Her shoulders fall slightly and the gun lowers, pointing now directly at my stomach. I take the opportunity to grab her wrist and pull it from her hands. Do I think she would have shot me? I wasn’t sure at first, but now I’m sure the answer to that is no. She would have done it already if that’s what she wanted.
She hisses in a sharp breath when I squeeze her wrist and yank her down so she’s eye level with me. Her messy slept on hair falling in her face with the motion. I reach out to push the strands behind her left ear and cup her face.
“Careful, pretty girl. You could hurt someone with this thing.” Ejecting the magazine onto the floor, I stand to my full height and toss the unloaded weapon onto the bed behind her. Reaching out with my free hand, I tip her chin up with my thumb and forefinger, forcing her eyes to meet mine. Shelevels me with a glare, but I wait until I see a hint of submission before I let go of her wrist. She takes a step away from me, and her eyebrows scrunch together in the middle as she looks me up and down in confusion.
“Why are you here, Maverick?” She asks again as she crosses her arms over her chest. This time with less hostility and more curiosity.
“I told you, to see you.” I smirk.
“Why? I just met you last night, and what happened was a mistake. You shouldn’t be here.” A blush creeps into her cheeks when she speaks that damn word again.Mistake.Just like it did when she told me to leave.
“You and I know that’s a lie. And I don’t want to stay away from you.” I take a step forward toward her and she remains rooted in place. She lifts her head to look me in the eyes and I bend down and brush my nose against the shell of her ear, breathing her in and searing her scent into my brain. “Nothing about you and me is a mistake.” I whisper.
Her chest begins to rise and fall rapidly and I take a step back to look back down at her. She’s blushing again, and I run my thumb along her cheek where it shows.
“How long have you been here?” She asks, softly this time.
“About six hours.”
Her lips part and frustration takes over her features. “Y-you…watched me sleep?”
I nod, maintaining eye contact with her.
“That’s not weird or anything.” She mumbles more to herself than me, but I hear it. Laughing, I walk toward her bedroom door.
“Coffee?” I ask. She raises an eyebrow, her lips still parted.
“Sure?” She stares at me dumbfounded, and I nod as I exit the room.
I walk down the hallway and into the living room then enter her kitchen. Reaching up into the cabinet above her coffee machine I pull down two mugs. Then, I open the cabinet next to it to retrieve two coffee pods andpop one into the machine. Turning around, I rest my hands against the counter top and cross one leg over the other while I wait for her machine to heat up and fill the cup.
I look up from the floor as she crosses the threshold of the kitchen eying me warily, then opens the refrigerator and grabs some creamer. The machine finishes the first cup and I replace the mug and coffee pod to start the second. Once that’s finished, I slide the mugs closer to her and she puts butter pecan flavor in both cups. I inwardly cringe. I drink my coffee black, but I will drink it because she made it for me. And I’ll learn to like it.
She remains quiet as she grabs her mug and walks over to the couch and takes a seat as far away from me as she can. She pulls her legs underneath her and pulls the throw blanket over her lap. I decide to sit on the opposite end of the couch. I can tell she’s struggling to process the last twelve or so hours of her life, so I’ll give her some space for now.
Don’t get used to it.
I want her to accept my presence in her life willingly and without too much of a fight. Sure, I could have put myself in her path more. I have the perfect means to do so with Cole at the bar. I could have warmed her up to me, but I’m not a patient man.
“How did you know where I live?” She asks. Straight to the point.
I take a sip of the overly sweet anddisgustingcoffee without gagging, thank you very much, then sit up straighter. Placing the mug on the end table, I lean forward to rest my elbows on my knees.
“When James called looking to hire a bouncer, I did some light digging into the staff. Got your name and address that way.” I lie.
“So the first night you actually meet me you decide to just show up here to what? Wait for me to come home?” Her brows pinch together again in the middle as she tries to make the pieces fit, and she tips her head to the side.
“I’ll admit, that was a little…impulsive of me.”You weren’t supposed to catch me, but here we are.
“Just a little.” She lifts her hand from her lap and pinches her fingers together. “And breaking in and watching me sleep?”
“Also impulsive. But I won’t apologize for it.”
She shakes her head slightly and squeezes her eyes shut. She’s getting frustrated with herself for having coffee with a man who just came in to watch her sleep, or with me watching her in the first place I don’t know. I sit quietly watching her mind wage a war with itself. She rubs her eyes with her thumb and forefinger and blows out a frustrated breath.
“I should have fucking shot you.” She says scowling at me, then throws her head back against the couch to stare at the ceiling.
“Probably.” I smile, it would have been the only way to stop me.
