his glass to his lips, draining it one large sip. “Nope.”
“Dinner?” I asked, my lips twitching and fighting a smile.
Tyson stood up and held out his hand to me. I placed mine inside his and let him pull me to my feet. “Not hungry for food.”
“What are you hungry for?” But I already knew. Showing him, I rolled to my toes and kissed him, licking my lips right before mine met his.
“You,” he growled, his lips against mine. Then he opened his mouth, his tongue sliding out and tasting my lips. He controlled the kiss as he tilted my head with his warm hands until I was at the angle he wanted me. “Let me take you to bed and show you how much.”
“You have me,” I whispered, pulling back from him. Desire pooled in his dark blues as his eyes scanned my face. I waited, breathless and lips parted, hoping he could see the truth…and understand that I meant so much more.
With a nod so small I almost missed it, his shoulders relaxed beneath my hands. His whole body seemed to melt with my admission. And then I let him tug me down the hall.
Because I wanted him to show me how much he wanted me.
I wanted to show him how much I needed him.
—
“I’m going to be out of town tomorrow. And I won’t be back until Saturday.”
“Oh.” I was disappointed. I wanted to see him again before I had to see Malik. “Okay.”
Sitting up in the bed, I tugged the sheets up over my chest and wrapped my arms around my stomach. It was morning and I couldn’t help but enjoy the view as Tyson began pulling on his pants and tugging on his shirt. My fingers itched to grab everything he was putting on and rip it off, before I pulled him back to bed.
“I want you to come to my place after the benefit,” he said when he was done dressing.
A small line appeared between his eyes.
“It might be late.”
He scowled. “It better not be. And I want you in my bed after I know you’ve spent the night with another man. I might need to remind you of what we’re doing together.”
“And what is that?” I hesitated to ask but did it anyway. I knew how I felt. I was pretty sure I knew how Tyson felt.
My breath caught in my chest as I waited for him to answer. And when he did, I was not disappointed.
“We’re building our second chance. The life we should have had together before it was taken away.”
“Oh…okay.” My cheeks warmed with heat as he kissed me. It was soft and languid, our tongues rolling around each other’s as he slid his into my mouth.
“Saturday, Blue.”
“Saturday,” I agreed, before pulling him back to me. His hands were braced on the bed next to my waist so I glided one of my hands around to the back of his neck and pulled him toward me. I took his weight as he adjusted and a hum of approval fell from my lips as his body covered me. “Maybe you can remind me, now.”