Page 68 of Broken Discipline
“Marry me,” he said.
Everything inside of me seized up, my brows pinching together, an edge of jumpiness vibrating in my chest. How could he do this to me when he was leaving? His gray eyes were vibrant, full of longing and sorrow and hope that I would say ‘yes’ this time. And Iwantedto say yes. I wanted to be with him forever, to always have that safe space with him, the overwhelming comfort that he surrounded me with until I forgot that my father had died and that my mother had left me.
I bit my bottom lip, holding back. Marrying him meant we had a better chance of convincing his dad that I should go on the business trip with them, but it also meant giving up my independence. Griffin said I’d have to rely on him and his father to take care of me abroad. I wouldn’t be able to make my own money and or live on my own.
“I have a good job here,” I said quietly.
“A job you hate,” he said.
“Youhate my job,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I like Bunny.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You should be working at the bakery, doing what you love.”
“The tips aren’t as good at a bakery.”
“Then charge more for the cakes.”
I huffed. He was always trying to convince me to open my own bakery, but for me, it wasn’t about baking. I liked bakingfor him.I liked seeing an athletic, clean-shaven man eat brownies like a hog. Like he wasnormal.Like he couldn’t help but love my treats, and love me.
“Let me take care of you, Kylie,” he said.
I looked away. I had this gut instinct like this would be the last time I ever saw him. He said he was a private contractor for a construction company, but that was a lie. He did something dangerous, which was why he kept it private.
And I couldn’t trust that.
“I can’t,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
He raised his chin. “Once I come back, I’m going to marry you, Kylie. That’s the end of it.”
“And what if I say ‘no’?” I teased.
“You won’t.”
His confidence was intoxicating and irritating as hell.
“But what if you don’t come back this time?” I whispered.
He stood, stretching his shoulders, his eyes focused on me, his presence dominating the entire room. I clicked off the television and held my breath. A gunmetal-colored shirt topped his dark pants, finished with black, shiny steel-toed boots. Griffin had anger issues when it came to me working at the bar sometimes, but right then, it was so much more than that. It looked like he could kill someone with his bare hands. He was full of power and darkness, and to be honest, I liked that about him. I had no choice but to be vulnerable with Griffin.
And somehow, he was vulnerable with me too.
“I’m not going to let you get away that easily,” he warned. “I’m not done with you, Kylie, and I never will be.”
I swallowed hard, then looked down, my eyes falling on his boots. I tried to think of a way to change the subject, but the longer I stared at those shoes, the drier my throat became. I spread my knees farther apart.
They were just shoes. And yet I couldn’t stop imagining how heavy they would be on my chest, weighing me down, crushing me under his complete and total control.
“You like my boots?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
I tried to play like it was nothing: “Those boots make you look like you could curb-stomp someone’s head.”
He pressed his shoe down on the top of my thigh until I spread my legs even farther apart. The steel toe nudged the seam of my pants, brutal and hard. Griffin was like that, brutal in places, solid in others, yet soft when it came to protecting me.
“You are so fucking hot,” he said.
I blinked my eyes, finally looking back into his gray eyes. I licked my bottom lip and his eyes focused on my tongue.
“You are too, I guess,” I murmured playfully.
