Glancing back over my shoulder, there’s a cute, young guy standing there, grinning widely as he holds two beers in one hand.
“Hi there, pretty girl. Would you like a beer?” he drawls in a heavy southern accent as he extends one of the bottles in my direction.
I smile politely and shake my head. “No, thank you. I was actually just leaving,” I reply as I inch away from him.
“Leaving?” He pinches his brows together with confusion. “You just got here. I watched you come in only a couple of minutes ago. You at least have to stay for one beer.”
Slowly taking another step toward the door, I shake my head again. “No, I’m really okay. I was looking for someone who obviously isn’t here, but thank you.”
He closes the distance between us again and I drop the smile, starting to get a little freaked out. I turn away from him, deciding I’ll make a quick dash for the door, but because of all of the bodies surrounding us, I’m trapped.
His large fingers circle around the top of my arm and yank me backward, up against him. “I really think you’d enjoy having a beer with me,” he grumbles in my ear, the smell of alcohol heavy on his breath.
“Let her go, James,” a familiar, deep voice seethes from behind where the beer-guy stands.
He, apparently named James, releases my arm as Gray stalks up to us, his jaw clenched with pure anger as his hands ball into tight fists. I’ve never seen him so mad, not even the night I picked him up at his mom’s house.
“Stay out of this, Daniels,” James says with an exasperated sigh. “It’s none of your business.”
“She’s off-limits,” Gray snarls, keeping his incensed glower on the other guy.
“Fuck you, asshole. If you think just because you’re single now that you’ve got first dibs on any fresh piece of ass that walks in here, you’re mistaken. I know you’ve been out of the game for a while, but you need to get caught up to speed on the rules.” James peers over at me and winks, then turns back at Gray. “This one’s mine.”
Gray snaps. He grabs hold of James’ shirt by the neck and jerks him so close their noses are touching. “I’m only going to tell you one more damn time, you little piece of shit. She. Is. Off. Fucking. Limits,” he fumes with an expression so wrathful, even I’m a little frightened. “And if I ever see you put your fucking dirty ass hands on another female like that again, I’ll break every one of your goddamn fingers. Do you understand me?”
James apparently understands, because after he nods, Gray lets him go, and he then scampers through the gathering of onlookers and out the front door. Everyone around us returns to what they were doing once they realize the drama is over, but Gray and I are left staring at each other, both of us quiet for a few moments.
“Th-thank you.” Still a little shaken up, my voice cracks as I try to talk.
Hearing the distress in my tone, he reaches his arms out to me, which I eagerly rush into, needing to feel his closeness. Holding me tight against his solid frame, he gently strokes my hair and kisses my temple. “I promise I’ll never let anyone hurt you,” he murmurs softly against my head. “I’m sorry if I scared you, but he had to know I was serious.”
“I know,” I whimper into his chest, allowing his warmth and tenderness to soothe my frayed nerves.
Pulling back a bit so he can see my face, he brings one hand up under my chin and stares deep into my eyes, searching for answers. “Are you sure you’re okay, Mia? Why are you even here?”
“Yeah, he just frazzled me a bit,” I reply with a weak smile, hoping he doesn’t get mad I came. “Adam called and said you were here; he was worried you were too drunk to drive home. I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer, so I thought I’d come make sure you were okay. Once I saw you were, I was trying to leave, but he—James caught me before I could get out the door.”
All traces of the rage from a few minutes ago are now gone as Gray gazes down at me with his compassionate brown eyes. Now all I can see is something that resembles joy and adoration, and my heart swells in my chest.
Dropping his mouth to mine, his lips brush tenderly against mine as he whispers, “You came to save me, mi cielo.”
“But you ended up saving me,” I breathe into his mouth.
His arm tightens around me, pressing his growing erection into my stomach, and I moan lightly. “Let’s go home. I need to check every inch of your body to make sure you’re really okay,” he rumbles before grabbing my hand and leading me toward the door.
I try to ignore the multiple sets of eyes watching as I follow him out of the bar, but just before we make it outside, I think I recognize Amber, my hairdresser. She’s turned to the side, so I can’t tell for sure, and before I can confirm, Gray’s scooping me into his arms and carrying me across the parking lot.
As promised, when we get home, I spend the remainder of the night inspecting every inch of Mia’s body with my eyes, hands, and mouth. At a little after three in the morning, I finally complete my thorough examination, leaving her body weak, wobbly, and utterly worn out.
I hold her snug against my own tuckered-out body until I know for certain she’s sound asleep. I’m tempted to stay with her and wake up early before Adam comes home, but I don’t. Only two more days…
When I wake up Saturday morning, I feel surprisingly refreshed, considering the amount I drank last night and the limited amount of sleep. Grabbing some clothes from my closet, I take a quick shower, get dressed, and head downstairs to see if either Mia or Adam can take me to get my truck where I left it at the bar last night.
No one is in the kitchen, which is rather odd, since it’s our central spot to congregate in the morning, but the coffeemaker is on, so I know Mia’s been up.
“Hello?” I call out, wondering if she’s already left for her morning trip to the gym.
“I’m in here!” she yells back from the studio. “Get some coffee and come look at this. I need your opinion.”
A smile spreads across my face as I grab a mug from the cabinet and fill it with the hot, black liquid. I love when she’s painting, submersed in her element, her face glowing…almost like it does after an orgasm. I love even more that I know what her face looks like after she comes. There’s nothing quite like it.
Padding across the floor, I peek my head around the corner and watch her work for a couple of minutes before letting her know I’m there. It still amazes me how quickly she’s able to produce such incredible pieces of art.
“Whatcha working on?” I ask as I enter the room, walking up to stand behind her.
“This new line I thought of,” she replies, still vigorously stroking the brush across the canvas. “I’m going to pitch it to Jonathan next week for the show. It’s loosely based around the Garden of Eden and the temptation of the apple. I’m thinking maybe Enchanted Eden, or Erotic Eden…something like that.”
She pauses and lays the paintbrush down, stepping back to consider her work so far, with her hands on her hips. Blowing an errant strand of hair from her face, she turns to me with an enthusiastic smile. “So what do you think?”
Forgetting all about what she just said, blood thunders in the tips of my ears the second I see her from the front, and all I see is red. “What in the hell, Mia?” I growl angrily as I raise my hand to the bruises on her upper arm. “Is this from last night?”
Her gaze drops to where my fingers are softly stroking the purplish-blue marks on her bicep and she nods, biting her bottom lip nervously. “It’s okay, Gray. It doesn’t even hurt. You took care of everything. They should be gone in a few days.”
My stomach burns with rage, knowing that stupid fuck left marks on my woman and I didn’t do anything but threaten him. I should’ve beaten the shit out of him right then and there.
“It’s not okay. It’s so not fucking okay,” I argue. “Has Adam seen these?”
“No,” she replies quietly. “He called a little bit ago and said he’d be home around noon.”
“I need you to go change shirts before he g
ets home. Please. I know it’s hotter than hell outside, but wear something with sleeves long enough to cover these. Otherwise, every time I see them, I’m gonna lose my shit,” I plead, my eyes imploring hers.
She smiles softly, lifting her hand up to where mine still rests on her arm and lacing our fingers together. “Okay. I’ll change, but please don’t worry about it anymore. I’m fine.”
I blow out a ragged sigh and pull her to me, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you before it happened,” I murmur into her hair.
“It’s not your fault, Gray.” She locks her hands around my waist and kisses my chest. “Now forget about it and tell me what you think about my idea.”
For her, I push the anger aside for a brief time, though not forgetting it or what I’m going to do about it later, and focus my attention on the canvas perched on the easel.
The images are similar to her other pieces—featureless figures draped and tangled with each other in sensual poses—but in this one, the woman is kneeling in front of a male angel, with her wrists and ankles bound by rope. She’s holding up a golden apple, offering it to him, and he’s bent over, seemingly about to take a bite.
“This one’s called Mortality. The next one will be Transience, with the same two subjects, except he’ll be taking her from behind, his wings will be on the ground where they fell off, and the apple will be next to them, with a bite taken out of it,” she says, peering up at me, waiting for my thoughts.
“I think it’s brilliant,” I answer honestly. “I’m blown away with not only your ability, but your vision. I could never even come close to thinking up something like this.”
She beams brightly, lifting up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek, but I move my face to capture her lips with mine in a firm kiss. “I’m gonna go change and then I’ll take you to get your truck,” she says, breaking away. “I’ve got to stop by the grocery store anyway, ‘cause tonight I’m grilling steaks for Adam’s last night at home. Will you be here?”
“Of course, I will. I just have to run a few errands after you drop me off, but it should only take a couple of hours.”
“Good. I’ll be ready in five minutes.” She pecks the corner of my mouth before twirling around and skipping out of the room.
It takes two phone calls to find out where James lives. Conveniently, it’s on my way home.
I pull my truck right up in the driveway in broad daylight, not giving two shits who sees what’s about to happen. Knocking on the door, I wait only a minute before he opens it, surprised fear registering on his face immediately.
“What do you want, Daniels?” He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “Are you still pissed about that little whore last night?”
Without a word, I coldcock him as hard as I can square in the jaw. His hands fly up to his face as he stumbles backward, leaving him wide open for the second punch that I land to his gut.
“What’s you probl—”
My knee makes contact with his nose while he’s doubled over from the pain in his stomach, triggering a gush of blood from his nostrils. He drops to his knees, raising his arms to protect himself, which is exactly where I want him. Fisting a handful of hair, I yank his head back, so he’s forced to look up at me.
“Touch my girl again, and I’ll not only break your fingers, but both of your hands too. Call her a whore again, and you’ll be picking your teeth up off the ground. And if you ever see me in public again, I’d advise you run, not walk, the other way.” My voice is eerily calm, which by the terrified look on his face, I think scares him more than if I was out of control.
“You want to press charges against me, she’ll be doing the same to you, and I’ve got pictures of her bruises, with a bar full of witnesses to back up my story,” I caution. “So be smart, James, and pray to God we never cross paths again.”
I spin around and stalk back to my truck, my entire body shaking with the heated adrenaline pumping through me. As soon as I get home, I rush upstairs to wash the blood off my hands and change clothes before Mia or Adam sees me, and then I hurry back down to the kitchen to enjoy the rest of the day with my best friend and my girl.
“ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE everything you need?” I ask Adam for the umpteenth time as we pull up at the departure area of the Atlanta airport.
“Yes, Mom, I’m sure,” he reaches over the middle console and pats my arm soothingly, “and if I don’t, I’m pretty sure they’ve got stores in LA for whatever I need. I’m going to be fine.”
I inhale a deep breath, count to five, and release it, a futile attempt to calm my nerves. “Okay, just know if you need anything, I’m only a phone call away.”
He smiles warmly. “As am I.”
Up until this morning, I hadn’t been worried about Adam leaving for these classes, but now, as I’m dropping my only baby off to fly to the other side of the country by himself for six weeks, it feels like the day he got his driver’s license all over again, but times ten.
A combination of feeling helpless if anything were to happen to him there, and the realization my son is truly grown, ready to start his own life, is all a bit overwhelming. At this point, all I can do is hope to God I did a good enough job in raising him that it will equate to him being a happy, successful adult. Even though he’ll be returning home shortly, I feel a huge shift in our relationship, which was bound to happen sooner or later. It’s time for him to take care of himself.
I park in the short-term parking, long enough for Adam to get his suitcases from the back and say our goodbyes after he insisted we didn’t need to go inside with him. Gray gets out of the backseat, where he’s been unusually quiet most of the ride, and meets Adam at the back.
“Enjoy yourself, man, and learn a lot of shit,” Gray says as they embrace each other in a guy-hug.
“Definitely. I plan on it.” Adam laughs with an agreeable nod. “Take care of my favorite girl while I’m gone.” He winks at me. “Don’t let her get lonely.”
Oh, Lord. Tell me he didn’t just say that.
“You have my word,” Gray replies, then glances over at me, one corner of his mouth tilted up in a wicked smirk. My stomach flip-flops, thinking about how un-lonely he’s going to keep me.
We’re so going to hell.
Adam steps over to me and lifts me off the ground in a giant hug. “I love you, Mom. Don’t worry about me; I’ll be living the life in sunny California. You just take care of you, and I can’t wait to see all of your paintings when I get back.”
“I love you too, honey.”
A sob builds in the back of my throat, but I manage to hold it back until he releases me and walks away from us, only looking back once to wave before disappearing behind the glass doors. Gray turns to me after he’s out of sight, just in time to see the single tear I allow to trickle down my cheek.
“Come here.” He pulls me into his arms, crushing me against his chest. “No need to cry, mi cielo. He’ll be fine…more than fine. Let’s go home so I can take care of you. I’ll drive, so you can relax.”
Walking me over to the passenger side of the Tahoe, he opens the door and picks me up, setting me on the seat with a tender kiss to my temple. Then, sliding behind the wheel, he starts the engine and pulls out of the airport, holding my hand during the entire drive home.
Not long after we enter Athens’ city limits, about fifteen minutes from the house, Stella calls to see if we want to join her for an early dinner and drinks, her sisterly instincts knowing I’d need a little cheering up after dropping Adam off. I raise my eyebrows at Gray, silently asking if he’s cool with that plan, to which he nods.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Where do you want to meet?” I question.
“Let’s go to NONA,” she replies. “Drake and Cole are both working tonight, and they’ll hook us up with some drinks to make you feel much better.”
I have a feeling the only thing that’s going to make me feel better is sitting to my left, as terrible of a person that may make me, b
ut I don’t admit it aloud to either of them. “We’ll see you in just a bit,” I say before disconnecting the call.
Twenty minutes later, Gray and I walk inside NONA, where Stella is waiting for us at the bar, sitting on the same barstool she claimed last time I met her here. Jumping down to greet us, she hugs us both, flaunting a mischievous knowing grin, then motions for us to join her.
Immediately, Drake approaches us, extending his hand across the old-timey bar to me. “Miss Mia, you look beautiful as always.” He kisses the top of my knuckles in a gentlemanly fashion that doesn’t match the wild-child look he sports whatsoever. “I’m glad to see you made it home safe after Hashtag last weekend.”
“It’s good to see you again too, Drake,” I reply, ignoring the last part of his comment, but not before Gray visibly straightens his back, clenches his jaw, and curls his hands into fists on top of the bar. Well, this isn’t starting off so great. Immediately changing the subject, I angle myself toward Gray and smile at him as if I don’t notice his sudden mood change. “Gray, this is Stella’s friend, Drake. He and his roommate Cole, who also works here, are regulars at Lynx.”
The two guys shake hands and exchange ‘nice to meet yous’, then Drake takes our drink order and steps away to get our beers. Gray still seems uptight, and it makes me uncomfortable, even though I haven’t done anything wrong. I wish I could lean over and kiss him until he relaxes, but since we’re out in public and that can’t happen, I do the best thing I can think of—I slide my hand over to his leg and rest it on his upper thigh.
Glimpsing over at him, I catch his gaze drop to where my fingers curl around his quad and then raise back up to meet mine. I feel him loosen up a little under my touch, but I still feel something’s off…something I’ll ask him about as soon as we get alone.
Over the next hour or so, we have a burger and a few beers each, chatting mostly with Stella, but when Drake and Cole aren’t busy, they hang out over by us too. Gray finally settles down after his second beer, and at one point, when he gets up to go to the bathroom, he leans over and kisses the corner of my mouth. It doesn’t register as unusual for me either until I see Stella’s jaw fall open in my peripheral vision, and then I realize what just happened.