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I refusedto let him help me in the shower. I got in because he wouldn’t let it go and threatened to climb in with me if I didn’t. The idea left me flushed and plenty warm but he didn’t seem to notice. When I came out of my room in sweats and my old college hoodie, he was in the kitchen, talking to himself. Or at least, I thought it was to himself. I tiptoed closer, peeking into the room. He was squatting low and scratching Samwise under the chin, murmuring to him. It surprised me, Samwise normally doesn’t like men. Or at least, he didn’t like Gavin. He used to pee on his shoes every time Gavin spent the night.
Watching Jaime smile softly while he interacted with Samwise made me wish things were different. He’s a good guy and a part of me wanted to get to know him better.
He must’ve heard me because he glanced over his shoulder, beaming at me, and my stomach flipped.
“Hey! Your lips aren’t blue anymore. That’s progress. Feeling any better?”
I shrugged, leaning against the wall. I felt awkward, I’ve never had someone visit my place before, besides Gavin, and never to this condo. Not even my parents visited. They always expected me to come to them.
Jaime pushed to his feet, pouring me a cup of coffee. “Here, drink this.”
Wrapping my hands around the mug, I felt a jolt run through me as my hand brushed against his. I thought maybe he felt it too because when I looked up at him, he had a slight frown on his face as his eyes searched mine. He took a step closer and I could feel the heat from his body cascading over me. When his gaze dropped to my lips, I held my breath, stuck between knowing I shouldn’t and wanting to anyway. He leaned toward me but right when my eyes slipped close, someone knocked loudly on the door.
“Miss Sloan!”
Jumping away from Jaime, a little coffee spilled onto my hand. I let out a yelp and Jaime growled, stalking towards the door while I moved to rinse my hand in the sink. I heard him throw the door open and the doorman let out a startled squeak.
“What do you want?”
Jaime’s voice was beyond annoyed and I felt a little bad for the doorman as he stuttered. For such an easy going guy, Jaime could be really intimidating.
“Y-you can’t park out front like that. You– you need to move your car.”
Poking my head out of the kitchen, I frowned. “You haven’t moved your car yet?”
Jaime shot me a dry look. “I was a little busy trying to make sure you didn’t get hypothermic. I’ll move it in a bit.”
The doorman looked incredulous and a lot braver now that I was watching them. “Absolutely not! If you don’t move your car, I’ll have it removed from the property! That section of road is for pick up and drop off only!”
“And yet when I was here to pick up Rebecca this morning, you told me I couldn’t stay there either. Make up your damn mind.”
The doorman looked affronted and Jaime looked pissed. Pursing my lips against a smile, I shook my head. “Jaime, just move your car. I’m not going to keel over.”
He squinted at me over his shoulder before nodding once. “Fine. I’ll move the damn thing. After that we’re gonna talk.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I dipped my chin, acknowledging him. I doubted he’d have anything to say that would change my mind but I told myself I’d give him a shot and a part of me was hoping he’d come through. I didn’t want to dislike him.
While I waited for Jaime, I sat on the couch, pulling my knees to my chest, a deep frown on my face. My reaction to Liam’s outburst was a little extreme but not entirely uncalled for. When I worked for my father, any mistakes were handled with violence. Not always directly at me but he did get pissed at me once when a court case didn’t go his way. His reaction was… less than pleasant. He sent in his soldiers and set fire to my apartment. He’d used it as an excuse to try and force me to live at home again so he could ‘keep an eye on me’ but I slept in my car for a few weeks to avoid him and got a new place as soon as I could. He also wasn’t opposed to using his hands if I mouthed off to him. I lost count of the amount of times I’ve been smacked around for my mouth.
I’ve worked hard to crawl back from that and I didn’t flinch when people got overly emotional anymore but Liam triggered me by a lot. He’s not some random client with more money than sense. He’s a mafia boss and if he wanted to hurt me, no one was going to stop him. I doubt even Jaime could do anything about it, he worked for Liam and probably followed orders.
A knock at the door drew my attention and I sighed, pushing to my feet to let Jaime back in. But when I answered the door, it wasn’t Jaime waiting for me. I came face to face with Gavin and froze.
“What are you doing here?”
ChapterTwelve
Gavin’s eyestrailed over me before he plastered on a smile. “Hey, Sloan. It’s been a while.”
Crossing my arms, I glared at him. “Yeah, I was hoping for a lot longer. You didn’t answer my question. What the hell are you doing here?”
He leaned his forearm against the doorframe, flashing me an oily smile. “Oh come on, don’t be like that. We used to be good together. Your mom told me you don’t have a date for the wedding. Why don’t we go together? I’m sure there’s a few things I could do to get you to forgive me.” He leered at me, using the sultry tone that used to get me going. Now it just made me a little nauseous.
“You can’t be serious. Go away, Gavin. And don’t come back here again.”
I moved to shut the door and his arm shot out, slapping his palm against it to stop me. He looked more irritated now, a scowl on his face.
“I’m not the only one at fault for our relationship ending, Sloan. What’s it gonna take for you to forgive me?”
