“I wouldn’t brag,” Cassidy scolded. “Maverick is going to have your ass when he finds you like this.”
“A girl can hope,” Henley said wiggling her eyebrows up and down.
Emerson turned to Stitch and said, “Just so you know, I approve.”
“Of?” he asked.
“Your girl Wren. She’s pretty cool,” Emerson said laughing. “But, Henley’s right. She’s a total lightweight. You probably ought to get her home.”
“You ready to go, baby?” he asked me.
“Yeah, I should probably stop while I’m ahead,” I confessed. Feeling a little brazen, I continued, “But, I don’t want to go home yet. Umm… if it’s okay, I’d kinda like to hang out with you for a little while.” Even though I’d had a great time being with the girls tonight, I hadn’t really had a chance to spend any time with Griffin. Knowing Wyatt was with my parents, it was one night I knew we wouldn’t be interrupted and I wanted to have a chance to be alone with him.
“You could always take her out to your place,” Emerson suggested with a mischievous grin.
I looked over to him, looking a little too eager, and said “I’d love to see your place.”
“Done. Grab your stuff,” he smiled. He took my hand and led me outside, holding me close to his side so I wouldn’t stumble and fall. When we made it to the parking lot, he asked, “Where’s your car?”
“Umm… it’s over there,” I answered, pointing to the side of the parking lot.
“Need your keys,” he said as he held my arm so I wouldn’t lose my balance.
I fumbled around in my purse and after several seconds of searching, I finally found them and placed them in the palm of his hand. He helped me get into the car, closing the door behind me, and then settled himself in the driver’s seat. Without saying a word, he started up the car and headed towards his house. I noticed him checking the rearview mirror several times, like he was checking to see if anyone was following us, and it made me think back to our conversation at the bar about him being the club’s Enforcer.
Curiosity got the best of me and I finally asked, “How long have you been the club’s enforcer?”
“So you were talking about me tonight,” he smiled.
“I guess I really don’t know that much about you,” I confessed. “Until tonight, I didn’t even know you had a sister.”
“Not much else to know.”
“Doubt that,” I laughed.
I was far from drunk, but I could still feel a light buzz from the alcohol. I had so many more questions running through my head, but I kept them to myself, riding the rest of the way to his house in silence. We’d been riding for several minutes when the twists and turns of the road started to make me feel a little nauseous. I was relieved when he finally pulled into his driveway and parked the car. I quickly opened the door and stepped out, leaning against the car as I took a deep breath of fresh air. Griffin mumbled something under his breath behind me as he shut the car door and started walking over to me.
“Regretting that last shot?” he smirked.
“I guess they were right. I am a total lightweight,” I laughed. Before I had a chance to move, he leaned down and slipped his arms under my legs, positioning me into a bridal hold. Feeling safe and cozy in his hold, I laid my head on his shoulder and let him carry me inside. It felt so right to be there in his arms, feeling secure like he had made me feel from the first time we’d met. He took me into the living room and gently laid me down on the sofa.
“I’ll be right back. Gotta lock up,” he told me before disappearing into the kitchen.
I glanced around the room and was surprised to see how beautiful it was. It had all the elements of a log cabin that I adored, right down to the cobble stone fireplace and large brown and white fur rug. The furniture was simple and masculine, yet there was a warmth to the room that made it feel like a home. Looking around, curiosity got the best of me so I decided to take a little self-guided tour. I quietly stood up and wandered down the hall. Ironically, the first room I stumbled into was his bedroom. His large king size bed looked so inviting with its thick comforter and oversized pillows. I ran my hand across the soft fabric, and I just couldn’t help myself. Thinking that I would be okay if I could just lay down for a minute, I pulled off my jacket and boots and crawled into his bed. That’s all it took. I rested my head on his soft pillowcase, smelling a hint of his cologne, and fell sound asleep.
Chapter 12
Stitch
After I’d locked up the house, I went into the kitchen to get Wren some water and two pain relievers. She’d had a good time tonight, a really good time. I liked having her at the club, seeing her loosen up a bit. Since she wasn’t used to drinking, I figured that she was going to have one hell of a headache in the morning, so I went into the living room to bring her a glass of water and a couple pain relievers. When I walked back into the room, I was surprised to see that she was no longer lying on the sofa. Thinking that she might have gotten sick, I went to check if she was in the bathroom, only to find her snuggled up in my bed. Fuck. I don’t know how long I stood there staring at her, marveling at how beautiful she looked lying there in my bed, before I walked over and placed the bottle of water and the pain relievers on the bedside table. Fighting the urge to crawl in next to her, I covered her up with my comforter, knowing that I needed to give her time to sleep off the alcohol. Reluctantly, I headed to the living room and turned on the TV. Some news channel rumbled in the background, but I wasn’t paying any attention to what they were saying. I had other things on my mind.
I should’ve been thinking about the conversation Cotton and I had earlier about our upcoming meet with the Forsaken Saints. They were coming in to discuss our plans for ending this shit-storm we had going with the Pythons and whether I liked it or not, we needed their help. I also should’ve been thinking about Wren’s predicament with Michael. I needed to get inside that man’s head and figure out what the hell he was going to do now that he’d lost the only connection he had to Wren. But I wasn’t thinking about either of those things. There was only one thing that was consuming my thoughts – the woman in my room, lying in my bed.
I was at a loss. I didn’t know what the hell to do about her. A part of me wanted to walk into my room and devour her, claim her body as my own and show her how she’d been driving me wild all these weeks, but I couldn’t move. Doubts had begun to creep into the crevices of my mind, making me wonder if this thing between us would ever work. I looked at her and all I saw was good. She was just so very fucking good, and she deserved love and kindness – gentleness. I didn’t understand those things because I’ve never had them, except those occasional glimpses from my grandmother so very long ago. I’d long since forgotten those times. I’d become a man who didn’t know how to be gentle or tender. I only knew violence, brutality, physical pain. I could do those things, I understood them. How could I go to her, be with her, when all I knew was the complete opposite of what she really was? Yeah, I was the exact opposite of someone decent, someone good. I sat there wondering if it might be possible for me to learn those things, to be those things for her. I had my doubts that I could change and after everything she’d been through, I wondered if she’d be strong enough to handle what I really was.
“Hey,” she whispered from the doorway. It was almost two in the morning and she was standing there wearing one of my old t-shirts and a pair of my thick white socks. Sexy as fuck. She bashfully pulled at the hem of my t-shirt and said, “Hope you don’t mind. I had to get out of those jeans.”
“Don’t mind at all,” I answered. Looking at her in that moment, everything became crystal clear. It snapped tight in my mind. I didn’t give a fuck about my doubts. I wanted her, and I was going to do whatever it took to make her mine. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better. I’m really sorry about falling asleep on you like that. I’m not used to being out, much less having a few drinks,” she started. “I was just going to lay down for a minute to rest my eyes, but your bed was so unbelievably soft. I just couldn’t help myself.” She smiled and started walking over to the sofa, casually sitting down next to me. I pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it over her legs as she nestled into my side. When she laid her head on my shoulder, she asked, “Whatcha watching?” Her actions were simple, no hesitation at all. It was like she’d done the exact thing with me a hundred times, feeling totally relaxed to be sitting there next to me.
“Nothing much,” I told her as I passed her the remote.
A wide smile crossed her face when she took it in her hand and said, “Seriously? You trust me with the all-powerful remote. That’s huge!”
“Yeah, I trust ya. Don’t disappoint,” I told her smiling.
“No pressure there,” she teased as she started to scroll through the channels, briefly stopping on some chick flick. She looked up at me, quickly noticing my disapproving facial expression, and turned back to the TV as she continued to search through the channels again. She finally stopped at one of the older Batman movies and laughed when she said, “I hear the two of you might have something in common.”