Gone - Anna Brooks Page 0,21
life who treated me anywhere near what Dickman has, and to this day, I’m still paying for it.
Whatever.
I’m not going to worry about all that other crap right now.
Pushing off the door, I head to the kitchen and start preparing the sauce for the lasagna I’m going to make for Damien tonight. I think about him coming back—about the things he can do to me, the way he makes me feel—and I immediately forget about Dr. Dickman.
While I have the opportunity, I do a load of laundry and vacuum the floors before I take a quick shower. Times flies and as I’m wrapping the cord around my hair dryer, there’s a knock on my door. Of course I know who it is, so I rush downstairs. Gio has me trained to always look through the peephole first, so I do that and then disarm my system before I whip the door open.
Damien holds his hand out, and I swoon at the bouquet in his grip. If the past two days are any indication of the future of our relationship, I’m in for a lifetime of happiness.
Chapter 6
Damien
“You ready, Izzy baby? I don’t want you to be late.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
I hate that she’s gotta go back to work today. I was planning on spending a lot of time with her while she was suspended this past week, but some things went down with one of the guys at Royal, and I needed to step up to be there for him. Just as I know he would me.
Aside from talking on the phone until we fall asleep, I only got to spend a couple other nights with her. And both those evenings I showed up late. I haven’t even gotten to take her out on an actual date yet, either, which I plan to do soon.
I lead her to my Escalade where Judy jumps up into the back seat as Izzy gets in the front, immediately reaching for my hand once I’m behind the wheel and driving away.
“You okay?” I ask, concerned that she’s fearful to see her boss again.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”
I come to a stop at a red light. “About what?”
“Nothing, really.”
I press my lips to the pulse point on her wrist. “Izzy, listen to me. If you’re worried about Rickman, don’t be. He’s nothing but a little pissant. If he fucks with you in any way, all I want you to do is gather up your shit and leave, and then I’ll deal with him.”
“You can’t do that. I can’t be out of work. Don’t do anything to him.”
Ignoring the part about her boss, because I’m not concerned with him, I remind her, “If he were to fire you, or if you left, with what we have building, I’ll take care of you. You know I got you.”
She yanks her hand away from me like it’s on fire, shaking her head frantically.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t need you to take care of me, and I can’t be without a job.”
The fuck? “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t need you to take care of me, and I can’t be without a job.”
“Izzy baby, taking care of you is my job.”
“No.” She slashes her hand through the air as though it’s the final say. “I appreciate you offering, but I can take care of myself.”
Cranking the wheel, I slam on the brakes, and the tire hits the curb. I turn and take hold of her face. “What’s this about?”
“Nothing. It’s just me. I need to work, and I don’t want to rely on anyone. Please, just keep driving. I can’t be late.”
I don’t know what the hell just got into her, but I’ll figure it out. Not wanting to be the reason she gets in trouble again at work, I concede. “Okay, Iz. We’ll talk about this later because if you think it ain’t my job to take care of you in any and every way, you and I will have more than problems. There won’t be a you and me, Izzy, if you don’t let me look after you. But I know what I have with you, and I’d be a fool to lose that for anything, so what I’m really saying is, you need to come to terms with the kind of guy you’ve got in your bed, because there is and will continue to be a you and me. I ain’t going anywhere, and I’m going to take care of you in and out of that bed.”
She doesn’t reply