Big Man for Christmas - Penny Wylder Page 0,24

Fancy. And entirely out of our reach most of the time.

“Not as uptown as some.” I shake my head. “I’ll be honest, it took me weeks to figure it out. And I had some help from Jenny Shrum.”

Her eyebrows rise into her hairline. “Cheerleader Jenny? You ended up dating her then?”

I shrug. “Once or twice when we were younger. But she’s married now. Two kids, three step-kids, and no interest in me besides not letting me make a fool of myself. Apparently I had all the furniture in all the wrong places.”

That was meant to make her laugh, but she doesn’t. She winces like I’ve struck her, eyes shuttering completely. There’s more to this story than she’s letting on. Her reactions, the fact that she’s here alone and now in my bed, and I want to know more.

I won’t force her to tell me, but Carley Farrell is the last person that I want to be hurting. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing—”

“It’s very clearly not nothing, Carley. And it’s not the first time.” I hesitate. “You don’t have to share anything that you don’t want to…but you can trust me. I’m not like everybody else in this tone. Anything you tell me is going to stay between us.”

She grins in spite of herself. “I never thought you would do that, I just…”

I lean down and kiss her quickly. She’s so relaxed when I touch her, I hope the reminder of where we are and what we’re doing will help her remember that she’s safe with me.

Carley huffs out a breath. “Okay. It’s just…it reminded me of a time a few years ago. I wanted a change in our apartment, so while Tyler was at work, I went out and bought some paint. Not anything crazy, just a newer, fresh color. And I rearranged the room. Added some more decorations. But when he came home,” she shudders, “I’d never seen him so furious. He couldn’t believe that I’d done it without asking him. So I switched it all back. Stayed up late moving furniture and returned all my new little things the next morning.”

I’m not prepared for the feeling that roars to life inside me. Protective and fierce, a base instinct that’s so strong I have to lock my entire body to keep from moving. There is something that I need to know, and I dread the answer. “Did he get too mad at you for it?”

In listening to her, I’ve leaned over her further, close to being on top of her. I can’t help it. I need to feel her underneath me and know that she’s safe as much as I need her to know that I will protect her from this man and these feelings that he made her have.

She’s drawing little patterns on my chest with her fingers, drawing them across the lines of my muscles. And she’s focusing entirely on them because she doesn’t want to look at me. “Are you asking if he hit me?”

“Yes.” My voice is dark.

Casey shakes her head, and I can suddenly breathe again. “No. Not at all. At least not physically.”

Reaching out, I cradle her face and tip her gaze back up to mine. “What does that mean?”

“It means that I’m just now realizing how much I dismissed without realizing it. That somehow I was…lulled into thinking that everything was fine and normal when it wasn’t.” The beginnings of tears form, and she blinks them away quickly. “I feel really stupid.”

Again that strike of fierce protection. I want her to be okay. I keep myself gentle for her, knowing that if I ever meet this Tyler in person I will have a hard time keeping my words—and my fists—to myself. “Will you tell me?”

“You’ll think I’m stupid too,” she says, “for staying with someone who, looking back, clearly didn’t like me that much.”

“Never,” I tell her. “I will never think you are stupid.” When she doesn’t look at me, I cover her body more firmly with mine. “What made you hesitate when we were taking our clothes off? Because you have nothing to be shy about.”

Carley’s body is everything I had dreamed about and more. Lush curves that feel good against me. Responsive to every touch. Even now, having had her twice, having her underneath me is making me hard again. This woman will be my undoing in the best way.

“I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been naked in front of anyone,” she says quietly. “Sex was always…quick. After he came to