to his. He looks as tired as I feel. His lips meet mine in a tender kiss before I snuggle up against him even closer.
His phone alerts again.
“I think you need to get that. Someone really wants to get ahold of you.”
“It’s just Leo.”
“Who’s Leo?”
“My friend I stood up tonight.”
“Ryk—”
I try to move to look at him, but he just holds me in place. “Shh. No. I’d rather spend the night with you than him any day of the week.”
My struggle subsides as my heart melts. This man of epic screwups, a hard-ass with a soft heart, a knight in training . . . owns my heart. How did I ever think I could fight this?
I hold on to him a little tighter. I sink into him a little farther and just relish the moment. The feel of him. The no longer feeling so alone because of him. My flaws that he embraces without question. My chaos he defends without reason. The friends he stands up just so he can spend a few hours with the woman who continually pushes him away.
And when his soft snores fill the room around us, I slide my cell phone off the armrest and do something I have never done in all of my time being employed at Apropos.
I call in sick to work.
Being with him tonight is more important than any paycheck I’ll ever receive.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Vaughn
“See you tonight after work?”
“You’re getting greedy with my time, Lockhart.” The reprimand is countered by the grin on my lips.
“And the problem with that is what?” His voice rasps over the line and puts my anticipation into high gear like it seems to do every time we talk to each other.
“Goodbye.” I end the call as he’s still talking and then hit send on my email, confirming with Noah our meeting tonight after I get off work.
My cell rings again, and I laugh when I see Ryker’s name on the screen. “What?” I answer with a laugh.
“Hanging up on me is akin to saying no to me.”
“It is, is it?”
“Yep. I’m going to hold out on you if you hang—”
I end the call and laugh out loud when it rings back instantly.
“You’re relentless, you know that?” I say breathlessly.
“I am. You’d be wise to remember that.”
The smile on my face falls at the sound of Carter Preston’s voice. I was so lost in our playful banter that I picked up, assuming we were continuing it.
And then I realize why I thought it was Ryker—this is my personal cell phone.
“How’d you get this number?” I demand, glancing at the screen and another new phone number he’s calling from.
“A man like me can get a lot of answers to a lot of things with a simple snap of his fingers.”
“Then I’ll block you.”
“No you won’t.” Arrogance edges his tone and has me gritting my teeth.
“Watch me—”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You hang up on me before I end this call and there will be hell to pay.” He singsongs out the words like some nursery rhyme. “Umpf.” He groans the sound out. “Then again, I sure have imagined what it would be like making you pay.”
My finger hovers over the end call button, but a part of me fears the repercussions while the other part hates giving him any kind of upper hand.
“What do you want?”
“That Lucy sure does need you, doesn’t she? So many strings I could pull to cause that whole world of yours to come tumbling down.”
My hands fist and teeth grind. “What do you want?” I ask again.
“You know what I want.” He lowers his voice, and the suggestion woven into every single syllable makes my skin crawl. “How long are you going to make me wait?”
Forever.
“I told you, there is nothing about me that is for sale.”
“Everything has a price.”
“You’re right. Those photos will go for a large sum to the right buyer. How old was the girl sucking your dick? Seventeen? Sixteen?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Vaughn.”
“No problem there.” Sarcasm rings through every part of my tone.
“There’s something about women like you that make me so fucking hard. Ripe for the picking and ready to be put perfectly in their place. Beneath me.”
“Is there a purpose to this call other than to listen to you want things you’ll never get? Because frankly, it’s getting old,” I say, refusing to let him know he gets to me every time. “I already have the paperwork filled out for a restraining order against you.