Page 45 of Takedown

And I’m right. Color creeps up her neck and she swats my chest.

“What do you think?” She waves around the apartment, and for the first time, I notice the new furniture.

“You two all set here?” I lock eyes with the tall one, and he smirks at me. I leave Mel’s side and step to him, ready to beat him through the floor. “You check out my wife’s ass one more time and you and I will have problems. The kind of problem where you’ll need a gurney to get out of here,” I whisper, and he wisely steps back.

“All set,” he says. “Just sign here and we’ll get out of your hair.” He hands Mel an iPad, and she signs. I stare at them until they practically run out of the front door..

Her top might be a sweatshirt, but it’s a crop top. It shows off her tapered waist and her smooth skin. She has matching high top sneakers, and when my eyes travel back up her body, her hair is in a high ponytail.

She smiles and spins around the room. Her ass jiggles and my pants tighten. “Doesn’t it look great?” She hooks her arms through mine, and we walk to the couch. It’s a large sectional and the end has a seat that leans back like a lazy boy. It’s gray and when I run my hand over it, it’s smooth.

There’s a tall plant in the corner. There are plants everywhere.

“Come on.” She takes my hand, and we walk to the kitchen. She opens a cabinet and pulls out a plate. “They all match. Even the mugs and glasses.” The plate is white and is decorated with a green leaf in the middle. There’s a vase of fresh flowers on the kitchen table. She grabs it and puts it to my nose, and I inhale.

“Nice, but not as nice as when I have my face between your legs.” I hold her elbow and sniff her neck. She shakes her head at me and takes my hand in hers.

“I got some artwork for the walls. I hope you like them. This rug looked nice online, but now I’m not so sure.” I look at the walls and the floor. They both look fine to me.

“It’s beautiful, Mel,” I reassure her. She takes me to the bathroom next. The rugs are different, as is the shower curtain. The colors are definitely more feminine. No way I would buy a shower curtain with pink flowers, but whatever. It does give me a certain feeling of possessiveness to see her things all over my bathroom sink. Right in the middle is a wicker basket full of nothing but nail polish. Every color of the rainbow. All with strange names like Mint Candy Apple, Hi Maintenance, and Muchi Muchi. Whatever the fuck Muchi Muchi means.

“And I got new bedding for the bedroom.” I follow her into our room, and again, a bunch of girly shit, but I don’t care. There’s a vase of pink roses on the dresser, a floral comforter, and matching sheets and pillowcases.

“I can’t wait to fuck you on that bed tonight,” I whisper in her ear. She puts a hand on my chest and moans loudly. I grab her ass and squeeze.

“You’re going to have to wait. I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Alex and Jason for dinner, so I have to start cooking. Oh, and you see all the plants we have?”

“Yeah,” I say, smiling at the fact that she said we. “Even the two in the windowless bathroom,” I tease.

“Well, I have the opposite of a green thumb, but I love plants. So, you’re responsible for keeping them alive.”

“What? Me? Mel, I don’t know anything about plants. You saw how I lived before you moved in.” I leave the bedroom, and she follows me. There are plants all along the hallway. There are three in the kitchen alone.

“They all have instructions.” She plants both hands on my chest and says, “Please.” I sigh, roll my eyes, and nod.

“Yes!” she exclaims and hugs me.

I lean down and kiss her lips. “Anything for you, even this damn rainforest we call a home.”

She wraps an arm around mine and we walk back to the living room. “What do you think about Lola?” she asks.

“Who the hell is Lola?”

“That’s what I named your ugly chair. I was going to have her reupholstered but decided not to since I promised not to touch it. And did you know that reupholstering costs almost as much as getting a new chair? Got this blanket instead.” She leaves my side, runs to the coat closet, and comes back holding something pink. I groan when I see it. She runs a piece across my cheek, and I admit it’s soft. She drapes it over my chair and gestures to it.

“First off, that chair is a man’s chair. He should have a manly name like Gus or Chuck, not Lola. And you couldn’t find a more masculine blanket?” She smiles smugly at me and sits in my chair. “Whoa! No one sits on Lola but me.” I grab her feet and pull her off. She does her best to hold onto the chair, but I’m too strong. As soon as I have her on the floor, I jump over her and take my place in my favorite chair. I drape the blanket over me and sigh. I’ll never admit it to her, but the blanket is comfortable and long enough for my body. She stands, and I grab her hand and pull her into my lap.

“Everything is beautiful, Mel. Everything but this girly blanket.” She surprises me when she kisses my cheek.

“The blanket stays, Flynn.”

“Okay, Flynn,” I say back to her. All too soon she jumps off my lap.

“I have to make dinner. Do you want a snack?” She starts to walk away, but I grab her wrist.

“You’d bring me a snack?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I? Relax a little until dinner since you wake up so early.” I drop her wrist, and she leaves. She comes back a few minutes later with a tray. There’s Greek yogurt, fruit, and a few slices of salami and cheese. She gives it to me, hands me the remote, and leaves.

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