AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hi, I’m almost ready. Just give me one minute.” With that hurried instruction, she shut the door before her date had an opportunity to respond.
But not before Billy was able to see the man—and he was using that term loosely—who was standing on the other side. Her date was thin, with dark hair and pale skin. He couldn’t be more than five-foot-eight, and his frame was frail.
Two questions were finally answered for Billy. First, he now knew why she’d been so hard-assed about her “rule” of not dating fighters. If this guy was any indication of what got her going, muscled alpha men weren’t even close to her type. Second, it had to be her date she was trying to hide and not the other way around because, come on…
She spun on her heel and sucked in a startled breath when she saw how close Billy was standing to her. She swatted at his arm. “Don’t sneak up on me.”
“I didn’t.” Not really.
“Yes you did.” She whispered loudly as she shook her head and the intoxicating floral scent that was uniquely hers wafted through the air. “Listen, you don’t need to chaperone my date. I’ll be fine, I am going to be with Simon the entire night.”
“Simon? Him? You’re kidding, right?”
“Shh!” She scolded with a huff of irritation before crossing her arms which pushed her lovely lady lumps up in what he was sure would be an illegal amount of cleavage in some states. In a hushed tone she said, “No. I’m not kidding. I won’t be alone. You can stay here.”
Billy admired Maxi’s independent streak, and would normally take a step back so that she could prove whatever she needed to herself. But this wasn’t the same as the time she’d insisted on moving six heavy boxes of swag that had been delivered to the gym to the backroom by herself, or the time that she’d refused to let him help her change her tire when she’d gotten a flat a block from her dad’s house. This was high stakes. The highest stakes, really. Her safety.
She wanted him to be himself, not sugarcoat things, and if that’s what she wanted, then that’s what she was going to get. Placing his hand on her hip, he leaned down so that his mouth hovered just above her ear. From his new closer, more intimate position, he couldn’t help but notice that her magnificent cleavage was moving up and down in rapid pants.
“If you think that I’m going to let you out of my sight tonight, or until this is over, you don’t know me at all.” He was speaking low since he’d been instructed to “shh,” but he hadn’t meant for his words to come out sounding like a growl, which they had.
Beneath his palm he felt a shiver run through her body as she sucked in a shaky breath. At the sound of her inhale and the tremble of her body, his fingers tightened their hold and his breath grew heavy. He loved the fact that his touch had sent a shiver through her. Loved that he could affect her. God knew she’d been knocking him flat on his ass with a simple smile for years.
“Fine.” Her voice trembled as she stepped back and his hand fell from her hip. Her eyes were glazed and she looked flustered. “But you have to…just don’t be…you know…you.”
“I’m confused, gorgeous.” Billy grinned. He knew what she meant and he didn’t have to give her a hard time, but where was the fun in that? “First, you yell at me for not being me, now you’re telling me not to be me. Talk about mixed signals.”
The corners of her eyes twitched as she shot back, “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Feigning innocence, he lifted his hands in mock-surrender. “No, I don’t. You’re going to have to be more specific. Do you want me to pretend I’m someone else? Should I, how you say, speak with an accent?” he asked, with what was probably hands-down, the worst French accent in the world. He’d discovered her amusement at his lack of French-accent-ability when he’d first learned that Maxi’s mother was French. In an attempt to lighten the mood when the heavy subject had been brought up, Billy had done the stupid accent. It made her smile then and had the same affect today.
The dueling knots that had taken up residence in Billy’s chest and gut loosened slightly at the sight of her lips turning up and her eyes lighting with humor. Damn. He would do anything, anything to keep putting that smile on her face.
There was another knock on the door as Simon asked loudly, “Maxine, are you okay?”
“Maxine?” Billy mouthed.
The only people that he’d ever heard call her by her full name were people that didn’t know her. She hated her full name.
“Just. Don’t.” Her two-word warning was packed full of meaning.
His only response was a wide grin. A small flare of panic flickered in her baby blues before she turned in haste to open the door.
Would he ever do anything to embarrass her? No. Would he ever disrespect her by flirting with her in front of a date? No. But if he kept her mind occupied with what his next move might be, then she wouldn’t be thinking about the asshole that was stalking her. But Billy would. He knew that he wouldn’t have a moment’s peace until whoever was doing this was caught. That’s all he’d be thinking about.
As she pulled the door open his eyes scanned down to the full, rounded curve of her backside. Well, he might be thinking about a few other things, too…
