Page 33 of Taking the Pitch
Charlie chuckles. “We’re back at Millies. Come on, let’s get all this shit off our faces so we can go to sleep.” She looks at me again in the mirror. “Thanks again, Judd.”
Hazel stretches, then looks over at me too. “Thanks for driving tonight, Judd. We had a blast.” She looks at Amelia’s seat, then back at me, giving me a wink. “All of us.”
“Anytime, ladies,” I tell them as they open their doors. Hazel pauses before getting out. “Want me to wake Millie?” she asks.
I shake my head. “You two go ahead. I’ve got her.”
“Thank God, Millie can be a grouch when she’s woken up.” Hazel smirks at me and twiddles her fingers at me. “Good luck with that,” she calls over her shoulder before shutting her door and heading towards the elevators with Charlie, leaving Amelia and me alone in the car.
I sit there for a few minutes, watching Amelia sleep, letting Charlie’s words replay through my head. ‘She’s been through enough.’ I know she has a story. Between talking with Jeremy yesterday, Charlie’s words today, and the fact that she has to have a service dog because of her anxiety, something terrible and traumatic has happened to her. The overwhelming desire to protect her washes over me and I make a silent promise to her to do anything possible to gain her trust.
She stirs in her seat before her eyes pop open, and she slowly looks around. Sitting up quickly in her seat, she looks around again, then notices me in my seat. She relaxes back in her seat before a yawn escapes her perfect mouth and she stretches. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She freezes and whips her head to the back, noticing the empty seats. Turning back to me, she asks, “Where are Hazel and Charlie? How long was I asleep? Why didn’t you wake me?”
I chuckle. “We just got here.” I nod to the elevators. “As for Charlie and Hazel, they just headed up. I told them I’d bring you up.”
“Oh, uh thanks.” She pauses and looks at me, narrowing her eyes. “Wait, were you going to carry me?”
I shrug. “Hazel mentioned something about you being a grouch when woken up, so I figured that might be my best bet.”
She crosses her arms across her chest and huffs. “I’m not a grouch.”
I laugh and open my door. “Whatever you say, Peach. Are you ready to go up?”
She crinkles her nose at the nickname and shakes her head, opening her own door and getting out. She rounds the front, and we walk to the elevators, my hand dropping to her lower back.
“Don’t like Peach?”
She shakes her head again and hits the call button before crossing her arms over her chest. My hoodie looks like a dress on her and I fucking love it. The elevator dings announcing its arrival and as she walks ahead of me to enter, blood rushes straight to my cock. Because the hoodie I gave her is one that has my name on the back. An image of her naked with nothing but my jersey pops into my head, making my cock even harder.
“Are you coming or what?” she asks, sounding slightly annoyed that I’m still not in the elevator.
“Yep, coming,” I say, getting into the elevator and sliding my hands in my pocket, hoping to disguise the major hard on I’m now sporting.
She hits the button for the tenth floor and looks at me, eyebrows raised. “You gonna do the phone thingy for your floor?”
“No. I’ll walk you to your door first.”
“That’s not necessary,” she protests. “I’m a big girl. I can get myself home.”
Something shifts inside of me, and I take my hands out of my pockets, softly gripping her upper arms and backing her into the wall of the elevator. When her back hits the wall, she gasps and I bring my hands up to both sides of her head, caging her in.
Reaching down with one hand, I grip her chin and tilt her face to look up at me. “I know you can take care of yourself Mills; I never said you couldn’t. But my momma raised a gentleman, and I will be walking you to your door. Understand?”
I see her throat bob as she swallows and nods her understanding.
“Good,” I whisper, tracing my thumb over her plump bottom lip. “Now, remember what I said at the club earlier?”
I flick my gaze up from her lips to her eyes and see that they’re dilated with desire. She gives me a small nod.
“Well, it’s just us in here,” I tell her, lowering my head.
I can hear her breath catch as my lips get closer to hers. “Tell me to stop Mills and I will. I won’t take something you’re not willing to give me.”
She stares at me for a heartbeat before I feel her hands run up the front of my borrowed shirt. One hand grips the front of my shirt and tugs me closer, the other roams over my shoulder to the back of my neck, fingers tangling into my hair.
Taking that as permission, I crash my lips to hers. Eliciting a soft moan from her. Her fingers tighten in my hair and tug softly. I hear a growling noise and realize it’s coming from me. Fuck, this woman makes me feral.
Needing more, so much more, I angle my head and trace her lips with my tongue, seeking permission. She opens willingly and I dive in, the taste of whiskey strong on her tongue. She pulls at my shirt, trying to bring me closer. Taking my hand from the wall, I run it down her body and over the curve of her ass, lifting her easily and pinning her to the wall. She wraps her legs around my waist and gasps when her core slides over my length. I press my body into her, catching her soft whimper with my mouth.
