Page 62 of I'll Keep Her Safe

He grimaces, looking away. “I’m trying to do what’s best for you.”

“What’sbestfor me?” I emit an incredulous scoff. He’s nailing that fatherly thing, but he’s notmyfather, and I need to make that clear. “I’m a big girl, Wyatt. I decide what’s best for me.”

“Don’t push me, Poppy. We’re leaving.”

I stand my ground. He doesn’t get to kiss me, then pretend it didn’t happen. I’ve put up with enough shit from Kurt to know what I will and won’t tolerate from a man, and I expect better from Wyatt.

“You can’t boss me around because I’m young. I thought you respected me more than that.”

“Idorespect you.” His hands come to rest on the car behind my head, caging me in. There’s a desperation in his eyes that tells me he’s close to breaking. “That’s why we need to leave.”

“If you respected me, you’d listen.” I hazard a hand on his chest, touching him gently. I know he’s not angry with me—he’s angry with the situation. With himself, for wanting this, and he needs to know we’re doing nothing wrong. “I want you as much as you want me. I’ve thought about nothing else since I moved in.”

It’s painful to see the sheer torment on his face. “I can’t—”

“You can,” I whisper, heart drumming in my chest.

“I don’t want to take advantage of you. You’re Bailey’s friend.”

“I’m also a grown woman,” I remind him. “A woman who knows what she wants.” I move my hand up his chest, sliding it around the hot skin of his neck, and feel his pulse beating under my fingertips. “Kiss me, Wyatt. Please.”

“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath.

I see the moment he gives up the fight. The moment his defenses fall away. With a low growl, he lowers his mouth to mine, and my heart sighs in relief.

His kiss is hot and urgent this time, tongue sweeping across my bottom lip, demanding entry. I’m all too happy to oblige. I part my lips, inviting him in, and his tongue slides over mine in a wet, dirty kiss. His earthy scent overwhelms me, his beard rough against my cheek. Heat flares between my hips, and I whimper with need.

I lose all sense of reason at this point.

Grabbing Wyatt’s ass with two hands, I tug him against me. He moans into my mouth as his erection presses against my stomach, and I lift a leg, desperate to feel him closer. He takes the hint, hand sliding up my thigh to hook it around his hip, so he can press his hardness where I need it.

“Fuck, Poppy,” he rasps as I drag my mouth over his beard, down his neck. “I’ve thought about nothing but kissing you all night.”

His words make me dizzy. The feel of him hard and ready for me as he pins me against the limo door is too much. I need more. I need all of him.

“Wyatt—”

Headlights sweep across the parking lot, and he curses under his breath, pulling away from me. He adjusts himself, breathing hard as he reaches past me to open the door to the limo.

“Come on,” he mutters. For a second I think he’s going to protest again, say we need to stop, but he adds, “I can’t stand the thought that Bruce might be watching.”

Ugh. Me either.

I slide onto the leather seat of the limo, Wyatt behind me. He intentionally leaves room between us, as if giving himself room to catch his breath, and calls out to the driver to leave. I didn’t even realize the driver was there. Wyatt presses the button to close the partition between the driver and the back as the engine starts. Then he drops his head forward, rubbing the back of his neck, and I’m not sure what to do next. After kissing him like that, feeling him against me, I can’t pretend it didn’t happen. And I don’t think he can either.

I glance out the window as we pull out of the parking lot. It occurs to me that I haven’t seen a single other limo, despite Wyatt telling me they send them for all the finalists. And now that I think about it, that seems absurdly extravagant.

“Why were we the only limo there tonight?” I ask quietly.

He exhales roughly, finally meeting my gaze. “I ordered us one.”

My heart does a funny flip. “Why?”

“Because…” His head drops back on the headrest to stare at the ceiling. “Because I wanted you to have a good night. Bailey said your prom was crap and I wanted… I don’t know. I wanted tonight to feel special.”

Prom…

I glance at my teal dress, at how perfect it is. The moment I saw it, it reminded me of the dress I wore to prom all those years ago, albeit a lesser version. I’d assumed that was simply a coincidence, but…

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