I tiptoed over the doorway and peeked my head into the living room. To my surprise, the TV was on, and Menace was soundly sleeping on my sofa. I was tempted to wake him and have him come to bed but decided against it. If Menace wanted to be in bed with me, he would’ve been. I shrugged it off, then eased back to bed and crawled under the covers. I tried to not to think about how good it felt when he was in bed next to me—how the warmth of his body brought mine to life. He’d made me feel things I never dreamed I could. The thought sent a rush of need surging through me, forcing me to roll on my side as I clamped my thighs together. Damn, I needed to get a grip.
The next morning, I woke up to the intoxicating scent of coffee and cinnamon rolls. When I opened my eyes, I found Menace standing in the doorway with a coffee cup in one hand and a plate in the other. “Morning, sleepyhead.”
“Morning.” I sat up in the bed and used my fingers to brush my hair out of my face. “You’re up early.”
“No, actually it’s kind of late for me.” He walked over and offered me the cup of coffee. “It’s after eleven. I’m usually at work by now.”
“You didn’t have to stay on my account.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and said, “I didn’t want to take any chances on you running off before we had an opportunity to talk.”
“Talk about what?”
“You and your situation.”
“Look, it’s not your problem.” I inhaled a quick breath, trying to sound brave and self-assured. “I can handle it on my own.”
“Stop right there,” he ordered. “I don’t wanna hear that bullshit. I know you think you can do this on your own, but you run again, and it’s just a roll of the dice whether or not they find you. I don’t know about you, but that shit isn’t gonna work for me.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” I argued. “We had sex, Menace. No strings or attachments. It was just sex, so there’s no reason for you to put yourself in danger. Not for me.”
His eyes grew fierce as he clenched his jaw and let an aggravated breath slip through his pursed lips. He cocked his head to the side, trying to rein in whatever emotions he was feeling—which I’m pretty sure was outright anger, then rolled his head, popping the vertebrae in his neck. “You might just be the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met.”
“I don’t understand why you’re getting mad here. I’m letting you off the hook.”
“Never said I wanted ‘off the hook,’” he barked. “I’m trying to help you. I want to help you, but I can only do that if you let me. So, let me.”
I didn’t immediately respond. As much as I wanted to take him up on his offer, I knew it would mean putting him in danger, and that was something I wasn’t eager to do. Menace was fabulous in bed, and sweet and attentive. I liked him. He seemed like a good guy, and I didn’t want to see him get hurt. But at the same time, I was tired of being so scared and alone. If there was a chance that he and his brothers could help me, even a slim one, I had to take it. “Okay, I’ll let you help, but under one condition.”
“And what’s that?”
“That you’ll be careful and won’t put yourself or your brothers in any unnecessary danger.”
“I’m not making any promises, but I’ll do my best.” He gave me a wink, then jumped right in. “I need to discuss it with Viper, but I still think you should move into the clubhouse—at least for the time being. The security here is just not enough.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? You aren’t going to give me hell about it?”
“Nope.”
“I’m gonna have to do some looking into this Rossi guy, but I’m good at what I do. I can make it where no one knows I’m snooping around.”
Unable to control my fear, my voice trembled as I replied, “Okay.”
“You can trust me on this, Parker. I know what I’m doing.”
“Okay.”
“Is that how it’s gonna be?” A mischievous smile swept across his face as he asked, “You’re just going to keep saying okay to everything?”
Thinking he was implying another round of sex-capades, I smiled and answered, “I guess that depends on the topic of conversation.”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll keep that in mind.” He smirked at me, then said, “I’ve gotta get going. I have to run by the clubhouse before work.”
“Okay.”
“I gotta say,”—he stood and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead—“I like this agreeable side of you.”
“Don’t get used to it ’cause it’s probably not gonna last long.”