Treasured (The Salvation Society) - Victoria Pinder Page 0,6

me or had just chosen not to answer.

The song continued to preach about love, but then she finally glanced up, and it was like the sun had burst out of the morning sky as she said, “To be treasured as his one and only, to be loved and be considered important and as a partner in life…” My shoulders widened as if she were giving me direct orders to follow. She turned her head down. “Y’know, the guy a girl can count on, no matter what shitstorm shows up in her life next. One who’s rock solid and right there, holding my hand.”

I squeezed her waist like I was promising her to be that guy but instead said, “That’s honest. I like that.”

She let out a small “ha” that I would have missed if we weren’t so close. “What can I say? I’ve had time to think about it.”

I glanced over her head and saw a flash of light in our direction. Then I met Wanda’s gaze.

Mary wasn’t a target in our war for control of my brother’s company. I had the shares. So I pointed her toward the back door and said, “Tell you what, let’s finish this dance, say hello to everyone, and get out of here, together.”

She licked her lips as she sized me up. I hope she saw the me inside that no one else did, the boy who had once competed for everything to prove he was the best. She raised her eyebrow and asked, “You’re serious?”

I twirled her one last time as the song wound down and said, “Yes.”

She laughed and squeezed my ass. “Then you’re on. It’s my one night of freedom.”

And it was my one night to prove I was more than a one-night stand, it seemed.

I wanted to hold her and never let go. No other woman had ever done that to me. I was hers for the taking.

Chapter Three

Mary

Holding a man who was practically double my size and all muscle everywhere was not how I thought I’d spend the night.

Truthfully, I’d not had any man touch me since… stop, now. Arthur wasn’t worth a moment’s thought.

Besides, I was there with Dwayne, and he seemed like a man who’d stepped out of my fantasy to dance with me.

Inside, I was already humming to be his, but that was crazy.

Heck, I was being reckless, but I ached to be held by him.

I didn’t remember ever being truly held, and tonight, being in his arms might make the best moments to cherish.

So I opened the hotel room door with my swipe card and showed him in as I said, “This way.”

As the door closed, my skin prickled. I’d not been alone, with a man, in forever.

Dwayne put his phone on the desk and then turned toward me. My heart was in my throat. “Did you get enough to eat in there, Mary?” he asked.

I let out a small sigh. No need to be so scared. He wasn’t here to hurt me. I shook my head and slipped out of my heels. “We’re not here to eat. Are you getting cold feet?”

I walked toward him, but he took my hands and said, “I’d like to talk first.”

My heart swelled. I would never get romance in my life. I knew it, but this one second was… sweet. However, I lowered my shoulders and arched my eyebrow. “In my hotel room?”

His muscular hand ran up and down my arm, leaving a trail of goose bumps and zaps aching for more, but he sat on the small sofa and asked, “What can I say? I want to know more about you. How old is your son?”

This wasn’t like my ex. He’d never asked me… anything. He talked about himself, all the time. I lowered myself beside him and fished out my phone as I said, “He’s eighteen months now.”

He motioned with his head, so I pulled up a photo I had taken the week before. He smiled, and butterflies flew in my stomach.

I’d once ached for my son’s father to love us both, but he’d thrown my baby.

My heart had stopped, and I would never forget it.

Dwayne was four times more muscular and could do serious damage to anyone with one push, but he handed me my phone and asked with a brightness in his gaze that made me hunger for him, “Still a baby. What happened with the father?”

The topic. The buzzkill. I met his gaze, and my lips tingled to kiss him. Instead, I glanced