Gone - Anna Brooks Page 0,19
I’m that guy. If she’s gonna be mine, I need to know where she is and that everything’s good with her. On the way to her house, I try her cell three more times only to be directed straight to voicemail each attempt.
I’m not quite sure what to expect when I get to her house, but I park in her driveway and practically leap up the three steps to her front porch before I bang on her door. I hear a few beeps of a system disarming, which I noticed is one of ours, but that’s not uncommon around here since we’re the best. Once the lock clicks, I take a step down while she pulls the heavy wood door open and then pushes the screen. “Hey. What are you doing here?”
“I called your work because I wanted to talk to you, and she said that you got in trouble and got sent home. I tried to call your cell, and you didn’t answer, so…” I hold my arms out. “I left work to check on you and make sure you were okay.”
She bites her lip and takes a step back, motioning for me to come in. On my way to the threshold of the house, I test the waters and bend down just enough to give a small kiss to her bubble gum lips.
“Are you okay?”
She flicks the deadbolt, and I like that she takes her safety seriously. “I got suspended for a week because I brought Judy home with me.”
I don’t know what I open my mouth to say, but she doesn’t give me a chance to get a word out.
“It’s not your fault. Please don’t feel guilty. I knew it was against the rules, and I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Then why’d you do it if you knew you were going to get in trouble?”
It takes her a moment to look at me again. “I didn’t know I was going to get in trouble, but even if I did, I’d have still done it.”
The revelation that she risked anything for me stuns me. Beneath my silence, she shifts on her feet and drops her head to watch them. It’s almost like I’m afraid to hear the answer, and I’m not afraid of shit. I finally clear my throat. I move closer to her, needing to touch her. “Why?” I need reassurances that she hasn’t changed her mind since I left. I need the words from her mouth to know she’s fully aware that she’s mine.
When I lift my arm and rest my palm on her cheek, she leans into my hand like a little kitten. “I wanted to see you. I wanted you to come to my house. I wanted to have a chance to see if you felt at least a little bit of what I did, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get the opportunity again.”
“I’m glad you did, Izzy.”
“Me, too.”
“But to clear up any misconceptions, I don’t feel a little of what you do.” Her jaw clenches beneath my palm. “I feel more. Trust me. So us? Me and you? We’re happening. Shit, we already happened. And a part of that is making it clear the kind of man I am.” She doesn’t flinch when I say that, but the pulse in her neck gallops under my thumb, and I stroke her soft skin there. “The kind of man I am is one who won’t let the fact that you got suspended because of him slide—”
“No, Damien.” She shakes her head. “It’s seriously fine. I can’t get mad at him for enforcing a rule I know I broke. I was doing some deep cleaning, and my music must have worn out my battery, so I put my phone on the charger and haven’t picked it up since. I’m sorry that you were worried.”
“I don’t want to be,” I confess, dropping my arm.
Her eyebrows furrow. “You don’t want to be what?”
“Worried. I don’t want to care so much, but I do. I can’t help it. From the first time I saw you, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Now that I’ve had you, it’s worse. After what was probably the best night of my fucking life, it’s only been hours, Izzy, and I had to hear your voice. So know that’s who I am. I’m going to worry about you, and I’m going to take care of you. I’m going to consume you, Izzy. What I want to know is if that’s something you can