Page 62 of Tempt Me

“That’s a good one.” Ben nods and smirks. God, I’m lucky to have these fuckers in my corner. I was an idiot to question their loyalty to me.

Silas stands with a grave expression and grasps Lee’s hand.

Ben frowns. “Now, how many was I up to?” He waves his hand in the air. “Never mind. Let’s see….” He makes a production of thinking by staring at the ceiling and then smirking at me. “We can’t forget that he draws pictures of her like a good stalker versus a creepy one–”

“Assholes.” Brock spins on his heel and freezes as he finally sees Lee and Silas together. “Fuck, now I’ve got to make up some story that Bella is crazy so that my dad doesn’t get pissed at me and then deal with Tabitha.” Without a backward glance, he slams the door to his office and paces back and forth inside the small space.

Jake lifts his phone to his ear and waits a beat before saying, “Everything is taken care of on this end. Tell Bella to get the restraining order, but I don’t think Brock will bother her again.

Chapter Thirty-One

Several Hours Later

Bella

When I get out of my car at my brothers’ place, Dominic strides down the driveway. “Hey, babe, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m good.” I step into his embrace and smile with my face pressed against his chest. God, he smells good. I sigh and wrap my arms around his waist. Everything went smoothly at the police station, and the protection order has been recorded. No issues. No problems. I should’ve done this weeks ago.

Dominic kisses the top of my head. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you.” I tip my head back and drown in his brown eyes. “Thank you again for dropping everything to deal with my issues. I hope you don’t get in trouble at work over me.”

He cups my cheek and rubs his thumb along my cheekbone. “I’d gladly lose my job if it meant protecting you or being there when you needed me.”

“Don’t say that.” I pull back, or try to, until the arm around my waist, holds me tighter to his solid frame.

“Bella, I’m serious. If anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself. That’s the case whether you agreed to date me or not. I’ve always been in your corner and always will be.”

“I love you.”

“You’d better.” He grins before placing his lips against mine. We fit perfectly together.

A vehicle door slams shut. “Whoa, impressionable teen here. I don’t need to see all this PDA.”

Levi. My face flames as I pull back and twist to face him. “Hi–” My greeting sputters off as Mira climbs out of the passenger side of Levi’s pickup. Shit.

I brush my hair behind my shoulder. “Hi.” My voice comes out a squeak. Shit. I already said that. The last thing I want to do is make a bad impression on his mother. If she doesn’t approve of us as a couple…. No, I’m not considering that as a possibility.

“Hello, Bella.” Mira smiles as she walks beside Levi.

“Hey, Ma.” Dominic lays his arm over my shoulders and pulls me to his side. My body remains stiff beside his. “Seriously?” He arches an eyebrow.

“I don’t want to insult your mom.”

His eyes are sincere as he studies me. “You won’t. My mom and Levi know how important you are to me.”

“Yeah, we’ve seen all the evidence.” Levi rolls his eyes. “The notebooks full of sketches. The charcoal drawings. The paintings–”

“Levi.” Mira elbows him in the ribs. “Don’t run her off. If she doesn’t know he’s creepily obsessed with her, we don’t need to advertise it.”

I laugh and lay my head against his shoulder. “I probably should find it disturbing, but I love it.”

“As you should.” Mira places her hand on my upper arms. “You’re a beautiful girl, and you look picture-perfect with my son.” She shifts her attention to Dominic. “I knew you should’ve said something to her years ago. You wasted so much time.”

“Mom.” His jaw is tight. “Don’t say the next part.”

“What?” She widens her eyes and steps back, rocking on her heels and dropping her hands to her sides. “You don’t want me to start begging for grandchildren yet?”

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