Page 31 of Control (Everyday Heroes 3.50)
She’s not getting out of this one as easily as I let her out of telling me her other truth. No way. No how.
I want the woman again—would have her right now if she let me—but something tells me there’s a lot more beneath the surface I’ve yet to find out...and hell if I’m not determined to uncover it.
“That’s not what I mean—”
“You keep saying that. And I keep waiting for you to explain what it is you do mean.”
“If you’d back up and give me some space, maybe I could think straight.”
I do the exact opposite. I step forward, put my hands on both arms of her chair, and lean down so we’re face to face. “Maybe I don’t want you to think straight. Maybe I know that’s when you’ll be the most honest. We slept together, Desi Whitman. It was incredible...you were incredible...and I’d like to do it again with you real soon...but I need a little more from you than a wham-bam-get-the-hell-out-ma’am. That’s not my style. Far from it…”
“Maybe I’m just a one-night-stand girl.”
“First of all, you’re far from a girl.” I drag my eyes up and down the length of her body. No man would be satisfied with one night with Desi. She’s gorgeous, passionate...fucking hot. “Secondly, I’m all for a one-night stand...if I’m not going to see the person again, but I’m going to see you. I plan on seeing you...so yeah, I don’t think that kind of parameter is going to work for me.”
“Reznor—”
“Don’t bother giving me your excuses,” I say as I lean down and brush my lips to hers. Fuck if it isn’t brutal to stop at a measly kiss from the woman who seems to harden my dick with just that. “Just practice saying yes.”
And with that, I stand to full height, smirk with a shake of my head, and walk out of her yard—this time with clothes on—leaving her and her stunned expression to think about the word yes.
The woman is scared.
And it’s not only of strange men surprising her on her patio.
She’s scared of someone getting close to her. Emotionally, definitely. Physically, maybe...unless, it seems, she gets to set the rules. A woman like Desi Whitman shouldn’t live in fear. That carefree laugh of hers needs to be heard. So is that why I did that? Is that why I can’t keep the fuck away from her when clearly she keeps trying to set boundaries?
Christ, Rez. Quit playing the hero. She didn’t ask you to be one.
Pausing at the steps of my porch, I look over at the fence that separates our yards and shake my head. Whether she asked me to or not, it seems I’m putting on the cape regardless.
If she thinks she’s done with me, she has another think coming. I’m making it my job to erase that look from her eyes.
Chapter Twelve
Reznor
“You got broken pipes?”
I lift my head up and see Grant peering at me down the cereal aisle of the grocery store. “My pipes are doing just fine, Malone.” I laugh. “And what the hell are you talking about?”
“You’re in a fishbowl now, Rez. Someone told the cashier at 7-Eleven that she saw the cute new guy with the tattoos and muscles at Ace Hardware buying some PVC. The cashier was at the coffee shop, and I overheard her tell it to someone else...so I drew some conclusions.”
“Fucking great. Let’s hope I don’t go to buy some condoms. That’ll really get the gossips going.”
Note to self: Buy more condoms. My current stash isn’t going to last if I’m living next door to Desi.
Then again, she needs to say yes.
“If you buy condoms, you’ll have women lining up at your door asking for directions…”
“You mean the take off your clothes, get on all fours type of directions?” I ask with a chuckle.
“Something like that.”
“How’s work?”
“Same ol’. You know how it goes—feast or famine. Right now, it’s feast.”
