My racing thoughts come to a halt when I feel warmth on my lower back and hear a growl loud enough to make my bones shake.
Then I feel his hands on my left thigh.
Only then do I realize there was one more thing left on my body.
My garter.
That is until Luke rips it clean off me and escapes with it out the sliding door without a backward glance.
six
I’m poking the fireto death.
Hoping that if I move the logs long enough, I’ll no longer see the spot where I threw the scrap of fabric that read “Mrs. Fischer” that clung to her thigh.
I have no reason to be this irrationally upset. I got dressed this morning knowing I would be attending her wedding. That I’d have to see her in a white dress. And that she’d walk down the aisle to a man who didn’t deserve her.
It killed me knowing that she was going to marry him.
Still stings now that she hasn’t taken off his ring.
But when I had her standing practically naked in front of me, all smooth skin and the soft curves I’ve dreamed about, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. Only to be dropped into the pits of hell when I saw his last name wrapped around her skin.
The thought of her almost taking his name had me raging hotter than this fire pit before me.
So yes, for a split second there, I lost my goddamn mind and tore it off her body. And since I’d already lost all sense of reasoning, I tossed it into the fire.
After I was sure the coast was clear and she was locked in my bathroom, I snuck back into the house and placed a pair of thick wool socks and a couple of Band-Aids on top of the kitchen island, hoping she would see them.
I’d made a mental note to give them to her as soon as I saw that her feet were hurting, but I’d gotten sidetracked when she begged me to undress her in the middle of my home.
The same home I’d planned on spending the weekend in, drowning my sorrows in beers and frozen pizzas while Daisy was supposed to be prancing around in a bikini on her honeymoon.
My mind still has trouble catching up on how we got here.
Specifically the part where Daisy was standing naked in front of me. And thank God she wasn’t facing me, because after years of barely using most of my facial muscles and learning how to keep my emotions locked up tight, I somehow forgot how to close my jaw and keep my eyes above ass level.
For the last fifteen minutes, I’ve given myself the harshest pep talk known to man, the kind that would make some of my players cry if I unleashed on them, which I try not to do too often.
I’m supposed to be her friend.
She’s fucking losing her mind over the stunt she pulled today. And I can’t get my cock to stop stirring at the memory of her soft curves beneath my fingertips or the way she got goose bumps when I ran my thumb over an angry-looking mark on her skin.
Fuck.
Here I go again.
If I don’t wrap my head around the fact that Daisy is off limits, and fast, I’m going to have to toss myself into the fire. Otherwise, I risk doing something stupid and hurting her.
I have my demons, and it’s only a matter of time before the skeletons in my closet come back out to haunt me. And there is no way in hell I’d let any of that mess spill over onto Daisy, especially after what she’s gone through.
I contemplate our next steps as I sit here, engaging in a one-sided fight with a small fire, trying to figure out if I should act as if nothing happened or get it out in the open and then convince her it wasn’t a big deal.
Maybe I saw a bug on her garter and wanted to make sure she didn’t get bit?
Surely she’s not used to the critters up here and wouldn’t question my actions too thoroughly, right?
Time ticks on, and I’m starting to wonder if she’s come to her senses and driven off in my truck, having come too close to feeling like she was starring in her own true crime podcast with a caveman as a roommate.
