AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She can no longer hide her level of fear from me. Fiona is genuinely afraid to go home. Somethin doesn’t add up with her story about Quade threatenin to take the house. That doesn’t incite the kind of primal fear I see in her eyes. But then a lady does become real attached to her safe haven and belongings and all that.
“Then I get a new number and stay at Holly’s,” she says more like she’s askin me a question.
“You see that as a long term solution?” I ask.
She lets out an exhausted puff of air. “Let’s just get me home and get everything checked out first, and then I’ll figure it out from there.”
“And you say this man could take your business too?”
She leans against the headboard and closes her eyes, lookin like she has no plans to answer. Then finally, “Yes.”
Her eyes have dried but I can see the rage behind them. Fiona is not a woman who’s okay with being manipulated and controlled.
“Fiona,” I ask her, “is there any way I can convince you that you don’t have to worry about whatever outcome you discover?” She looks at me like I’m a moron, and I feel like one for not being able to explain myself better. “I know you might not be ready to hear this now darlin, but I’ve got your back. No matter what happens up there, you have my word that Big Bo’s gonna help you fix it.” I reach down to pull her back into an embrace, but she plants her hands on my chest and resists me.
“I don’t want you fixing anything and I don’t need it. Can’t you see, letting men ‘fix’ things is exactly what got me into this situation in the first place!”
I see Fiona’s point. And I’m also aware she doesn’t need me to say anything more, to give her any kind of blessing or permission to do this on her own. I’m not the type of guy to give up, but she leaves me little choice but to drop the subject.
“Well alright then Fiona. I’ll just sit down here and wait to hear from you when I hear from you. But believe me, it ain’t gonna be easy havin no clue when that might be. So I hope you’ll consider borrowin Holly’s phone a time or two while you’re gettin things figured out,” I respond, inciting a nod from Holly.
“Deal,” she says. “I’ll keep you in the loop.”
Still lookin mostly vacant, Fiona allows me to take her hand in mine. Her face is hardened and she seems to be deep in thought, perhaps wonderin what she’ll do about Quade… perhaps wonderin what she wants to do right now, with our last few hours in a hotel room.
Chapter 21
Fiona
Feeling like an unimaginable jerk, I sit here with my hand in Bo’s…waiting for him to make a move on me. I’m sure I’ve thrown enough water to smother the heat he was kindling all day, so we’re left with the uncomfortable silence of having sort-of fought? It certainly felt like that’s where I was going with it, except Bo is so incredibly reasonable that I can’t even work myself into a tizzy before he brings me to heel. Which makes me feel like a halfwit.
What I need is a good, loud shouting match, but Bo’s too together to even participate in that kind of bs. His greatness neutralizes every laser I think I’m going to throw at him. And here he sits, after trying to help me with his infinite wisdom and being shot down by my jaded bitchery, quietly stroking my fingers and wondering what he can say that I won’t bite his head off for. Poor man.
I’ve already tried and failed to seduce Bo tonight, so there’s really nothing I can do but excuse myself back to my room. Yet, that feels like we’re having a fight…and we’re not really, are we? I know that what he wants is for me to put my whole heart out on the line, and I’m not going to do that. Yes, being in bed with Bo is better than anything I’d imagined life could be, but I’m a survivor.
There’s a reason I was okay with remaining in a dull friendship with Quade instead of moving on…I don’t need the love of a man. And I’m not going to become addicted to it now. I’ve come this far in life and all I want to do is save my business and buy my own house, which I’ll have the capital for whenever my father kicks the bucket. Quade can have his crumbling Victorian mansion. The shop is almost paid off and I’m finally profiting, rather than breaking even. My future looks bright. No need to complicate things.
Quade had originally agreed that Fiona’s Flowers would go in my name after it was paid off anyway. What kind of fool would blow the deal now? That’s probably what this whole control thing is about anyway, not because he’s got my phone tapped and heard me talk to Bo. What a completely stupid thought. I sound like a paranoid delusional.
My awareness is brought back into the room when Bo leans in toward me and gently squeezes my hand. I look up at him haggardly, not sure what to expect, but his face is relaxed and his eyes compassionate. What I don’t see, however, is the flame that was there earlier. I blew it, sure enough.
I’ve never known a man like Bo. On our final night to share his hotel bed, he won’t strip his pants off and get down to business without some promise that I’ll let him be my Superman. It’s a wonderful sentiment, but not one I can entertain. Bo certainly has more restraint than I do. I’m a whore by comparison. No way could I have stopped the momentum, had he been the one seducing me earlier.
Just as I’m about to excuse myself, which seems like my only dignified option, Bo reaches over, grabs me around the waist, and hoists me onto his lap in a straddle position. He catches me so off-guard that I can’t help but laugh, which lightens the mood considerably.
“Bo, what are you doing?” I ask out of mock defensiveness.
“I’m takin what’s mine.”
The embers are back in his eyes, and my body ignites on the impact of his words. I become heavier in his lap and feel his response from below.
“You are mine aren’t you, Fiona?”
My body tells me to say yes, but my mind says I am nobody’s. And my heart…I’ve never heard before and would have no idea what its input even feels like.
“Tell me you’re mine Fiona, my woman, the one who was tailor-made for me. At least for this weekend, this night, this moment…which is all we ever have anyway.”
I’ve already given Bo everything, but I was more inebriated the other night. I’m amazed at how he observes my resistances even when I try to shut them down. He knows I want him, but he also senses my body’s more invested than my heart. I can appreciate that a man like Bo has higher standards than that.
