Page 47 of Property of Riptide
“He’s right,” Zoey conveys. “They don’t bother me but you’re unknown, they’ll see you as competition.”
“They sound… lovely,” I say as I grab Gagey from Rush’s arms.
“Come on, I’ll tell you all about the ‘lovely’ ladies. It was a shock for me the first time Indiana told me about them and why they’re here. I’ll grab you a cocktail from the bar before I give you the low down on them,” Zoey offers.
I give her a kiss on the lips, making sure we have an audience before calling church with the guys who happen to be around. After getting her seated, I promise, “I won’t be long.”
“Don’t rush on my account. Take care of what you need to because once we’re home, I have a feeling you and I will be due a conversation,” she harrumphs.
“I’ll answer all of your questions, Van. All I ask in return is that you don’t make any judgments until you and I talk.”
“That’s not who I am, Rush. Or should I be calling you Riptide? This is all so damn confusing,” she mumbles, raking her hands through her hair.
“You can call me whatever you want while at the clubhouse, but when we’re home and it’s just the two of us, I’d prefer you call me Rush,” I confide.
“Okay,” she whispers, sending me a shy smile. “Now hurry along, Rush, I’m ready for a shower and jumping into some comfy clothes. I’m exhausted.”
Since she admitted that to me, I plan on making this the quickest church we’ve ever held. Unable to resist, I plant a long, lingering kiss on her lips. As I pull away and turn around I notice the club girls standing there, their jaws hanging.
“That’s my old lady, you better give her the same respect you give me. Understand?”
“Yes, Rip,” they synchronously mumble.
“That’s what I thought,” I express with a warning inserted. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d give them all the boot. They’ve started becoming more of a nuisance anyway and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings to start cleaning out my house.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
Van
“Club girls,” I harrumph to myself, drumming my fingers against my steering wheel as I follow Rush through the curves of the compound heading toward his house. It’s late, and I have my headlights on, and knowing there’s a graveyard around the bend sets a spooky scene. I feel like I’m a damsel in distress on one of those creepy programs that come on late at night.
“Where the fuck are you taking me, Rush? We should’ve done this during the daytime, this shit is freaky.”
Three minutes later, we pull up to a two-story Victorian style home. From what little I can see of the front, there’s a wraparound porch with a swing attached, blowing in the breeze. The turrets on each side of it makes the girl inside of me squeal in delight. It’s as if he plucked my dream house out of a magazine and set it here to entice me. You can tell it’s an older house, but both the structure and landscape have been well-maintained and cared for. Rush takes pride in his house eventhough he claims to spend more time at the clubhouse than he does here.
As I take in the scenery, Rush grabs Gagey out of the back of the car and has him settled on his chest. “You like it?” he asks, shifting from one foot to the other.
“I love it,” I admit, tossing the strap of my purse over my shoulder and tucking my keys and phone into the side pocket. “It’s beautiful, Rush. Was this what drew you to the land?”
“No, it was the cemetery that had us interested,” he tells me. “The clubhouse and the land attached to it, was a lucky find.”
As he escorts me up the porch and inside, I gasp. There’s wainscoting and shiplap in the foyer that leads into the main living quarters of the residence. My Pinterest board has come to life! Every detail of this house matches all of my hopes and dreams. I’ve been collecting photographs of what I wanted when I could afford to purchase a home for me and Gagey and pinning them.
“Was that a good gasp or a bad gasp?” he inquires, laying our boy down on the overly large couch and surrounding him with pillows so he doesn’t roll off. “This’ll have to do until I can get his playpen inside.”
“It was a good gasp, and I can lug the playpen in, as well as our bags, if you want to watch him for me to make sure he doesn’t wake up and crawl over those cushions,” I offer.
He saunters over to me and bops me on the edge of my nose with the tip of his finger, saying, “No, ma’am. I’ve got this. Take a load off and kick off your shoes, I’ll be back shortly.” He leans over and captures my mouth with his, kissing me with so much passion that my knees grow weak. When he pulls back, Inotice his breathing has become choppy and his eyes have grown heavy-lidded. “Set your boundaries, Van. Tonight, I have every intention of claiming you. Heart, body, and soul, I want it all.”
“It’s all yours,” I contend as he does that sexy as sin half lip tilt thing he does that makes my belly flip.
“Not yet, but it will be,” he tells me, caressing my face with his palm. “Be back.”
I watch him waltz away, he’s floating on his feet as he heads through the doorway. “I’m in trouble,” I mention aloud. “Big trouble.”
While he busies himself bringing in our belongings, I check my boy’s diaper and am relieved that it’s still clean. When that is done, I start changing him into his pajamas that I keep in his diaper bag. Thank goodness my boy is a heavy sleeper and doesn’t budge while I complete that chore.
