Love at The Bluebird

“You’re telling me you live in this house all by yourself? Alone?” The idea of Aly being here all by herself every night with no one to protect her in case of a burglary makes my blood start to boil.

“Technically, I’m not alone. I have Apollo.” She bends down and picks up her huge white furball of a cat and scratches behind his ear. The cat starts to purr but continues to size me up with his eyes.

“Cute, but you need real protection.” I walk over to the living room windows and am appalled to see that anyone can see in when she has her curtains drawn open. “How do you feel about a dog?” If she says she loves them, I’m buying her a German Shepherd tomorrow.

“You’re not getting me a dog, Gavin. I have an alarm system and cameras all around the house. I live in a good neighborhood and know all my neighbors. We all look out for each other.”

“I don’t like the idea of you by yourself here. Anyone can walk in from the street, throw a brick through these windows and they’re in.” I wave my arm around the living room, hoping she can see my point of view on this. “I think you need to consider leaving this place.” Aly’s already told me she thinks I’m intense. If she knew I was entertaining the idea of moving her into my apartment with me, she would tell me I need to be institutionalized.

“I’ve lived here for over four years now. If anyone is leaving, it’s going to be you if you don’t drop this bullshit.” She puts the cat down, crosses her arms over her chest, and glares at me with that I’m-done-talking-about-this-and-so-are-you stare. I clench my jaw in aggravation at her stubbornness, but I’m also completely turned on by how hot she looks when she’s angry. Not to mention her cursing sounds so naughty coming from that sweet little mouth of hers. I mentally count to ten before approaching her. I place my hands gently on her shoulders and squeeze.

“Do you at least have a gun hidden somewhere for protection?” She rolls her eyes and shoves my hands off of her, turns on her heel, and walks to the kitchen. “Answer me, Aly,” I demand when she continues to ignore me.

“You’re really annoying me right now with this,” she tells me with a scowl on her face. “Yes, Gavin, I have a gun, but I hate it and don’t ever want to use it.”

Thank fuck for that. I let out a sigh of relief, which just seems to annoy her even more. She turns her back toward me, grabs a glass from her cupboard, and gets herself some water.

I cautiously approach the kitchen, knowing that I’m now skating on thin ice and need to drop the subject. I’ll figure out how to handle this on my own while I’m out in Los Angeles. “Darlin’, I’m just concerned for your safety.” I walk to her and place my hands on her waist, turning her so she faces me. She doesn’t hug me back and looks down into her water. I grab her chin and tip it up, forcing her to meet my eyes. “The thought of anything happening to you drives me insane with fear. Are you going to be mad at me for wanting you safe?” She searches my eyes for a brief moment before shaking her head. “Good,” I whisper before tipping my head with every intention of claiming those lips of hers.

Just when I’m about to taste her, the cat jumps up on the counter and startles us. He looks at me with weary eyes before plopping his butt down into a sitting position. I don’t know how to react around cats. Growing up, the only kind of animal we had was dogs, and all the cats that I’ve met before have all been temperamental.

I decide to test the waters and reach out my hand to pet him. “Hi, Apollo.” He immediately swats at my arm, scratching me with his claws. I pull back to inspect the underside of my forearm and see a long red slash. I glare at the little fucker for getting me good; this shit stings.

“That’s what you get for suggesting a dog in his house.” Aly smirks at me while she grabs Apollo and takes him off of the counter. “You better start wooing him. If Apollo won’t love you, then I don’t know if I can.”

I narrow my eyes at her and watch her expression to see if she’s joking. She better be fucking joking. She can only manage a straight face for five seconds before a giggle finally escapes her. I grab her wrists and haul her against me then link her arms around my waist, bring my hands up to cup her cheeks and pull her face to mine. I start to kiss her softly, nibbling gently on her bottom lip while trying to remind myself to keep things slow and let her take the lead.