Be there in five. Haul out your body armour. You’re gonna need it.
Uh oh. I didn’t own body armour, but suddenly wished I did.
I poured a second cup of coffee and waited at the kitchen counter, my gut clenching as I considered all the possible scenarios. Losing Cece was the worst case scenario. As my friend. My lover. My back up singer. Not having her in my life anymore… that was something I’d never recover from, and I realized if things went south I’d have no choice. She’d walk. I was going all in, something I’d never done in a relationship before, and the stakes had never been higher. Was I crazy to even consider this? Was it too late to pump the brakes and put an end to this craziness… or was I already in way too deep?
The pounding on my door had me sucking air as I set my coffee down and prepared to make nice. Or beg forgiveness for whatever the hell I’d done. Cece wasn’t the type to go off for no reason. She avoided drama at all costs, so whatever set her off, must be warranted. Maybe a past sin I’d committed. Lord knows there’d been plenty of those.
“Hey.” I hauled her inside, ignoring the fire spitting from her eyes. “What’s up?”
“What’s up?” She flashed her phone at me. “Looks like you were, last night, and not just with me.”
I snatched the phone from her and sighed when I saw the pic that had her all riled up. Shit like this happened all the time. Girls asked for a pic. A little kiss. I offered my cheek, they claimed my lips, and it ended up all over social media. It hadn’t bothered me before, but clearly I hadn’t had a girlfriend before. I obviously needed to get better at setting boundaries.
“I’m sorry, sweetness. I—”
“You let her kiss you? Or you kissed her?” She was tapping her sandal against the tile floor, her corkscrew curls flying as she shook her head when I didn’t respond right away. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter! Point is, you kissed another woman last night. Is this how it’s gonna be, Knox? You kiss whoever the hell you want and I’m supposed to be okay with it?”
“No, Ce.” I reached for her but she held her hand up to push me away. “Look, it was stupid. It never should have happened. She got me off guard and…”
I could tell I wasn’t getting anywhere with her so I pushed my hands through my hair, trying to tame my frustration. I didn’t want to let anyone come between us, but that seemed inevitable, given our line of work. Cece was hot. Guys would be pursuing her. And girls wanted their five minutes of fame by claiming they’d hooked up with me. Maybe when we went public with our relationship it would get easier, but until then, we’d have to deal with bullshit like this.
“She caught you off guard?” she repeated, waiting for my explanation. “How?”
At least she was willing to let me explain. “She asked for a kiss. I offered her my cheek and she grabbed my chin. Turned my face towards hers and planted one on me.” I gestured to her phone. “You can see for yourself in the picture. She grabbed me, not the other way around. I didn’t initiate the kiss and I sure as hell didn’t want it. It lasted all of two seconds before I set her straight.”
“You set her straight?” she repeated, obviously wanting to believe me. “What did you say to her?”
“I told her to back off.”
I wracked my brain, trying to remember what I’d said word for word. It was a five-minute exchange during a charged night. I was still pumped from the show and looking forward to spending time with Cece. This girl and her stupid little stunt was barely a blip on my radar, but I put myself in my girl’s position and realized if there’d been a pic of her online kissing another guy last night I’d be demanding answers too.
“I made it clear that I wasn’t interested and told her we were done with her little Q&A.”
“She’s a blogger?”
“Yeah, I guess.” I didn’t really know who or what she was and didn’t care. I had more important things to think about, like kissing my girl, if she’d let me. I took a step closer, testing her. “Baby, listen to me.” I curled my arms around her waist, brushing my lips over her ear. “Shit like this will happen. I hate it, and I know you do too. But you’ve got to learn to trust me.” That would be the biggest hurdle in our relationship, no doubt, because I had a long and messy history with the opposite sex and Cece had always been a one-man woman.
She tipped her head back, looking me in the eye, as she curled her arms around my neck. “I want to. Believe me. But it’s gonna take some time, Knox. I know you and when a pretty girl propositions you, you don’t think twice.”
That may have been true in the past, but I was single then. I didn’t consider myself single anymore. “Listen to me.” I cupped her cheek in my hand, trying not to get distracted by how adorable she was. Just looking at her made my heart race and I wondered how I’d been blind to her beauty for so many years. “I don’t want anyone else. I want you. Only you.” I touched my lips to hers, deepening the kiss when she didn’t pull away. “Will there be other women who make you question me? Probably.” And I hated that. I didn’t want anyone or anything to ever make her doubt what we were building. “Just like there will be guys who piss me off and make me jealous making a play for you.”
She sighed as she threaded her hand through my hair. “I don’t want anyone else either, you know that.”
I did know that, but I appreciated hearing it. “Then that’s all that matters, sweetheart.” I kissed her again, wondering if there was anywhere she needed to be that took precedence over my bedroom. “I’m being straight with you about what happened with that chick last night. And I’ll always be honest with you, I swear.” That was one thing we had going for us. We’d never lied to each other. Truth was the foundation we’d built our friendship on over the years.
“I know.” She rested the top of her head against my chest. “I’m sorry I came at you like that, but seeing you with someone else just kinda set me off. It was stupid. I should have known there was a reasonable explanation. I know you better than to think you’d kiss some other girl after making love to me.”
I knew we’d probably have a few more talks like this, her questioning my commitment, me questioning hers, but as long as we ended up in a good place, I didn’t mind. “I’m crazy about you, girl.” I kissed her neck as I pushed the strap of her tank over her shoulder. “Can’t stop thinking about you.” I left a moist path in the wake of my lips as I whispered, “Would’ve given anything to have you here with me last night.”
“I’m here now.” She started to unbutton my shirt, kissing my chest as she revealed bare skin. “We may not be able to spend the night together just yet, but we can make the most of the time we have.”
That’s exactly what I intended to do. Make the most of every second I had with her and pray those seconds lasted my lifetime.
Chapter 12
Cece
Knox had put my mind at ease and now he was doing the opposite to my body. He was getting me all fired up. One panty-melting kiss at a time. With every piece of clothing we shed, I was getting hotter, needier, and more desperate to have him right where I wanted him. Between my legs, groaning my name, telling me all the dirty things he wanted to do to me.
