there will be a second time?” I hope my voice doesn’t sound too hopeful.
He lets out a low chuckle. “Nothing could stop me.”
I lean in and kiss him, pulling away before our kiss can develop into something further.
I really do need a little recovery time.
He pulls back and I let my hands drop from his wrists, my fingers catching on something. I look down and notice a worn leather bracelet on his right wrist. I didn’t see it before, probably because I was distracted by his abs in the gym and his cock in the shower. It’s identical to the one I saw Ford wearing.
“What’s this?” I reach for his wrist and hold it up, reading what’s imprinted into the band.
“YWFC, what does that stand for?” I ask.
A shadow passes over his face, and his energy shifts. “Just something from when I was younger. I still wear it as a reminder.”
My head tilts to the side. “A reminder of what?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He leans in and kisses the top of my head, then turns and leaves the bathroom. “I’m going to get dressed and then maybe we can relax and watch a movie or something? I have a screening room.”
Oh yeah, I saw that the morning I was alone.
“Yeah, sure,” I call out, following behind.
“Are you able to stay the night?” he asks from his walk-in closet.
Oh my God, Garrin just asked me to stay the night. Somehow this feels momentous.
“I can, but I’ll have to leave early. Ford has some campaign events tomorrow and I need to tag along.”
Garrin steps out of the closet wearing a fitted gray T-shirt and athletic pants. His hair is still wet and a little messy, and it’s a nice change from the power suit and the put-together man I’m used to.
“I can think of a few interesting ways to wake you up in the morning.” He grins and steps over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“I’m sure you can.” I chuckle. “I just don’t know if I could handle them so soon.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t give you anything you can’t handle.”
God, I hope that’s the truth, because I can already feel myself falling for this man and I don’t think Garrin Stone is the kind of man who wants a woman to fall for him.
28
Chapter Twenty-eight
Garrin
There’s no doubt that Isla Flores is under my skin. She’s like a tattoo needle. She’s branding and changing me. Even if you remove the tattoo, what’s left behind is never the same as it was before. I’ll never be the same after her.
The fact that I fucked her without a condom is proof enough. Billionaires don’t fuck anybody without protection. Too many women see their offspring as their meal ticket. I can hear my dad’s voice screaming in my ear, telling me that knocking her up is a great way to make sure she’ll marry me. Christ.
But Isla makes me forget who I am, who I’m supposed to be and everything that’s ever happened to me. And if I’m honest with myself, I love it. It’s one of the reasons I was so into her back at Forest View Academy. Even when I almost threw up on dissection day or fucked up the liquids and almost blew up the entire science class, she didn’t look at me with disgust or make fun of me. She made me feel safe, and I hadn’t felt that way since before my mom died.
And now I’ve gone and fucked her. I knew as soon as my dick was inside her that I’d never get enough. Never feel sated. After I saw the raw vulnerability in her eyes when she questioned whether I’d enjoyed it, I broke. She has no fucking clue what she is to me.
I’ve gotten close to her in order to protect myself and the rest of the Classholes, but now all I want to do is protect her. Even if it means marrying her to protect her from my father. That was step one. I have to attack this plan step by step instead of knowing everything ahead of time. So, first step is getting her to agree to marry me. I’ll figure out the rest later.
“Have you decided?” I ask, walking into the theater room with water and popcorn.
I set the bowl on the small table between the reclining chairs and pull the water bottles out of the pockets of my athletic pants.
Isla continues to search through my movies. “I’m trying to find something we