“Who the hell is this dickhead?” Carson bit from across the living room where the pregnant lady—his wife Cassidy, I assumed—was examining the cut on his lip.
“Jesus, I’m sorry, man,” I started, running a hand through my hair as my gaze darted back and forth between him and Navie. “You opened the door without a shirt, and I just… I didn’t realize who you were. I just thought… hell, I don’t know what I thought.”
“This guy? Seriously?” Carson asked Navie incredulously, and she turned her glare from me to him.
“For the love of God, will you just please put a damn shirt on!” Looking back at me, she sucked in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as though she were trying to get herself centered. “Rowan—”
“Rowan!” Carson cut in. “Your douchebag boss, Rowan—?”
“Carson!” both Navie and Cassidy yelled at the same time. The sting from knowing how she’d once described me to the people she loved settled in the pit of my stomach like rancid meat as Carson continued his tirade.
“And what the hell’d he mean by my girl? Wait—are you bangin’ your boss?”
“Carson Langford!” Cassidy scolded loudly. Navie began twisting her hands in front of her in discomfort, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. The sudden shift in her demeanor didn’t sit well with me. I wanted these people to know what Navie meant to me, but based on Carson’s reaction, Navie had been quite upfront about her dislike of me at the start of our working relationship.
Well, shit. It looked like I was going to have my work cut out for me. But I’d already managed to sway Navie. It was going to take a little more effort, but I was sure I could get Carson and Cassidy to come around to my side eventually, too.
“Holy fuck!” Carson boomed.
Or maybe not.
“What are you thinking, little bit? And you…” He swung a murderous look in my direction. “I’m gonna kick your ass, little boy.”
“Oh, for the love of—” Navie paused, pinching the bridge of her nose in obvious agitation. “No one is kicking anyone’s ass. And you can’t call him little boy, Carson. For Christ’s sake, he’s taller than you. And older!”
That gave Carson pause before he asked, “How old?”
“Thirty-three,” I answered.
“Thirty-three?” he shouted then pushed against his wife’s hold, speaking in a low, menacing voice. “I’m gonna kill you.”
My body stiffened, preparing for another throw-down as Navie blocked Carson’s path to me. But it was Cassidy who brought the impending fight to a halt. “Everybody stop! So help me God, Carson, if you do not calm the hell down right now, I swear, this morning will be the last time you ever see me naked again!”
“Oh, sweet, merciful, Lord,” Navie prayed, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to find divine intervention.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, that would explain his lack of a shirt.”
Navie let out an adorable growl. “You don’t talk! Cassidy, will you get some ice for these two idiots’ faces? Rowan and I need to have a little chat.”
“You got it, sweetie,” she replied as Navie grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward what I could only assume was her bedroom. Under different circumstances, I would have gotten hard from the walk to her room alone, but seeing as I was undoubtedly about to get my ass handed to me, I wasn’t feeling the excitement.
When she turned to face me after slamming the door, I was overwhelmed by my sudden and intense desire to touch her. Even with her face scrunched in anger and her hands planted on her hips in a don’t fuck with me pose, she was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. Maybe I needed to have my head examined, because at that very moment, with her standing there pissed to high hell and my face beginning to throb, I couldn’t remember ever wanting her more.
Yep.
I was crazy.
I was furious.
I was beyond furious.
Carson was already a pain in my ass when it came to who I dated. No one was ever good enough in his opinion. And having the guy I was currently seeing—the guy I was head over heels in love with, even though I wouldn’t admit it to him—sock my overprotective brother in the face upon meeting him most certainly didn’t scream stellar first impression.
“You want to tell me what that was all about?”
“You didn’t return my text,” he answered simply, like that was supposed to explain everything.
“What text?”
“The one I sent right after you told me you had company.”
Walking past him, I snatched my phone off my nightstand and scrolled through our message exchange. Sure enough, there it was.
“I was in the shower, Rowan. I didn’t see this. If I had, I would have responded.” I felt my level of frustration rising at the knowledge that he clearly didn’t trust me. “So, what? You convinced yourself I was shacked up with some other guy and came over here to prove a point? Was that it?”
“No. Yes. Shit! I don’t know. I just…” He raked both his hands through his shiny black hair and plopped down on the side of my bed, elbows to his knees as he hunched over and looked up at me. “I was going out of my mind,” he admitted, embarrassment shining in his clear, icy gaze. “You didn’t respond and I lost it. I jumped to conclusions and didn’t think.” I couldn’t help myself. He just looked so… lost. While I hated that he hadn’t trusted me, I hated the fact he was so torn up over the ‘what if’s’ of our situation even more. “I may have over reacted,” he finished.
“You think?” I laughed, coming to stand close to him. When I moved within reach, his hands went to my hips, pulling me between his knees so he could rest his forehead against my stomach. “I’m not her,” I spoke softly as I ran my fingers through his hair.
He exhaled heavily, his breath leaking through the cotton of my shirt and caressing my skin. “I know.”
“I don’t think you do,” I responded. Holding tighter to his hair, I used it to tilt his head back so I could see his handsome face. “I’m not her,” I repeated emphatically. “I’m not a cheater. I’m not a manipulator. I would never do that to someone I care about. You have to trust me, Rowan. If you can’t do that then we might as well call this off right now.”
“No.” His tone held so much vehemence as he spoke that one word through gritted teeth.
“Then no more jealous, Neanderthal bullshit. You got me?” I grinned down at him and his lips tilted up in response.
“I got you.” As soon as the tension bled away, Rowan’s hands slid from my hips around my back, pulling me even tighter against him. My pulse picked up speed and my body heated. It was the same reaction every time he touched me. I couldn’t get enough of it. “So,” his grin turned wicked, “you care about me, huh?”
I did. I really, really did. But I refused to admit anything beyond that.
“Maybe,” I teased, holding my thumb and index finger less than an inch apart as I squinted. “About this much.” I squeaked and tried to squirm away when he gave my hip a hard pinch in retaliation. “Keep that up and I’m telling Carson.” I laughed. That got him to stop.
“So, what now?”
“Well, we’re going back out there and you’re going to kiss ass like you’ve never kissed ass before.”
One corner of his mouth tilted up in a grin. “You really think that’ll work?”
“Oh, hell no,” I answered with brutal honesty. “Carson’s going to hate you until the end of time now. But at least sucking up will keep him from trying to kill you in your sleep.”
“Fucking brilliant,” he grumbled toward the ceiling, causing me to giggle.