He takes one of my hands by the fingers and shakes it a little. “You’re getting really worked up over nothing. I’ve slept more nights on the ground than I care to remember. That cot’s a big step up.” He looks over his shoulder at the bed. “That mattress is way too soft, anyway. You’ll be doing me a favor.”
“You’re just saying that so I’ll sleep there.”
He moves closer and pulls me into a hug, resting his chin on my head. I try to wrap my arms around his upper back, but I can’t. He’s too big. I settle for his waist, which is much narrower. Now I can reach my hands around the other side of him the right way. I squeeze with as much appreciation as I have in me.
“You’re too nice,” I say, sadness tingeing my voice. “I’m afraid it’s going to ruin everything.”
“Nothing’s going to get ruined by me treating you the way you deserve to be treated.” He pulls back and looks down at me. “Are you one of those women who’s been treated bad, told she’s worthless or something?”
I shake my head. “No. I’ve had just a few boyfriends, and they were all nice enough. Just . . .”—I shrug—“not the right one for me.”
He holds me again, like he’s enjoying just standing there in the middle of his room doing nothing but trying to make me feel better. I love the strength of him I can feel, not just through his muscles, but in the way his mind works and his heart is. Ozzie being in charge of security makes all the sense in the world. I can’t feel anything less than totally safe in his arms. Protected. Cared for, even.
“I can’t make you any promises, except to say that I’ll keep you safe,” he says, his voice gruff.
He assumes my only fear is of the man who tried to shoot us back at Frankie’s. He’s right about that partially; I am afraid of that man. But that’s not the only thing worrying me. Jenny calls me tenderhearted, and I wouldn’t disagree with her on that.
“But what if the danger is coming from you?” I whisper back. My heart twists inside my chest as I imagine falling in love with him and then being cast aside. Committing to a real relationship is hard enough, but to take the risk and then get burned for it? I’d have to move in with my sister so she could take care of me for the rest of my life; I’d be that devastated.
“You have nothing to fear from me, I promise.”
“I don’t fear being hurt,” I say in a small voice. “I fear being shattered.”
He lets me go. The pain starts to come from what I assume is his rejection, but then it’s swept away when he picks me up in his arms like a baby.
“How about we go to bed right now and worry about all the things that might never happen, tomorrow?”
He uses his elbow to shut the light off. One lamp remains lit next to the bed, casting a faint glow around the room. It’s the sexy kind of lighting that makes me look really good naked, or as good as I can look without my clothes on. Score.
I reach up to slide my hand over his chest. “That sounds good to me.” My head rises as his falls so we can meet in the middle for a kiss.
It’s over much quicker than I anticipated, though. I have no time to figure out why that is before I’m lost and confused, flying through the air as he launches me right out of his arms and toward the bed.
I’m airborne! Oh my god! Will I die?!
Boof! I land on the mattress on my back and bounce high once before coming to a halt in the middle of the covers. I stare at the ceiling while my brain computes what just happened.
Oh my god . . . he actually threw me!
“Wait here for me. I’ll be right back.” He grins at me and takes off jogging from the room.
“Ozzie!” I screech, trying to get my breath back from that near-death experience. My head turns right and then left. I am still alive. Nothing’s broken. My breath was stolen from me a bit, but it’s back. I literally flew four feet up into the air on the first bounce off that too-soft bed. What the hell.
“I’m going to kill you for that!” I scan the room for a weapon. I swear I’ll use it too. He’s trained. He can fight back. If he chooses to let me win, well, that’s his problem.
His warm chuckles come down the hall from the kitchen, and instead of making up plans for retribution, I scootch back a bit and recline against the pillows, wondering what he’s up to now. I have a feeling I’m going to like it a lot, and I can’t help grinning about it. Being with him is like being at a crazy amusement park. I never know what’s going to happen next, but it’s always fun.
CHAPTER FORTY
I hear a tinkling of glass before he rounds the corner. He has a bottle in one hand and two tall champagne flutes in the other.
“I was saving this for the next birthday but figured we could have some now.”
I sit up slowly, a little stunned by what I’m seeing. Ozzie is usually so reserved. This enthusiastic, happy person is not someone I’ve met before. I have a hard time believing anyone else on the team has seen him either. To think he might only act this way in my presence makes me go warm inside. I think he really likes me. A goofy smile takes over my face.
He puts the glasses down on his nightstand and twists the wire cage off the top of the cork. “I hope you like champagne.”
I slide my legs over until they’re hanging off the side of the bed. “I do like champagne. I don’t have it very often.”
“I have a friend with a vineyard in France. He sends me a few cases every year.”
“Nice friend.”
“We’ve done some work for him.”
“What kind of work does a vineyard owner need from a security company?”
“Oh, they had some rare vintage stuff that was sent over for the president. We made sure it got where it was supposed to go in the condition it was supposed to be in.”
“The president? As in the president of the United States?”
“The one and only.”
“Wow. That’s just . . . crazy.”
The cork flies off and zooms across the room, distracting me from Ozzie’s impressive client list. I only see it again when it bounces off the wall and lands on the floor. Felix pokes his head around the corner of the door, and within seconds his eyes lock on that cork. He grabs it and disappears again. This means there will be shredded champagne cork somewhere in Ozzie’s house for me to clean up later. Sigh. At least the little bugger will be happy and occupied for a while.
Ozzie pours one glass full and hands it to me when the foam is halfway calmed down. When the second glass is full, he puts the bottle on the side table and lifts the flute. “Here’s to new beginnings.”
I lift my glass, wondering if we’re toasting my new employment or my status as his roommate. “New beginnings,” I say softly, making sure not to hit his glass too hard. With my nerves being what they are right now, I could easily shatter them both.
My first sip sends bubbles up my nose. I sneeze, and not very delicately.
He smiles. “You like it.”
“I do, I do.” I wipe my nose to keep it from tickling any more. My eyes are watering trying to hold in the next sneeze.
“This one isn’t very sweet.”
I take another sip and nod. “No, it’s dry, but I like it.” Now that I’m no longer sneezing, I can appreciate the taste. “It’s like drinking firecrackers,” I say, smiling.
“Never thought about it that way.” He finishes off his glass, holding the liquid in his mouth for a few seconds. He tilts his head left to right, swallows, and nods. “You’re right. Just like firecrackers.”
We continue with another glass each, the whole time just looking around. The more time that passes, the more awkward it gets between us.