Текст книги "Unlawful Desire "

Автор книги: Chelle Bliss

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Chapter 14

Stubbornness

I struggled to unlock the door with her in my arms, but trying to stick the key in the lock became impossible. “Stop moving so much, woman,” I growled, finally finding the keyhole.

She stilled and glared at me. “I could’ve used my crutches.”

“I’d rather carry you than watch you struggle up the front stairs. Just shush it and let me do this.” Turning to the side, I opened the door and kicked it wide, letting it bounce off the back wall.

“I don’t see why I had to come here. I could’ve gone home.” She placed her head against my chest.

I ignored her comment and carried her inside, using my heel to close the door. Walking past the couch, I brought her straight to my bedroom, turning the light on with my elbow.

Her fingertips brushed against the stubble along my jaw. “Are you trying to take advantage of me?”

I laughed and placed her gently on my unmade bed. “Do you want me to?”

“Um…” She pulled at her bottom lip.

I grabbed a stack of pillows and piled them against the headboard behind her. “Lean back, babe.”

She yawned and closed her eyes. “I’m so tired.”

“Do you want anything? Water? Something to eat?”

“No,” she replied in a sleepy voice. “Just sleep.”

Dragging my fingers through my hair, I stared at her and bit my bottom lip. “Do you want help getting undressed?”

Without opening her eyes, she tried to lean forward and failed. She blew out a breath and slammed her hands down on the mattress. “Please. If everything didn’t hurt, I’d do it myself.”

“No problem.” I sat on the edge of the bed and moved my hands toward the buttons of her dress. Slowly I undid each one, peering up at her and watching her close her eyes quickly. A small smile played on her lips every time I almost caught her watching.

After brushing it off the edges of her shoulders, I wrapped my arm around her back and pulled her forward, bringing her tits against my body. It gave me wood. This wasn’t good. She was in no shape to have sex, and there was no way in hell I’d let my desire get the better of me.

“Bra too,” she whispered in my ear.

I closed my eyes, thinking of her father as I unclasped her bra. My job tonight had been to take care of her. Nothing more.

Georgia giggled, her body shaking in my arms.

“You’re getting a kick out of this, aren’t you?”

“I am,” she spoke softly in my ear. “Your breathing is labored. It’s kind of cute.”

“Georgia,” I said, holding her with one hand and dragging the strap of her bra down her arm with the other.

“I’ll behave.” Her voice was almost a purr, which went straight to my dick.

I sighed, working the other strap down before laying her back.

She smiled up at me, completely naked except for her underwear. “Will you sleep in bed with me tonight?”

“Yes,” I answered quickly, wondering if I should leave my clothes on.

“Naked.” She giggled.

“For the love of God,” I whispered and pushed myself off the bed.

As I walked around the bed, she said, “I’m serious. I’m cold and I want your body—” she coughed, covering her mouth, but I could see her smile “heat.”

I stripped off my clothes, pulled the cord on my ceiling fan, and climbed into bed next to her. Paying careful attention not to move the bed too much, I pulled the covers over us and collapsed on my back. The night had been longer than I ever imagined, and my entire body felt the exhaustion.

“Will you hold me?” she whispered, turning her head and giving me a sad, puppy-dog face.

“I’ll curl into you, but you shouldn’t move around too much,” I told her, moving my body around her. I placed my arm above her head, flattening my torso against her side and placing my face next to hers. “Better?”

“Perfect,” she whispered, and then sighed.

The one thing I wanted to do was to wrap my arm around her and pull her tight against me. The accident could’ve been the end of Georgia, and even though I wanted to deny that she meant as much to me as she did, my heart had almost stopped when the accident happened.

“You can touch me,” she whispered, as if she’d read my mind.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’ll tell you if you do. I just want to feel the safety of your arms tonight.”

I didn’t hesitate, moving my arm that had fallen asleep cautiously over her torso and tucking my hand underneath her back, pulling her closer. I buried my face in her hair, felt her warmth, and listened to her breath until I drifted off to sleep.

“Oh shit,” she said, waking me.

I didn’t open my eyes, but I knew it was morning. “What?”

“I didn’t call in to work.”

Pulling her a little closer, I buried my face deeper into her hair. Throughout the night, neither of us had moved. “I texted City to have Sunshine handle it, and I told the guys what’s up, too.”

“Oh.”

“Everything is taken care of. Go back to sleep.” I tried to hold in the yawn that wanted to break free.

“But it’s eight.”

“We didn’t get home until three.”

Her fingernails started making patterns on my arm. “I can never sleep past eight.”

I lay there a moment, trying to open my eyes and failing. The feel of her fingers on my skin was just too good.

“I have to pee,” she whined and tapped me on the arm that I still had strewn across her. “I’m kind of trapped here.”

I grumbled before I moved my arm off her and rolled onto my back. “Sorry,” I yawned, stretching out and kicking away the covers.

“Can you get my crutches out of the car?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“I’ll carry you.” I rolled off the bed and climbed to my feet.

“Oh God, no.” She tried to sit up but failed.

My morning wood was on full display and being totally wasted. “I’ll get the crutches after you pee, as you put it, and we’ll have coffee and breakfast.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “Fine.” Her eyes caught sight of my dick and zeroed in.

“Like what you see, babe?” I laughed, trying to keep the mood light.

“The sunlight bounced off the piercing,” she lied.

“Liar,” I said, walking around the bed to carry her to the bathroom.

She tried to push herself up, but she struggled as her arms began to shake. “This is going to suck.”

“Let me help.” I bent down to pick her up.

“I’m so sore today. Worse than yesterday.”

“I’ll be gentle,” I promised as I placed an arm behind her back and under her legs, scooping her into my arms. She hissed and whimpered with every step, no matter how softly I tried to walk. “Sorry,” I said as I placed her one good foot on the floor.

She stood there, staring at me.

I backed up, leaned against the doorframe, and stared back.

“What are you doing?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

I thought it had been pretty obvious. “Waiting for you.”

She balanced on one foot, trying to control her laughter. “You can’t stay in here.”

“Why not?”

“We haven’t hit that point in our relationship.”

“I can’t leave you alone.”

She dropped her arms, squared her shoulders, and raised an eyebrow. “I’m a grown woman. I can pee on my own. Go make coffee or some shit. You are not going to stand there and watch.” She pointed toward the door behind me. “Out!”

“You’re really cute when you’re mad.” She really was. I mean, Georgia was drop-dead gorgeous, but when she was pissed off, her forehead wrinkled in just the perfect way, making her stunning.

“Get out,” she repeated, waving her arm and pointing toward the doorway.

I threw my hands up and took in one more vision of her nakedness. “Yell when you’re ready and I’ll come get you.”

She flattened her hands on her face, slowly dragging them down her cheeks. “Go get my crutches and a T-shirt for me,” she mumbled behind her fingers.

“I’ll be right back,” I told her before I left the room and headed toward my closet.

“The door!” she yelled and grunted.

I poked my head back in the door and saw her still standing, holding on to the counter as she stood near the toilet. “Sorry.” I closed the door.

After I pulled on a pair of shorts, I headed to the car, grabbed her crutches, and jogged back inside. It was risky leaving her alone to hop around, especially with the soreness from the accident. There was a T-shirt hanging on the doorknob to the bedroom, and I grabbed it before knocking. “Ready?” I knocked lightly on the door.

“Almost!” she yelled. “Don’t come in.”

“You aren’t on your feet, are you?” I held the crutches and T-shirt and waited.

“Do you have an extra toothbrush?” Something clattered to the floor.

Opening the door, I found her leaning against the counter, a razor and my toothbrush on the floor. “I do,” I said as I rested the crutches against the wall and handed her the T-shirt.

“I’m sorry. I just want to be able to do things on my own.” She lifted her arms, trying to put on the T-shirt, but sighed. “I can’t do this on my own. Fuck me. I can’t deal with this.”

I stood quickly, tossing the items from the floor onto the counter. “Let me.” Pulling the T-shirt over her head, I gently placed each arm in the sleeves. “We’ll get you something for the pain.”

“No drugs.”

“Tylenol will help.”

“After I brush my teeth.”

I opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed a spare brush I’d saved for when I had a guest. “Here ya go.”

“Always prepared.” She pursed her lips.

“Don’t judge—you had one too.”

She shook her head with wide eyes. “I’d never!”

“Stop talking so much and brush. I need coffee.”

“Nectar of the gods.”

“Brush.” I grabbed my toothbrush off the counter and gave it a quick rinse.

We stared at each other in the mirror and brushed our teeth. Our eyes roamed over the other but never focused elsewhere. There was a sense of comfort to it for me. Jeanine and I could never stand in a room together in silence. Never. But with Georgia, there was a calm I’d never felt. Whether it was her lying in my arms or the small breaks in conversation, I always felt at peace.

Her face had bruised overnight, the impact of the airbag leaving its mark. She’d heal in a few days, and with a little makeup, it’d be barely noticeable.

After she spat out her toothpaste in the most unladylike fashion, she turned to face me. “Will you take me home after coffee?”

I cupped my hand under the water, filled my palm, and brought it to my lips. After I swished it around and stared at her, I spat it and answered. “We’ll talk about it after coffee.”

“Don’t make me call my dad.”

“He knows you’re here.”

“But I’ll tell him you’re holding me hostage,” she threatened with a small grin.

“Go ahead.” I placed my toothbrush back in the cup where it belonged.

“Coffee,” she said, changing the subject.

I grabbed the crutches and handed them to her. “You first. I’ll follow in case you fall.”

Her nostrils flared as she placed the crutches under her arms. “You’re a little overbearing.” She took a step forward, wobbling a little.

“I know,” I admitted, reaching out and grabbing her hips.

“The last thing I need is another overprotective man,” she huffed, slowly making her way out of the bathroom.

I dashed in front of her, kicking shit that I’d left on the floor out of her way. “Hey, now. You’re injured, so yes, I’m going to be protective of you.”

She didn’t respond as we made our way to my kitchen and I started to make the coffee. I left her on her own to sit down at the island and deal with her crutches. I didn’t want to suffocate her, but I glanced over my shoulder a couple of times, making sure she was okay.

“Your place is nice. I haven’t looked around too much, though.”

I hit start on the coffee maker. “You sound surprised.”

“I am,” she said, glancing around the room. “I expected it to be more…”

“Frat-like?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe. It’s cleaner than I thought.”

“It’s the military in me.”

“Interesting.”

A phone started to ring in the bedroom, but it wasn’t my ringer. “Can you get that? It’s my phone. It may be work.”

I pushed off the counter and ran to the bedroom, grabbing both phones from my pants pocket. It wasn’t the school calling, but her father.

“It’s your dad!” I yelled from the bedroom.

“Answer it!”

“Fuck,” I muttered before answering the call. “Hello.”

“Frisco?”

“Yes, sir.” I grimaced.

“How’s my girl?”

“She seems good. Feisty as ever.”

“Good to hear,” he said, his voice gravelly. “Would you mind bringing her here for the day?”

I scratched my head and turned in a circle before heading back toward the kitchen. “Sure.”

Georgia gave me a strange look and held out her hand.

“Georgia wants to talk to you.” I started to hand the phone to her.

“Frisco!” he yelled into the phone.

I brought it back to my ear. “Yes, sir?”

“You and I have some work to do today.”

I glanced at Georgia and dragged my eyes away from her. “Yeah.”

“Put my baby girl on the phone.”

I held the phone out to her.

She gave me a weird look as she studied me. “Hey, Daddy.” She leaned forward against the counter, resting her chin in her hand as she spoke.

The knot in my stomach that had dissipated returned full force. I wasn’t scared of the man or what he wanted us to do, but lying to Georgia about it didn’t sit well. It wasn’t an outright lie, more a lie of omission.

I poured our coffee and slid a mug in front of her as she chatted. Watching her, I sipped the warm black liquid I couldn’t do without.

“We’ll be there in an hour,” she told him, sliding her cup closer. “Yeah, Dad. See you soon.” She stared at the screen before setting her phone on the counter. As she wrapped her hands around the mug, she sighed. “Sorry about him.”

“I like your dad,” I lied and took another sip.

“Mm-hmm.” As she tipped the cup back, taking her first sip, she closed her eyes and savored the taste.

Her father had me a bit on edge, and I’d forgotten to even ask how she wanted her coffee, but I guess she was like me, no bullshit, just caffeine. After grabbing the Tylenol from the cabinet, I set two pills down in front of her. “Take those.”

She nodded and swallowed them down with her coffee before I had a chance to get her a glass of water.

“I need a shower.” She pushed her empty cup toward me and smelled her hair.

“How about a sponge bath?” I asked with a grin.

“Never mind.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll just wait until you take me home.”

“I won’t be leaving you alone for a couple of days.”

“Why?”

“When you’re less sore, then I’ll leave you alone.”

Her eyes bored holes into me. “Why?”

I could see how this conversation was going, and Georgia wasn’t happy with me. “’Cause you need help.”

She rose from her chair and balanced on her crutches. “I don’t.”

“I think you need a shower,” I said, changing the subject. “Let me get a garbage bag.”

She looked at me confused. “Why?”

I motioned toward the cast with one hand and pulled a bag from the cabinet. “You can’t get that wet.”

Her lips formed a perfect O. “Fuck, I forgot.”

“Let me take care of you and stop bitching.”

Her body recoiled and her eyes narrowed. “Did you just call me a bitch?”

My eyes widened and I moved toward her. “I’d never utter those words,” I said, touching her cheek and dusting my lips against hers.

“You better not. I think this cast could do a number on your balls.”

I laughed into her mouth before kissing her. “Will it be that awful to shower with me for a few days?” I murmured against her lips.

“No,” she muttered and sighed. “Doesn’t sound so bad.” Her eyes roamed over my face before I felt her smile.

“We better hurry. Wouldn’t want to keep Dad waiting.”

It was my turn to sigh. “No, we wouldn’t want to do that.”

***

“Georgia, I’m going to steal Frisco away for a few minutes.” Mr. Phillips nudged my shoulder, almost knocking me off-kilter.

Her eyes darted to me. “I guess it’s okay.”

“Thanks, baby girl,” he said, leaning forward and kissing the top of her head before moving toward the living room.

“We’ll be quick.”

“What’s he want with you?” She studied my face.

“Just guy talk,” I lied.

“Let them go,” her mother said, putting her hand on top of Georgia’s before she glanced at me. “We can girl talk.”

Georgia nodded, and I took it as my cue to join her father in the living room.

“Sit,” he commanded and motioned toward the couch across from his chair. Coming face-to-face with a man, the father of the woman you’re currently trying to bed, who you can’t punch if they speak out of turn, is all kinds of scary. It’s the one person in the world who can hate your fucking guts and you’re helpless to defend yourself with your hands.

“Let’s get a few things straight,” he started as I sat down. “We didn’t get to talk privately much at the hospital yesterday, and I have a few things to say.”

I nodded and knew where this conversation was headed.

“I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of you dating my daughter when she told us about you. For one, you’re kind of old for her.”

Smiling didn’t feel appropriate, but I couldn’t help but feel my lips twitch. “I understand. I had the same worry.”

“But Georgia speaks highly of you, and she doesn’t upsell anyone. Then she tells me you’re a PI. I’m not knocking the profession.” He held up his hands and made a look of disgust. “But it’s not a solid job.”

“It is,” I argued and leaned back in the chair, pretending to be relaxed.

“What’s your background? I checked your criminal record, but you don’t have one. I figured since you’re on the fringe of law enforcement that you possibly had a criminal background.”

“I attended college and served in the military.”

“What branch?” He stroked his chin, waiting for my response.

“I was a SEAL, sir.”

He whistled, and his hand stilled on his chin. “Impressive.”

“Thank you.”

“College?”

“I studied pre-law.”

“Why didn’t you do anything with your degree?”

“Much to the dismay of my parents, I found it too boring. Private investigation fits me better. It’s a solid company run by two guys who used to work for the DEA.”

“Dirty law enforcement?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head and grimaced. “No, sir. They were sick of working undercover and wanted to put their skills to use. They felt they could be more helpful with their own firm.”

“Burned out,” he said quietly and turned to stare out of the window. “It happens sometimes.” He sighed before he looked back at me. “Why Frisco? It’s an odd first name.” He scrunched up his face.

“You’d have to ask my mother, sir.” I gripped the arm of the couch tightly. I couldn’t lose my cool or seem snippy. Georgia’s father held a lot of clout with her, and I wasn’t about to let him come between us.

“Enough of the bullshit. Let’s talk about last night.”

“Hit me,” I muttered, grimacing and regretting the term.

“Was a man driving?” He coughed, covering his mouth with his hand. “I can’t go after a woman.”

“From what I could see. It all happened so quickly but, yes, it was a man.”

“Good.” He nodded and pushed himself up from the chair. “I want you to write down everything you remember. Get your people on it, and I’ll do some digging down at the station. I want to find this person.” He leaned against the wall and looked out the window.

“But shouldn’t we let the cops handle it?”

“Are you a pussy, son?” He turned to face me.

“No.” I shook my head. “But—”

“No buts. We find them first. Were you scared last night?”

I nodded, remembering the feeling of fear and helplessness I’d experienced watching the accident play out in front of my eyes. “Very.” My body began to shake with the amount of anger starting to boil inside me, slowly building every time I replayed the asshole driving off.

“They drove away,” he said, turning back to look outside. “They didn’t care about my Georgia. They’re going to pay for that.”

“Yeah.” I closed my eyes, ignoring the gnawing ache in my gut.

I didn’t get where I’d turned into a one-word wonder around this man. No man had ever intimidated me. Not even the officers who outranked me in the military. But there was something about Mr. Phillips that made me second-guess everything.

He handed me a pad of paper he’d retrieved from a cabinet near the window. “Write everything down. Don’t leave one thing out.”

“Okay. Can I call you George?” I remembered his wife calling him that last night at the hospital. It was all a fucking blur, but I did remember that.

“You can call me Mr. Phillips.” He glared and hovered above me.

“Mr. Phillips.” The prick needed to chill the fuck out. I got that he was wound up about his daughter, but at some point, especially if we were a team, he needed to not view me as an inferior person.

“Write,” he growled, pointing at the paper before stalking off to the same cabinet he’d retrieved the paper from. “Drink?” he asked and removed a carafe of amber liquid.

“I don’t drink this early in the morning.”

“I’m too nervous not to have something to calm my nerves. If you’re lucky enough to have children,” he said as he glanced at me over his shoulder, “you’ll understand how I feel.”

I nodded, even though I already knew how he felt. Georgia wasn’t my kid, but she was still mine. I’d protect her with my life if I had to. Seeing her in pain and watching her almost die before my eyes in a way that made me feel helpless would never happen again. I’d make fucking sure of it.

I started to write down the details, pausing and looking up when I heard the clink of the carafe against the glass. His hand shook as he tried to pour the liquid into the crystal tumbler. From the outside, he seemed cool as a cucumber, but inside, he was a ball of nerves, much like me.

Every man dealt with stress differently. I didn’t drown it in the bottom of a bottle; I used it to drive me forward. No matter what happened, the person would pay for what they did to Georgia.

When I finished jotting down everything I remembered, I tossed the pad on the coffee table and looked at him. He stared out the window, deep in thought, and sipped his drink. “I wrote down everything I could remember.”

“Good,” he said without looking. “I’m sure your company can help in the search, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I replied and stood from the couch, cracking my neck to relieve the tension.

“I’ll head to the station and do some digging. I can’t do too much without drawing red flags. You head to the office and see what you can find. Got me?”

“But what about Georgia?” I glanced over my shoulder toward the kitchen.

“She can stay here with Rosie.”

“I’m coming back for her this afternoon,” I told him, unwilling to back down. I wouldn’t let either of her parents run the show, and I wanted to be the one to take care of Georgia. I needed to do it to help quell my feelings of guilt over the entire situation.

“Fine.” He looked at his watch. “Let’s meet back here around four. We’ll have dinner and discuss what we’ve found.”

“That works.”

He set down his glass and moved toward me quickly. “This stays between us. Understand?” He waved his finger in my face, and it took everything in me not to slap it away.

I tried not to lose my patience. “I got it.”

“Four,” he reminded me as he held out his hand to me.

“Four.” I shook his hand and squeezed it as hard as he’d squeezed mine yesterday.

I’d made a decision about Mr. Phillips. He wasn’t going to bully me. Georgia or not, he wasn’t going to run the show. If I let him walk all over me now, there would be hell to pay in the future.

When that thought crossed my mind, I felt the blood drain from my face. The future. I hadn’t thought about the future with anyone since Jeanine. Subconsciously, I’d already started to think about Georgia and where we’d be. I didn’t have time to dissect my feelings or what this meant, but I knew there would be some major thinking to do and decisions to be made in the future.

I followed Mr. Phillips into the kitchen as both women glanced at us.

“How did it go?” Mrs. Phillips rose from the chair to kiss her husband.

“Great, love. Frisco has to go to work, but he’ll be back for dinner at four.”

Georgia’s eyes widened and honed in on the clock across the room. “Four?”

“Sorry, babe. I have to run to work and take care of a few things.”

“I can come,” she said, reaching toward the floor to grab her crutches.

“Georgia, let me take care of you today. I haven’t been able to do it in years. I want to pamper you.” Rosie grabbed the crutches from Georgia’s hand and put them back on the ground.

“But I—” Georgia began, but her mother placed her hand on her shoulder.

“Let the men work, and we’ll cook them a feast.”

Georgia glared at me. “You better come back, Frisco, or you won’t have a Felicia,” she mumbled.

“Oh, I miss that couple,” her mother whispered, trying to hold in her giggles.

“What couple?” Mr. Phillips asked, totally out of the loop.

“No one, honey.” Rosie made her way to his side. “Are you going down to the station?”

He nodded. “I told the guys I’d stop by and say hello, but I’ll be back for dinner.”

I walked up to Georgia and leaned over. “Sorry, babe,” I said, whispering in her ear. “I promise to come back for you.”

“I swear to God, if you leave me here with my helicopter parents, I’ll hunt your ass down and make you regret the day you were born,” she said with her lips against my cheek.

“Babe, I’ll be back for you,” I told her before I kissed her softly on the lips. “I have a sponge bath to give later.”

“That sounds like a reward for you,” she whispered in my ear.

“It may be my reward, but it’s going to be your pleasure.”

“I like the way you think, Mr. Jones.”

“Wait for me.” I started to back away.

She held up her hands, motioning as if to say, “Where the fuck am I going to go?” and I couldn’t help but laugh as I headed toward the front door.

“I’m going to walk Frisco out, love. Be home soon,” Mr. Phillips said before he caught up to me. He nudged me in the back and held out a business card. “Here’s my number. Call me when you get anything.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, jamming the card into my pocket before I climbed into my car and headed toward the office.