WHEN I GOT TO THE police station they had a paramedic take a look at my hand. It had already started to bruise and my knuckle had been split open when I made contact with Kyle’s face. It hurt like hell, but I walked away as if nothing in the world bothered me. One thing I didn’t anticipate was getting hauled away in a police car.
This isn’t going to look good on my record, I thought.
“It doesn’t look like it’s broken,” the paramedic told me. “I’m going to clean the cut and bandage it so you should be good to go after that.”
Her name was Janie and she appeared to be in her early forties with really short brown hair. She could almost pass for a man because of her masculine facial features, but her large chest kind of gave her away.
Before I even got to the station my name was run through the system, and as soon as I walked through the door they said I was free to go. Apparently, a couple of the officers in the department knew of Kyle Andrews and his history with skirting the law, so they applauded me as soon as I walked in. Oh, if Kyle only knew. The only problem with being let go was that I had no car and it was going to take Lexi at least an hour to come get me.
Once my hand was bandaged up, I blew out a relieved sigh and sat back in the chair. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do if I broke my hand. It would be kind of hard to work with it like that.”
“Oh, I know, child. You might want to put some ice on it when you get home. Did you call someone to come pick you up?” Janie asked.
“I did,” I answered. “She should be here soon.”
Janie smiled and patted my shoulder before marching off into another room. Since I didn’t need to be detained, they let me sit out in the front lobby while I waited. I had a while to wait so I thought I’d try my luck with Jace and see how the filming was going. Pacing across the floor, I pulled out my phone and dialed his number.
He answered on the second ring. “Hey, Shels, what’s up? You miss me yet?”
It never failed; he could always get me to smile. “Of course I do. I just wanted to see how the filming was going. Is it nice there on the beach in North Carolina?”
“It’s amazing here,” he exclaimed. “The beaches are beautiful, and the female lead here is so damn hot I might need to consider going back to being straight.”
“Really? That hot, huh? I think I’m kind of insulted now,” I teased.
Jace laughed and it was a welcome sound to my ears. “I said I might consider. I didn’t say I was. Besides, you’re one hot female, too, Shels.” He paused. “So, how are things back there? You and Matt getting along?”
“Um … yeah, I guess. We’re just having issues with Kyle. He’s really trying to screw things up right now, which might be why I’m at the police station,” I added.
Catching him off guard, Jace gasped and coughed to clear his throat. “Are you serious? What did you do?”
“Let’s just say I have a sore, but unbroken, hand. Kyle has a sore and bruised face. Long story short, he had pictures taken of me and him when we were seeing each other and he happened to put them all in Matt’s room before the fight so he’d see them. Needless to say, it didn’t make me too happy.”
Jace snorted in disgust. “That dude has some serious issues. What’s his deal anyway?”
“I’m not sure, but Matt and I will figure it out. Don’t worry about me, though. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I know it’s kind of late there with the time difference, so I’ll let you go. I just wanted to let you know I miss you.”
“Same to you, Shels. You know you need to come out here and visit me. You would love it out here.”
I’d seen pictures of the coast of North Carolina and I’d always wanted to visit. Maybe I could get Matt to go with me once his tour was over.
“I’ll have to keep that in mind. Goodnight, Jace,” I uttered warmly.
“Night, Shels.”
Now that I checked on Jace, I dialed up Lexi’s number to see where she was at. It rang a few times before she finally answered, “Hey, girl. You get picked up yet?”
Did I get picked up yet? She’s the one who’s supposed to come and get me.
“Excuse me,” I sputtered, furrowing my brows. “Aren’t you coming to pick me up?”
“No, she’s not,” a voice spoke out behind me, “I am.”
Frozen in place with the phone by my ear, I had my back to Matt, listening to Lexi squeal on the other end. “My goodness, he sounds so sexy like that. I guess you know now that he’s the one coming to get you. He called and told me not to bother. I hope you don’t mind, but he insisted. Really quick before you go, Hayley and I are planning a girl’s night one day this week so make sure you’re free. Love ya bunches and don’t get into any more trouble.”
She giggled and hung up the phone. Suddenly, I was left facing Matt on my own. When I turned around, he had on his fighting shorts and a black T-shirt with an unreadable expression on his face. His gaze lingered down to my bandaged hand and back up to my eyes.
“I’m assuming with you waiting out here that you’re free to go?” he asked.
Slowly, I tucked my hair behind my ears and nodded. “Yeah, I’m free. I was never really apprehended if that’s what you want to call it. Kyle might think he had his way and that I’m spending a night in jail, but the joke is actually on him. Although,” I said, lifting my hand, “I think it might be on me, too. This hurts like a bitch.”
Matt burst out laughing and pulled me into his body by my good arm, wrapping it around his waist. I wasn’t expecting that reaction, but God, did it feel good to be in his arms again and breathing him in. I didn’t want the moment to end, but I really didn’t want to be in the police station any longer than necessary. My boss was definitely going to find out about it and I wasn’t looking forward to having to explain. Thankfully, I had until Monday before that happened.
“Can we get out of here?” I asked, mumbling the words against his chest.
Chuckling, he turned us around and kept an arm around my waist as we walked out of the station to his blue truck parked just a few spaces away. I took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air; it was much better than the smells of stale coffee, bad body odor, and dust inside the police department.
When we got to Matt’s car, he opened the door for me, but I didn’t get in. There was so much left unsaid and I needed to know where we stood. Taking his face in my hands, I leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips. His arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me against him so tight I could barely breathe.
“I was too late,” he murmured.
I pulled back just an inch so I could get a better look at him in the street light. “What do you mean?”
Sighing, he hung his head and blew out a frustrated breath. “When I finally took control of my anger you were already gone. I let you leave again and I didn’t stop you. The moment I didn’t see you in your seat at the fight I didn’t know what to think. The anger clouded my judgment and I’m sorry. I know you didn’t do anything wrong, but seeing him all over you in those pictures …”
“Matt,” I cried, “you don’t need to apologize. I know you were angry and it’s understandable. I was angry when I thought it was you in those other pictures. It made me sick, so believe me, I know.”
“Well, hopefully, his shit is over because I honestly don’t see how he could do any worse than what he’s already done. Is there anything else that he could possibly know and use against us?” he asked wearily.
“Not that I know of,” I said, shaking my head. “But then again I’m sure Kyle will come up with something, and when he does we need to look the other way and let it go. He can’t hurt us if we don’t let him. All I know is I want to get away from here and relax.”
Matt’s lips tilted up with just the hint of a smile, and combined with his half-lidded seductive green gaze it instantly made the spot between my legs wet. I knew what was on his mind, and I knew what was going to come once we got back to his house.
Leaning over, he kissed me on the forehead and trailed his lips slowly down the side of my face to my ear, and whispered, “Angel, we’re going to do a lot more than relax. Surely, you haven’t forgotten what we failed to finish in the pool, right?”
No, I didn’t forget.
Tilting my head back, I bit my lip and moaned as his hand travelled up my waist to my breast, cupping me gently. “You’re body belongs to me,” he murmured huskily, kissing his way down my neck.
He pressed me against the truck with his body shielding me and wrapped one of my legs around his waist so he could push his hard cock against me. “When someone kisses you on those luscious lips of yours, it’ll always be me. When someone touches the tenderest parts of your body, it’ll always be me.”
Gliding his hand down my body, he unbuttoned my jeans and slid his hand inside, pushing a finger into me. I gasped, holding onto his neck, and rocked my hips against him. “I want to be the only man to have the privilege of touching you like this, of making love to you. Because this right here,” he murmured, placing his other hand over my heart, “is where I want to be. It’s where I’ve always wanted to be … it’s where I belong.”
A tear slid down my cheek and I held him tighter. “You’ve always been there, Matt,” I whispered.
Always.