Forbidden With Me - Leigh Lennon Page 0,14
it’s a stretch. The tremors in her hands reach her lips, but she can’t keep them still. Her eyes shut, and tears squeeze through, falling in large dollops on the floor.
She opens one just enough to focus on me. “Wells, is it really you?” She pinches them shut, waiting for my answer.
“Yes, sweetie, it’s me.”
My tone interrupts her shaking, and her pouty lips, those beautiful cherry lips of hers, turn from dread to a tight smile. The fear in her eyes subsides as she toddles from one toe to the other. “I thought I’ve graduated to sweetheart.”
I want to reply, but it’s private, in her dreams, and it will stay this way, for now, though now I share her dreams with her. She’s still so nervous and has kept her distance. I know from the various hours of training that people are more threatened when you’re standing over them, and though I’m not close, if I were to push to my full height, I’ll tower over her small frame. I fall back on the couch with an easygoing smile and act as if this is all normal. It’s not, not in the least, but I can calm the girl who’s still as nervous as she was when she popped off my lap.
“I can’t go upstairs and be a part of a happy reunion, not yet.” Her pleas are followed by a long sigh as her fingers work out the knots in her neck.
“And that’s fine, sweetheart. Everyone will understand.” Her eyes meet mine, and I won’t part from our connection. “I’ll tell you what. Let me know what you want to do, and I’ll make sure it happens.”
She looks away, breaking our gaze, and I miss it immediately. “I just need to get back to the university.”
Without thought, I interject, “I’ll drive you back. I don’t want you by yourself right now.” There’s no way she should be behind the wheel, not in her state, but I don’t share this part with her.
Our gaze seems to meet again as she begins, “My car?”
We are still a room apart, her touch, in my arms invaded my need for more. “Is tomorrow the first day of classes?”
“No.”
In the amount of time we’ve been discussing logistics, her shyness has come out. It’s cute. Fucking adorable. She twirls her hair around one of her fingers, and her eyes stay downcast from mine.
“You can’t drive right now. It’s been an emotional day.” She doesn’t stop me and my alpha tendencies, which is the one thing that led to the demise of my relationship with Vanessa. Plus Vanessa happens to be the biggest fucking cunt-rol freak.
“Um…” She keeps her focus on the floor. “I guess, but I have some errands to run.”
I start to hum and tap my chin. “It just so happens that I’m off tomorrow, so I’m at your disposal. Plus, I think we’re only going to be able to hold off Mama Montgomery for twenty-four hours until she has to hug you.”
My cheesy response rewards me with the biggest smile I’ve seen on Malia since scooping her up in my arms.
“Yeah, I need one day to get my foggy head around this.” We have an agreement, and I reach for my keys, but then I remember I rode with Matt. Fuck. “Stay right there. I need to get the keys, and I’ll be right back.”
Malia settles into Matt’s BMW, and she whistles a little tease, almost petting the leather of the car. “The police must pay well.” She reclines in the seat, touching the leather of the chair. “This is heaven. Can we keep her?” Her pitch changes, a little tease lacing her tone, and it’s cute, but as I’m discovering, everything is cute with her. This is the real her, not the scared little girl who darted from my embrace earlier.
“Full disclosure, I rode here with Matt. This is his car. I think it’s one of the perks of having a professional football player in the family,” I tease.
“Oh, shit, that means we can’t keep it.” I’m a little turned on by the whole we in her statements, and like before, I’m a sick fuck, but in her musings, she now has become a chatty Cathy. “That’s right, Will Montgomery. Yeah, I’ve watched him take his team to the Super Bowl.”
I pull from the house, then circle around the block to the other entrance. I don’t take her by her childhood home, and she doesn’t ask about it.
“So, tell me, are you