Darius started chuckling.
“Do you want me to hurt you?” I asked the both of them and the both of them grinned.
They said no more and I didn’t either. I was in for a lot of this, I knew. I bought it and I knew that too. I was just going to have to suck it up and take it.
“I’ll see you guys back home,” I muttered, moving away.
“Ally,” Darius called and I turned back.
“Yeah?”
“Believe in it,” he said softly, “and be happy.”
God, I loved Darius.
I swallowed as my eyes started feeling hot.
Then I nodded and got the hell out of there.
I barely had the door to the room closed before Ren asked, “How much shit did they give you?”
He was sitting on the side of the bed tugging on his boots.
I dumped my stuff on the bed and turned to him. “I’m screwed.”
He straightened, reached out, grabbed my hips and shifted me so I was standing between his opened legs.
I rested my hands on his shoulders and looked in his eyes.
This man loved me.
Seriously.
How lucky could I be?
“I’ll make it worth it,” he whispered.
Yeah.
He loved me.
And I was very lucky.
“I think, after acting like an idiot for a year, that’s my job,” I replied, and his warm eyes got warmer, his hands slid from my hips to my ribs and he pulled me down to him as he fell back so we were lying on the bed, me on top.
“How you gonna do that?” he asked as one of his hands drifted over my ass and the other one drifted up and into my hair.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “But I’ll be creative.”
He smiled.
My heart soared.
“Lookin’ forward to that,” he murmured.
“Would you like to start now?” I offered. “Or after we get back to Denver.”
“Seein’ as I’m takin’ my woman on our first official date tonight even though she’s been my woman for a long fuckin’ time, I want to get back to Denver. So you can start there.”
God. I’d been such an idiot.
I didn’t admit that since I figured he knew. And, by the way, he was being very cool by not rubbing my nose in it.
Which made me love him more.
Instead, I replied, “Copy that,” and got another smile.
Then I got a hot, heavy, wet kiss.
After that, I got my ass hauled to a sweet ride and Ren pointed the Jag toward Denver (after we checked in on Faye who, surprisingly, after being buried alive, was doing all right; then again, she had her own hot guy badass so maybe this wasn’t a surprise).
I delayed until nearly the final moment to check my phone because I knew what I’d find. I’d even avoided looking when I’d called Darius.
But this was sissy behavior and not me. However, I allowed myself this bubble of happiness with Ren without letting the world intrude as he drove his sleek, high performance machine through the beauty of the Colorado Mountains.
He did this, by the way, almost the whole time holding my hand against his thigh. Yes, the fact that I loved this was more romantic girlie than Rock Chick, but who cares? A hotheaded Italian badass loved me. This required being romantic girlie on occasion.
And I picked that one.
