Chapter Twenty-Three

Garrett

He’d watched her close the bar for two nights, and he didn’t feel like he was getting anywhere other than paying ten bucks a water bottle. He’d been patient. Tried to coax whatever the hell was going on out of her, but she wasn’t giving him anything.

It was time to make his move.

He’d sat in a booth tonight and watched her. She was dead on her feet and withering away in front of his eyes.

She frowned when he reached the bar, took the rag from her hands, and pulled her up.

“More free labor?” she sassed, but he had decided, he was done. “What! Garrett! Put me down this…oof!” she huffed the second her ass touched the barstool. “What is this? What do you think you’re doing?” She glared up at him, but he didn’t let her get to him. He simply moved his face closer, not missing the way her eyes widened as his forehead brushed hers before he let his nose glide against hers.

“Eat.” He put the bag of takeout on the counter and saw her mouth gaping. Leaning in closer so only she could hear, he continued, “Close that pretty mouth before I give you something to put in it.”

“I can’t believe you just said that,” she hissed, but it was the color to her cheeks that gave her away.

Looking from the bag of food to him and back to the food, she was obviously torn about what to do. She was hungry and tired and working three stupid dead-end jobs he’d come to find out about from one of the regulars after he’d passed him a fifty.

“You’re about to fall over on your feet, losing weight you can’t afford to lose, sunshine. Eat. Please?” he gently pleaded with her and saw her glare slightly thaw before she dramatically rolled her eyes.

“Fine. But I’m eating because I’m hungry, not because you ordered me to,” she huffed, and he found himself grinning kissing the top of her head.

“Whatever you say, baby,” he muttered before sitting next to her.

She took the burrito out and unwrapped it, then he watched her take a bite and close her eyes as she moaned, “Mmm.” He felt that in his dick. “Breakfast burrito,” her voice rasped. He couldn’t get his stupid ass to look away. Watching her, wanting her. Jesus, she was a wet dream come to life.

“Sausage and bacon?” she asked, and he nodded his head.

“Yup. There’s a packet of table syrup in the bag,” he shared with an easy grin.

He remembered everything about her.

From the way her skin felt against his and the way her hair smelled, to the little things like her cute quirks with food. The first time she’d mentioned it, he’d been slightly grossed out at the idea of syrup in a breakfast burrito. But when he tried it, it had actually grown on him. The wonder in which she had just looked up at him faded, and she looked at her food. Her lower lip wobbled before she bit down and twitched her nose.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” He moved in closer, and when she looked up at him, they were the only ones who existed.

“Nothing,” she said thickly. “What’s the gig this time, Garrett?”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s the game you’re playing this time?” she asked, and he stilled.

“Excuse me?” His voice dropped an octave lower. She sighed.

“I’m not being ugly or anything right now, but my life’s a little jumbled at the moment.”

“About that—”

“And I don’t have time for whatever game you’re playing.”

“I’m not. I wanna talk. Please. I just…” He traced her face. “l love you, Stefanie,” he said as he looked into her gorgeous eyes. She licked her lips. Damn. He missed that mouth. Her tongue. Her taste. Everything.

“I heard.” She smirked. He took that little half-smile as a good omen, so he kept on pleading his case.

“I messed up by leaving and shutting you out. I know that.”

“Good.” She shrugged.

“But in my defense, I did warn you I’d fuck up somehow.” She laughed at his stupidity, and he exhaled. “Let me help you close and after, take you home.”

“I don’t think that would be a great idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m staying with Kip,” she shared, taking another bite of her breakfast burrito. She was staying with Kip. Why? So many damn questions.

“Then come back with me.”

“To the hotel?” she asked, looking over her shoulder for a mere second. He shrugged.

“If that’s where you wanna go, sure.”

“I don’t think so.” She shook her head, taking a massive bit and chewing.

“Fine. Not the hotel. Anywhere. I just want some time.”

“I don’t know,” she muttered and finished chewing, then wrapped half the burrito back up before quickly jumping off the barstool. “I gotta get back to work.”

Damn it, she was retreating. He’d taken two steps forward, and now she was ready to walk back a mile.

“Stef,” he called out, grabbing her wrist. She turned, but the vulnerability he saw in her eyes made him incapable of saying anything else. Instead, he pulled her flush against his body, and she willingly went toward him. Wrapping his arms around her, he felt her stiff body melt into his.

“Just think about it.”

“I’m tired, Garrett,” she whispered into his chest, and he slowly stroked her back.

“Let me take care of you.”

“I don’t know,” she groaned, pulling away from him, and this time, he let her but intertwined their fingers.

“Just tonight.” He was desperate. If he had to make her agree to them on a daily basis, so be it. “Please?” He wasn’t below begging.

“Maybe.” She bit her lip and pointed back at the bar. “I have to get back to work.”

“I’ll be right here.”

“For how long, though?” she mumbled under her breath. He chose to ignore it. She would see. With time, he would earn the trust he broke when he walked away from her.

She’d get he wasn’t going anywhere.

Stefanie

I was starting to crack.

I didn’t want to. I wanted to be the kind of woman who held her ground and didn’t let anyone walk all over her. But seeing him on a daily basis didn’t make it easy to act cold towards him. Not when all I wanted to do was melt into him and believe everything he was saying.

Hearing him finally say those three little words and act like I couldn’t care less had been close to impossible, but it had been a necessary evil.

Self-preservation.

My life was a mess, and I didn’t have the time or energy to figure out what Garrett was up to. With Kip’s help I’d found a job. The problem was, I’d found three of them and didn’t have the heart to turn one down when they had graciously been offered to me, but it was starting to wear on me.

Delivering pizza from noon to five, then bartending from six to close wasn’t easy. Especially when adding the occasional extremely early morning shifts at the local coffee shop.

Each job required me to be on my feet with a smile pasted on my face, and I was determined to make it work.

After Garrett left and I’d lost my job, Kip suggested I move into the small mother-in-law suite above his garage. I didn’t really argue. He sold me on the idea because I was broken-hearted and a little lost, and the idea of being in a space that wasn’t haunted by Garrett’s memory sounded good.

Not that it helped. I still thought about him every time I blinked, and my heart hurt with every breath my lungs exhaled, but I was a little less alone there.

I took two entire days of doing nothing but crying into my Ben and Jerry’s pint of strawberry cheesecake and thought about the future. A future that wouldn’t have Garrett Wright’s grouchy but handsome face in it. How the hell had I let myself get so wrapped up in him in such a short amount of time?

Either way, Garrett had been right about one thing. A job should be more than paying the bills. It should be enjoyed and fulfilling. From there and idea struck, and when I told Kip about it, he had grinned bigger than I’d thought was possible. I was going to go back to school.

Then he threw me for a loop.

He offered to pay my tuition.

It would have made life easier, but I couldn’t let him do that. Instead, I agreed to living there rent free and in exchange, I’d work at the bar and only take tips. I’d work like crazy until the new school semester started. When it did, I’d lose one gig, probably the pizza delivery, and work at the bar and coffee shop and take night classes.

Kip hadn’t been too keen about me working two jobs once school was back in session, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

“Last call!” I announced before waving goodbye to Alex. Kip was home, trusting me to close, and I knew it had to do with the bulky shadow I had.

After serving the last drinks and closing tabs, I started picking up the empties and sent the two other waitresses home, closing and locking the door the moment the last patron was gone.

Walking over to the furthest booth, I focused on cleaning and getting the place ready for the next day. I didn’t hear one step, but I knew he was right behind me. The air smelled of his cologne and skin, and my hands tightened around the empty bottles in my hands as my eyes slipped and closed. I wanted to bury my face into his neck, let his scent envelope me, and let me feel safe, but I couldn’t.

Not again.

“What are you doing,” I asked breathlessly.

As strong as I wanted to be, his nearness made me weak. My brain fizzed as shivers coursed through my body. Like some sort of mind reader, he positioned his body right behind mine, his hands on my hips keeping me close, his head leaning dangerously close to the line of my neck. My skin was covered with goose bumps.

I was tired. My feet and lower back ached, but there was something about Garrett’s natural animal magnetism that woke me up better than a double espresso.

“Helping you clean,” his voice rumbled in my ear, and if I hadn’t been so tired and weary, I would have giggled.

“Liar,” I mumbled as his nose grazed my temple. The sound of him inhaling deep made me weak in the knees.

“Everyone’s gone,” he whispered into my hair as his hand explored the length on the side of my torso, wrapping its way to the front of my belly, his open palm burning through my tee shirt. A tremor rushed through me, and I knew he hadn’t missed it.

“Garrett, I still have to finish closing.” I tried to fight.

“I’ll help,” he offered, and I turned around, his hands resting at my lower back.

“Because you want to talk after?”

“Because I want to be with you,” he laid out easily, and I frowned. “Spend time with you.”

“Right now,” I clarified. I was done playing his game. I was done with his reeling me in and pushing me away.

“Forever,” he pushed. I shook my head, too tired to have that discussion.

“Fine! You want to stay and clean? Stay. Spray the tables and the counters. I’ll get the deposit ready. Kip can get one of the girls to sweep and mop in the morning,” I mumbled out orders and caught his nod before I went to the office to do the paperwork that needed to be done so I could get the heck out of there and take off my shoes.

_______________

“Okay, are you—“ The words died the minute I saw the bar.

The tables were clean and empty, the floors swept and shiny. Garrett stood by the sink, dumping the dirty mop water, and I felt something tingle over the left side of my chest. Before I knew it, I was smiling.

“You did the floors.”

“Figured it’d help the staff in the morning.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was. I swallowed hard and crossed my arms over my chest. I’d been determined to say thanks but no thanks to his wanting to hang out, but how could I now?

“So, am I taking you home?” he asked, and I shrugged.

“I have my car,” I shared, disappointed he didn’t offer going with him again. Maybe he was giving up on his quest.

“Come back to the hotel with me,” he offered, his eyes never moving off mine. Not even when he set the water bucket down on the floor. “Come with me. I’ll bring you back tomorrow.”

“In the morning?”

“Whenever you want.”

“Garrett—”

“Please.” There was something in his voice that made me weak. He was being nice, and it was hard to be ice cold when someone was being nice.

“Okay,” I whispered, giving in to the need to be around him while ignoring the red flags and flare guns going off in the back of my mind.

I walked over to the front door, meeting him there. He took the keys from me and locked the bar before taking my hand in his and leading me to his truck.

_______________

“It’s a different hotel,” I stupidly pointed out as we walked through the building, the confidence in his stride showing exactly where he was going.

“It is.”

“Why did you pick a different one?” I asked quietly as we walked beside one another toward his room. It was newer, one I knew from the commercials offered hot breakfasts in the morning. It was miles better than the crappy hotel by the bar.

When our fingers brushed against one another, he didn’t pull his hand away. His pinky lingered by mine. I could have moved it away. I should have. But I didn’t. Seeing that as his in, he hooked his pinky with mine, closing his huge paw over my hand.

“I wanted something better for you.”

“But it was our spot,” I pointed out, torn about how I felt.

On one hand, I was glad not to be there. Not after the way we had imploded. But the memories of how we started were there.

“It’s where I messed everything up,” he groaned as we stopped in front of a door. My lips twitched, and warmth spread over my heart when I noticed the room number.

“It’s the same number.”

“I requested it.”

“You did?” I looked up at him, getting lost in the dark depths I saw every night I closed my eyes. “You were that sure I’d come back here tonight?”

“I’ve been here since the day I got to town.”

“Really? Why?” I asked. He shrugged before opening the door for me, waiting for me to pass by him.

“As badly as I screwed up, I was hoping it could be our lucky number. I requested it when I went to New York to do the movie, too,” he shared, and I nodded before looking up at him.

“You took it on.”

“It was a different one. A friend of Marc’s heard what I’d done and called, and like they say in show business, the rest is history.” Garrett shrugged with a goofy smile on his face, and I giggled at how carefree he was talking.

Stepping deeper into the room, I stuffed my hands into the front pockets of my skinny jeans, unsure of where to sit. The large king bed was beautiful and comfortable looking but too dangerous. I knew he’d follow me right to it, and then I’d be helpless to his charms. Instead, I walked to the couch and plopped my butt down.

“This is a great room.”

“It’s comfortable,” he mumbled as he sat down at the other end of the couch, his body toward me.

“So.”

“So.” Silence fell between us, and nerves hit.

“Umm…”

“I think—” We both started to talk at the same time and awkwardly laughed.

“Lift your foot up here.” He patted his lap, and I didn’t think twice. Taking my shoe off, he held my foot in his hands, and I groaned at the beautiful pressure.

“If this is how you wanted to talk, I would have let you start in Kip’s office,” I teased and felt his eyes roaming my body, but I couldn’t look at him.

Exhaustion and tension slipped out of my body as his hands worked magic.

“Where were you going to go?”

“Germany,” he shared as he hit the right angle of my heel and I sighed in relief. “A buddy of mine offered me a job. A trainer position.”

“Teaching,” I whispered, opening my eyes, our gazes meeting head on. “I can see you doing that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Why didn’t you go? Or are you still leaving?” I questioned, afraid of the answer.

“I’m not going anywhere, sunshine.” His hand moved up my heel to my ankle. “Not ever,” he vowed. I pressed my lips together.

“Garrett,” I softly mumbled, “it’s late and I’m running on about six hours of sleep, and that’s six hours spread out in the last three days.”

“Then rest.”

“Gar—”

“Come here.” He patted his lap, and I laughed, slightly irritated.

“Do you really think I’ll fall that easily back in bed with you?”

“Baby—” But with a shake of my head, I stood up, about to grab my shoe from the floor when he took me by the wrist and pulled me flush into his body.

“Let go of me!” I scolded.

“No.”

“I’m not easy. I’m not some doormat!”

“I know that,” he hissed before taking a deep breath and resting his forehead against mine. “I know you’re not, and you can make me work for your forgiveness every day from now till I die, but please, just…” His voice cracked, and I let his words sink in.

“Just what? Just do what you order and go along, following you like a puppy trying to get scraps of attention from you?”

“As long as you don’t give up on me.”

“You gave up on me first,” I childishly threw in his face and winced at my callous words as I soaked up the hurt in his eyes. “I didn’t mean that.”

“I know. But you’re not wrong. I messed up, Stefanie. I…” His breathing was heavy, and in the back of my mind, I felt his hands move, slowly sliding down, making their decent to my hips. “I know we have a lot to talk about, but like you said, you’re exhausted. Dead on your feet from how much you’re fucking working. I asked you to sit on my lap not so you could ride my dick—though if you wanted to, I wouldn’t say no—but so I could lift you up and take you to bed.”

“Oh.” My mouth opened and closed as heat hit my face. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I deserved it.”

“No, you didn’t. Lack of sleep makes me edgy.”

“I was an asshole saying I’d leave like that.”

“And now you’re not an asshole?”

“I’m pretty sure my brothers would tell you I’ll always be an ass.” His hands stroked my face. “But, sunshine, I won’t run. Not again. I swear. I’m in this for the long run. Let me be your ass.”

“I don’t even think I’m capable of knowing what long run means.”

“You will.” He bent his head down, and I braced.

If he kissed me, I’d break.

I’d give him everything I had left and drown in the aftermath when all he left behind were ashes. But just as his lips hovered over mine, making my mouth tingle with anticipation, his face turned, and he kissed my cheek.

“Let’s get you to bed.”

“Where will you sleep?”

“On the couch or the floor,” he said confidently, as if he hadn’t planned on sleeping next to me. I frowned.

“It’s a king-sized bed.” I pointed behind me. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor. I’m shorter. I should take the couch—”

“I don’t think so, sunshine,” he cut me off, and I frowned.

“But—”

“Unless you’re ready for me to sleep next to you,” he shared nervously.

“Ready?” I questioned, confused. “What do you mean, ready?”

“Baby, the last time we slept together, you woke up to me destroying your place,” he enlightened me, and I felt my face fall. I had no idea what he was talking about.

“The last time we slept together was at the hotel, and I fell asleep calmly on your chest,” I shared. We had slept at the hotel when he’d returned. I knew because that had been the last night of restful sleep I’d had.

“I didn’t sleep a wink,” he confessed, and I felt my body lock up.

“What?” I breathed.

“I was paralyzed out of my fucking skull to close my eyes.”

“Because of the nightmares?” I asked softly, not wanting to blink, afraid to miss something.

“Afraid I’d be a stupid fuck and go through with my plan of taking that job and letting you be free of having to deal with me and all the shit that comes along with me, including those fucking nightmares.”

I opened then quickly closed my mouth, unable to get the right words strung together. “How could you think that?” I whispered, staring at his chest in front of me.

“How could I not?” he rebutted, and I shook my head, rolling my eyes.

“Because we are in this together. Or we were when it was about you trying to help me battle my demons and my issues and help push around my baggage. But here’s the thing. Everyone has crap, Garrett. We all have good and bad in us and thrown at us. When in the time we spent together did I act like I was the kind of woman who wouldn’t want to be there to help you with yours?”

“I fucked up.”

“You did.” I was angry. Angry and hurt and so damn tired for so many reasons. “Sleep wherever you want. I’m too tired to do this.”

“Baby—”

“Good night, Garrett.” I turned and walked to the far end of the bed, kicking my shoes off and pulling down my pants, leaving me in black boy shorts and a tank top.

With my back turned toward him, I slipped my hands into my shirt, undoing my bra and letting it fall on the ground next to my jeans. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before. Getting into bed, I tried to rest. The bed felt like a cloud, and exhaustion was slowly starting to win the battle. He hadn’t moved from where I’d left him. If I was honest with myself, I wanted him to choose to sleep next to me.

I wanted him to choose us instead of the fear.