Love You Always

My heart races, knowing I want this so badly. Sean continues to smile at me. “I need to warn you about one thing, though.”

“Whatever it is I’m sure I can handle it.”

I cringe. “I’m not sure they can be handled. My mom and Neily’s can be a little over the top.”

“You think I can’t handle them?”

“Sometimes I can’t even handle them.” I laugh. “They mean well but they can be a handful. They also try and take over your life thinking they are being helpful. I think they are just being nosy.”

“Like I said. There’s not a thing in this world I would hold against you.” He lifts another piece of steak to my mouth. I let out a small moan. This food is to die for.

“Your moans are going to kill me.”

“Maybe it’s my turn to make you moan.” My cheeks fill with heat. I can’t believe I said that. I think it’s my sex-crazed mind. Sex is all I can think about since that night he took me back to his place. I tried to get myself off after that but it didn’t come close to how he’d made me feel. I think that mouth of his has special powers.

“Eat. Then we’re out of here.”

“Can we get it to go?” I request. Sean is up and out of his seat before I can finish my sentence. He grabs to-go boxes, dropping everything into them in record time. I have to fight a laugh. He holds his hand out to me.

“My place or yours?”

“Mine.”

He leans down, brushing his mouth against mine.

“Thank you for giving this a chance. I promise. I’ll never hurt you. You hold my heart in the palm of your hand. Trust me when I say you have the same power to break me, too.”

17

Sean

I hope she believes the words I said. She fidgets in her seat, playing with the hem of her seatbelt. I can never get over how breathtakingly beautiful she is without even trying.

“Omg!” She shouts causing me to stomp on the brakes before pulling the car to the side of the road.

“Are you okay?” My eyes roam over her, making sure she is fine. She cringes, biting her lip.

“I just remembered that I didn’t get the crepe cake recipe from Francesco.” She sheepishly looks up at me through her eyelashes. I sigh in relief. “Sorry, you know I can’t seem to stop randomly blurting things out when I’m around you.” One of the many things I love about her. It generally lets me know where I stand with her. She might not like it, but I enjoy the fuck out of it.

“What am I going to do with you, cupcake?” I smile as I lean over to place a light kiss on her mouth. I want to tell her that I love her, how incredibly adorable she is, but I manage to restrain myself this time. “I’ll have Francesco call you and the two of you can share your baking secrets over the phone.”

I pull back onto the road and we continue to head toward her apartment. She goes back to fidgeting in her seat. I rest my hand on her thigh, giving it a small squeeze, trying to reassure her so that she’s not so nervous.

“Nothing has to happen tonight. We can go back to your place and watch TV. We can sit around and talk. All I want to do is be with you. I have no expectations.”

She places her small delicate hand over mine and smirks over at me.

“Maybe I have some expectations.” I throw back my head and laugh as I pull up to her place. “I’ll try and make sure I live up to them.” I hop out of my car, going around to open the door for her. I glance to my left to see Charlie is a block back in a black SUV.

I give him a nod. He always keeps a low profile but he’s always there if I need him. When you start to make a lot of money, all kinds of crazies can come out of the woodwork. Now that I really have something worth protecting, I can’t take any chances.

I take her hand, leading her inside her building. The doorman opens the door for us, giving us a warm smile.

“Hi, Sam.” Alyssa gives the older man a soft smile.

“Heads up. The moms have been poking around looking for you.”

“Oh God.” Alyssa shakes her head. “You never saw me.”

“I’ll try my best, but those two are impossible sometimes.”

“Thanks.” She gives him a wave as we head toward the elevator. I hit the button, causing the doors to slide right open. We step on, hitting the button to her floor.

“Should I be worried?”

“No, it’s just my mom and Neily’s. They are always in our business.”

“I mean about the man at the door flirting with you.”