Obsession, Loving An Alpha Male(16)

Paula scoffed and walked past Josh mumbling. “Or I can just tell the little preschooler how you could barely keep your hands off me.”

Paula’s last words came out as a gasp when she found herself slammed against the wall and Josh’s hand around her neck.

Not putting any pressure to her windpipe just yet, he moved to within inches of her, keeping his deadly eyes on hers.

“Stay away from Summer,” he said, calmly. “Do you hear me? She’s fucking off limits. If I so much as suspect you might be thinking about going after her, I’ll come after you, and believe me, Paula, it won’t be fucking pretty. Now get the fuck out, I’ve got shit to do.”








Paula watched him drive away, trying to reign in her anger. She’d never in her life been rejected the way Josh just did to her. And for a girl who probably hadn’t hit puberty yet. Paula hated to lose. She hated to lose against someone that couldn’t measure up to her even more.

“It seems Cooper needs a little more nudging my way,” she said out loud as his headlights disappeared from her view.

A smile crept on Paula’s face as she knew exactly what to do to get rid of Pollyanna.








Josh raced through the city with the burning need to get to Summer sooner rather than later. The past two months he’d spent almost every bit of his time surrounding himself with everything Summer Dean. Josh wasn’t exaggerating when he told Misty he was in hell. That’s exactly what it felt like for him being around Summer. He really thought he could bury his growing feelings for her and treat her as a friend, but he was losing his mind. While on their first date, Josh tried to give Summer space. He tried to act natural, staying in the friendship–building zone, but seeing her interact with Aaron and Michael only brought the possessiveness out of him. During the game, he went from aloof and nonchalant to grumpy and territorial, feeling his anger directed at every male around her. He didn’t like the way they watched her, how they made excuses to touch her.

The friend zone shit wasn’t working, he knew it. And when she looked him in his eyes right before she kissed him, he felt it. His need to have her was strong, and as he spent these last two months with her, it only intensified. He found himself wanting and needing to keep her close, so he made sure to see her almost every day for breakfast. They would run together in the morning, or even meet in the city for lunch at one of the many restaurants downtown had to offer, or they would meet in his office and eat in.

Having lunch turned to having dinner or walks in the park or going to see the latest action movie or horror movie. He started picking her up from work, or if he couldn’t, he would send Ivan to do it. He felt better when he knew she was home safe. But mostly he used any excuse he could think of to be with her. The need to be with her was growing stronger every day. He wanted, or better yet he needed, to see her, hear her laugh, watch her face light up when her eyes fell on him. The need to protect her, to possess her was starting to take over his senses.

Josh found himself in unchartered territory, and before he could stop it, he began to feel more for her than he’d ever felt for any woman he’d ever known.

He pulled up to her apartment and shut off the engine. He sat there a moment to calm himself. He was on edge, and in order to deal with whatever was going to greet him, he needed to be relaxed and focused. She seemed to still be awake, the light from her living room escaping through her blinds. He picked up his cell and tried to be as composed as he could.

She picked up on the third ring with a voice also trying to be composed. “Hey, you. I thought you’d be sleep by now.”

They spoke earlier that day on the phone, and he told her how much he’d not been able to sleep because of the case he was working on. He told her how he was close to solving the mysteries and questions pertaining to the case, but that it kept him up these past few days trying to wrap up everything. In no way was that the case. No, he was losing sleep because his mind was constantly on her.

Josh got out of his car.

“Yeah, it seems my body is getting accustomed to not sleeping. So I took a drive and decided to drive by your place.” Josh squeezed his eyes shut. He sounded like a fucking stalker. Way to go, Cooper. Summer just chuckled.

She replied softly, “Well, it must be my animal magnetism or something drawing you to me.”

He leaned against her front door, lowering his voice saying, “Yeah, it’s something.”

He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing down. It never failed, every time he knew he was close to her or sensed her closeness, his heartbeat sped up. It was like that when she met him at the stadium for their first date, it happened every time she came to his office or they met somewhere for lunch. And it happened the first day he met her when she was laying on the track.

“What’s going on with you? Why are you up?” he asked her.

“Same as you, can’t sleep,” she replied back, again trying to be upbeat and airy.

Josh smiled. “Good, so why don’t you let me in then, and we can have insomnia together? I have your favorite cookies from Jenny’s Bakery.”

She chuckled. “How is that possible? They’re closed this time of the night. Do you have a stash in your car?”

Shit!

He answered quickly, hoping it would satisfy her, “Actually, I picked them up earlier today but kept them in the car to keep from eating them. Come on, what do you say? We can keep each other company.”

Summer was quiet on the line, a little too quiet. She replied just as Josh took in a deep relaxing breath, she was going to fight him.

“Actually, do you mind holding the cookies for tomorrow? I don’t want to indulge in that kind of sugar and be up any longer than I’ve already have been. Besides, don’t you have an early morning tomorrow?”

“Don’t worry about me, Sweets, I’ll be fine, and you know you can’t turn down these soft sweet decadence you call heavenly morsels.”

She laughed again. “I know but I–”

Josh wasn’t letting her get rid of him. “Sweets, I’m standing right outside your door. Let me in. You sound funny, and I just want to check on you.”

She sighed. “I’m fine, Josh.”

“Yeah, prove it. Open the door.”

She paused, and he saw the blinds from her living room window raise slightly.

“If you can see that I’m fine, you’ll let this go?”

“Yup,” he said. “If I’m satisfied you’re okay, then I’ll let it go.”

She sighed again, then agreed to let him in. He hung up, and the moment his eyes fell on her he was glad he pushed. It was worse than he thought.

“Shit, Sweets,” he said softly.

He touched her face lightly and looked heavily in her eyes. Bright and expressive eyes that would typically greet him were replaced with dull and lifeless ones. This woman before him wasn’t the woman he knew, no this was someone else. She tried to smile and move from him, but he wouldn’t let her.

“I’m fine,” she told him, just as he tried to walk inside the building. But Summer stood her ground, placing both her hands on his chest to stop him from moving any further.

“Baby, when’s the last time you slept?” he asked her.

“It’s not a big deal, Josh. I’ve just been busy, that’s all. Now you’ve seen that I’m fine, you can go home now.”

Josh shook his head. “Baby, you look like shit!”

“Thanks.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought you said if you saw I was fine, you would go home.”

“I said I would if I’m satisfied, and I’m far from satisfied. Are you going to let me in?”

Josh kept his eyes on hers. He could see she was battling, could see the tears starting to well in her eyes. He lightly caressed her cheek with his knuckles.

“Let me take care you, Sweets,” he said voice low but full of every emotion burning inside him.

Summer shook her head and finally rested her forehead against his chest.

“Please, don’t make me talk about it,” she replied softly, face still buried in his chest.

Josh put his arms around her, trying his best to surround her with all of his strength, so she could take whatever she needed from him. He didn’t say a word as she shook her head from side to side until he finally felt her arms snake around him.

“Okay, I won’t. Just let me be here for you. Come on, baby.”

He kissed the top of her head. She moved from his embrace, and he took her hand in his, locked her front doors and moved toward the door of her apartment.








“Oh my gosh, Josh, you did not do that to your brother?”

Josh smiled and leaned back against her couch nodding his head.

“Sweets, my brothers are assholes. Believe me when I tell you they deserved everything I did to them and more.”

Summer, who, as the time went by, seemed to have slowly come back to him, sat Indian style across from him on her couch. Ever since Josh walked in her apartment, they’d been talking. Actually, Josh was doing all the talking as Summer sat next to him. She shivered every now and again, still stuck in her head, but as Josh regaled her with stories of his family, she began to relax more, almost returning to her normal self. Josh could still see the sadness and despair all over her, but he also saw the life in her coming back.