ChapterFifteen
Layla
I’d considered mood music, candles everywhere, and some sort of cliché set up to go with it, but in the end, my nerves wouldn’t let me do that. I also had a puppy who knocked into things, and with Mark’s house still in need of a deep clean, we couldn’t go and live there if mine burned down to the ground. So, candles everywhere were out.
I had lit my three wicked one in a glass bowl, though, and put a couple of other versions of it on the surfaces I could in my bedroom to light once we got up there. Mood lighting was a must, and so long as we were in the room with them while they were burning, it’d all be okay.
But, as I stood in my silk and lace nightie waiting for him to come through the front door, I started to doubt my plan.
I was just turning to go and get my big fluffy robe when the door opened, and I saw his eyes widen as he took in what I was wearing.
Faster than I knew he could move, he shoved the person talking behind him and slammed the door in their face.
Whoever it was began banging almost immediately, but he just turned the lock and put the chain on for good measure.
“Let me in.”
“Oh, God, is that Ren?”
“Layla? Layla? Tell him to let me in.”
Mark started walking toward me slowly, his eyes moving from the top of my head down to my toes. “He wanted to tell you about a movie Maya thought you’d like.”
Seeing the heated appreciation on his face, I made a mental note to thank Cyn.
“She can text me about it.”
He rubbed his chin, the rasp of his five o’clock shadow sounding overly loud, even with Ren still knocking on the door. “That’s what I thought.”
He didn’t pause his steps as he got to me. Instead, he just swooped down and picked me up as he walked toward the stairs.
“Layla, I need to talk to you,” Ren yelled. “I’ve still got the plastic container you gave me to take the cupcakes home in.”
That’d been five months ago, and I knew what he was doing. Being a shithead like my brothers had made it their vocation in life to be.
“I don’t care. Now bugger off and go home,” I screamed, then burst out laughing as Mark carried me up the stairs, with Zeus practically dancing around his feet.
“Did you just say bugger off?” he asked as we got to my bedroom.
“It felt a good choice of word for the situation.”
Carefully, almost like I was made of glass, he lowered me onto the bed. “I need to have a shower. Work kind of makes us dirty, so I should shower first.”
I nodded happily and shifted on the mattress until I had my back on the pillows.
He didn’t move during it and stood watching me with a soft smile on his face.
“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life.”
This was the Mark I’d fallen in love with. The one who looked at me like I was something special. Then he’d shown the side of me that was a protector, who listened, who was loyal, and who loved that I was the same way with him. Yes, there was a slight disadvantage because I was the type of woman who wanted an alpha male, but I wasn’t submissive in the slightest, and I needed that fact to be respected.
Then again, I’d known all of that about him because I’d grown up seeing him and experiencing his personality from day one. Maybe that’s what had made him my perfect man because no other male would even come close to Mark Montgomery for me.
My legs began shaking slightly when the shower cut off, so I got up and quickly lit the candles and crawled back onto the bed.
Zeus started pawing at the side of the mattress, so I rolled onto my side and gave him scratches. “Not right now, buddy. I don’t know if they have puppy therapy, but I’m betting it’d cost a fortune to do it.”
The bed dipped behind me, making me jump and look over my shoulder at Mark, who was still wearing a towel.