Page 77 of Bourbon and Lies

He doesn’t say anything. A wide-eyed response and his obvious lack of backbone were enough to know he’s not going to be a problem for her. I’ll still make sure one of Del’s New York City contacts pays him a visit in full uniform at work just as a reminder, though.

I breeze past Lincoln. I’m only interested in seeing Laney right now and making sure she’s okay.

“Do I want to know what that was about?” he asks, catching up with me.

“Nope.”

He stops at the stairs. “Are you coming back up?”

I ignore him and keep walking straight for Hadley’s office. When I close the door behind me, Laney’s leaning against the small desk and picking at her fingers. She looks less rattled than when I left her, but she needs to know there’s nothing left to worry about. The small space is quiet, considering there’s a packed bar and band just beyond the door and down the hall.

She stands up, starting to say, “There’s something else I need to?—”

I lock the door. “That’s done.”

Her eyes shift to the door, and then back up to me. “What?”

“With him. That’s done now.” I don’t want her spending another second thinking about that part of her past. She’s tornherself apart about the way things happened with him, and I hate that seeing him ripped it open again.

Biting her lip, she studies me. “Did you hurt him?”

“Threatened him to stay away. Gave him a good tap in the back to make sure he heard everything you said.”

She looks down at her hands. “Is it awful to say thank you for that?”

I close the distance and tuck my finger under her chin, tilting her face up. The way she looks at me is something I don’t take for granted. Her pretty eyes have flecks of blue and swirls of brown that remind me of my bourbon now in the dim light behind the desk and the way she looks like she’s pouting when she’s waiting for me to say something.

Close to her lips, I whisper, “Turn around.” She searches my eyes for what I’m asking, but the second she sees it, she turns her back to me. I run my hands along her bare shoulders, over her smooth skin. This need I have to feel her, have her, is overwhelming.

Moving her hair to one side, I lean in and kiss her right below her ear, in that one spot that makes her hum when I spend enough attention on it. She tilts her head back, leaning it against my shoulder as I let my hands roam over the rough material of her top. I trace along the seams and over the crystals that meet her skin. She looks so perfect in my arms like this. I feel such a need to protect her, make her feel good, and see her for exactly who she is: strong, sexy, and exactly what I want.

I bend just enough to run my nose along the side of her neck. She has that soft floral smell, like the wildflowers behind my house, and a hint of bourbon from my lips.

“He wasn’t the reason I left.”

I knew there was more, but I’m not going to push. Not now.

Nodding against her, I drag my hand down the curves of her body and between her thighs. I rub her pussy over the satin ofthe bottoms she’s wearing as I press my hardening cock against her ass.

“Can I be the reason you stay?”

There it is, at the core of why I’ve kept mostly to myself. Why I hated the idea of her crashing into our lives and living across from me. It’s the one thing I’ve been scared to want, never mind ask of anyone. For themtostay.

She runs her hand up the arm I have wrapped around her middle, lifting it away from her body and up toward her mouth. She kisses my palm, and with a breathy exhale, she says, “Yes.”

I rest my lips along the back of her neck, letting them linger so I can absorb what that does to me. It’s like knocking aside far too many years of being incapable of really caring for someone. She circles her hips against me in response, and it feels so fucking good. “Do that again.”

Leaning forward, she places her hands on the desk and then grinds her ass back into me.

I trail my fingers along the edges of where her barely-there bottoms meet the cheeks of her perfect ass. “Tell me what you want.” My thumbs dip just past the seams to tease her.

“You. I want you.”

Her words spark a heat around the edges of my skin, drawing goosebumps to the surface, and making my cock swell beneath my pants. I take a step back.

“Pull those down so I can see how much.”

She peeks at me over her shoulder, a smirk on those pretty painted lips, and hooks her thumbs into the waist to pull them just past the curve of her ass. The garter belt and straps stay as she rolls down the black satin. I can’t help it; she’s just begging for my mouth, so I don’t think as I drop to my knees, grab one of her ass cheeks in each hand, and spread her apart. Her pussy glistens, she’s so wet. “Fucking hell, honey, this all for me?”

---