For the first time in years, I truly had something to lose.
Fifteen
Mack
I did my best to cool the fire in my blood as I rounded the last turn up the bumpy lane.
A million emotions had chased me down as I’d taken the thirty-minute drive to her house.
Anger and rage over the threat that had been made, purposed and directed at me.
A stark reminder of my life.
The danger that lurked at every fucking corner.
Another reason I’d committed to not having a family, refusing to drag anyone into my mess.
Fact that I already had a family waiting at that house and those boys didn’t even know it only doused that disorder in gas.
Izzy the match.
A slew of questions whirled, heart heavy with dread, nerves frazzled with this eagerness all at the same damned time.
Fuck, I was gonna lose it before I even got there.
Two seconds later, that big house came into view.
I pulled my Suburban to a stop behind Izzy’s car, considering my truck was toast. A tow had come to haul it away so they could dust it, confirm my suspicion of who’d been responsible.
Before I let myself spiral any farther, I jumped out and strode across the bricked walkway. I took the porch steps in two bounds.
Heart knocking at my ribs, I rapped at the door.
Uneasily, I shifted on my feet, trying to beat back the anxiety.
But I could feel it rising. Reaching a boiling point. Getting ready to blow.
Once I walked through that door, nothing in my life was going to be the same.
The feeling only escalated when metal screeched and the lock was turned, and I felt myself close to losing my mind.
The door a cracked open. Izzy slipped out of it and quietly clicked it shut behind her.
A spike of that energy streaked through my blood, and my guts twisted in want, nothing but a steely need that hardened every cell in my body.
Swore to God, she nearly bowled me over.
My eyes raked over her, head to toe, and the girl was fighting one of those blushes, all nervous and agitated, the same way as she’d been earlier at the office.
Took everything I had not to reach out and stroke the color with my fingertips.
Caress it with my mouth, tongue thirsting to get a taste.
She’d changed into this flowy, black dress that had tiny yellow flowers all over the print, soft and sexy and fitted just right, a little plunge at the neckline that revealed next to nothing but teased me into next week.
She peeked up at me, teeth working at that bottom lip, nerves rolling through her slight body.
Emotion held fast to those hazel eyes, and I was pretty sure she was every bit as terrified as me.
Two of us standing at a precipice on the opposite sides, getting ready to take the dive together.
“Hey,” she whispered beneath her breath, and I was wanting to lean in, inhale the word, her breath and her light and the sun.
Shit.
I was completely fucked.
I needed to get my shit together before I did something stupid like drop to a knee and ask her to marry me.
Bet she’d love that.
“Hey,” I murmured back.
Smooth.
But there I was, tongue tied, heart fisted.
“You came.” Hope twisted through the lines bunched on her forehead, and she tipped her face up toward me, studying me like I might be a riddle to solve.
I itched, wanting to reach out and trace the shape of her face.
That jaw and those lips.
Maybe dot a kiss or two to her eyes.
“Didn’t actually think I wouldn’t show, did you?” My voice hinted at a growl.
At the desperation I could feel lining my bones.
Her throat trembled when she took an uneasy swallow. “I guessed after yesterday, I thought you might have some reservations.”
I edged forward, erasing almost all the distance between us, our hearts a thunder in what was left, the bare space alive.
Energy kicking.
I angled my head. “And after what happened last night and this morning?” The words dropped to a promise. “After I came by your work?”
There was something to that one, the jealousy I couldn’t seem to keep contained, no matter how hard I tried.
Okay.
Wasn’t trying at all.
Figured I’d better make my stance known before some slippery asshole snatched up the best girl in the world.
She released a trembling roll of laughter, although there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of amusement to it. She peeked up at me. “So maybe it’s my own questions that had me worried you might be having second thoughts.”
“You don’t trust me.” It was a statement.
Of course, she didn’t. She didn’t have a reason to.
Not yet.
Just prayed I’d be good enough to prove to her that she could.
Lines dented her forehead. “I think the real problem is how quickly I’m offering that trust to you.”
Some shape of relief filled my exhale, and I leaned even closer, this girl coming on like a drug.