Page 7 of Make Me Fool You

Instead I hold out my arm and wait for her to hook her slender arm through mine.

Shooting me a skeptical look, she finally reaches out tentatively and lets me tug her over and link her arm in mine.

She’s so tiny that I have to look down to see even the top of her head but my heart swells in my chest.

This is the moment I’ve waited for so long. The chance. Just one small chance to prove that I’m the one for her.

I smile and lead her out to my truck.

“Maybe we should take my car,” she says, eyeing the high climb to reach the bench seat.

I shake my head. “No problem. I’ve got you, baby girl.” She gasps when my arms slide under her legs and lift her up so fast that she doesn’t have a chance to protest. She lands against my chest and my body reacts like I’ve been shocked. Electricity coils in my belly and shoots out to my limbs.

“What are you doing?” she gasps. Her startled eyes are whiskey gold and wide with shock. Long lashes flutter like a butterfly in a field of flowers.

“I got you.” I lift her up easily and carefully set her on the seat, fluffing her long wine skirts around her like she’s a queen on her throne. My queen.

The normally confident woman that I know and love flushes a pretty red and her eyes drop to where her fingers twist in her lap.

I love it but I also know that I’m pushing her again. And I have to walk a careful line to not push too much.

So I just shut the door after making sure that her long skirts are clear. Jogging around the front of the truck, I climb in and breathe deep, my head swimming. I can smell the spicy floral that she wears and it makes me fucking hard as a rock.

“Ready, princess?”

She nods her head and her full cranberry lips tighten but she doesn’t say anything.

And that’s a win for me.

I pull up in front of her mother’s house which is lit up like the Vegas strip. Cars are coming and going and red-jacketed valets quickly move them around like a massive game of Tetris.

It’s finally our turn and I hand the young man the key. “Don’t ding her.”

Then I walk around quickly before anyone else can touch my girl. I jockey the other man at the door out of the way. “I’ve got her.”

He huffs and steps away, eyeing my severely. I’m sure he gets off on handing beautiful women out of expensive vehicles but this woman is mine and she doesn’t need anyone’s help but my own.

“You know that’s his job, right?” But she slips her dainty hand into mine, her short, bare nails a stark contrast to what I assume all society women love.

She gathers her skirt in one hand and we make our way up the marble steps to the front door where her mother is waiting. She exchanges air kisses with her daughter and then her eyes slide to mine. Eyes that are remarkably similar to my angel’s. Except cold and calculating and blue. Not full of joy and a zest for life that I’ve never seen in another woman. Not like warm honey dripping down a honeycomb.

“How do you know my daughter, young man?”

“We work together.”

A sharp, predatory smile crosses her thin lips. “So you’re a doctor?”

I shake my head. “No. I’m an EMT. For the fire department.”

Her lips tighten. “I see. Well, welcome to our home. Please enjoy yourself.” Her attention shifts to her daughter and I can see Bri’s shoulders stiffen. “I’ll talk to you later, Brianna.”

We move past her and I hear a deep breath release from the beautiful creature next to me.

I lean down and whisper in her ear, smiling when she shivers slightly. “Are you alright?”

She nods but I can still see the tense shadows in her whiskey eyes. “I remember your mother a bit.” When she nods, I smirk. “I thought for sure she’d take things a lot worse than that.”

Her eyebrows lift and she chuckles. “That’s not terrifying to you?”

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