Lover's Road (4 page)

“Sleep with me tonight,” she whispered.

I loved sleeping with her. Of all the things I missed, that was the biggest one of all. “Okay.”

She hooked her leg over my hip and wrapped her arm around my neck, anchoring me to her. Her eyes were closed so I studied her face. Her prominent cheekbones and curved lips made me melt every time. I’d never seen a more beautiful woman. When I saw her in the hospital on that Tuesday, I was immediately hooked. I knew I had to have her to myself—forever.

4

Ryan

Work was a mad house. Who knew so many people wanted tattoos?

It used to be restricted to gang members and the riff raff of the streets, but now hipsters and young people wanted ink. It was a trend that would disappear eventually. And all the young people would shriek in embarrassment. One client wanted a panda bear doing karate on her forearms. I knew she would regret that one later.

When I came home from work, I looked forward to the peace and quiet of the apartment. Janice would rock my world then we would snuggle together in bed, talking about our day. I loved feeling her slight form in my arms. Her bare skin next to mine always made me hot, scorching.

Janice jumped from her seat when I walked through the door. The light in her eyes and the grin on her face told me something exciting happened while
I was away.

“Hey, baby. What’s up?” I hooked my arm around her waist and gave her a kiss.

“You won’t believe what happened to me today!”

I kissed her neck and pressed her breasts against my chest. “Can we talk about this after we make love?”

She hit my arm. “Listen to me.”

I smirked. “Damn.” I loved teasing her. She didn’t put up with it so we argued often, but the sex was always awesome afterwards. “What, baby?”

She started talking faster than a host at an auction. “Penbrook Publishing is one of the biggest houses in the country, and I got a call from them today.”

“Okay…”

“They asked me to be the chief editor for their company!” She jumped up and down like a monkey. “Can you believe it? They are the biggest publishing house in the country and they want me to work for them.”

“Wow.” I was caught off guard. I didn’t even know she
was applying for other jobs. “When did you apply for this?”

“I didn’t. A friend of mine works for the company and found out how successful Scarlet’s company is, which I work for, and they decided to reach out to me.”

My head was still spinning. But she seemed excited so I was too. “That’s wonderful.”

She clapped her hands quickly. “I’m so excited. The hours are great and the pay is awesome.”

Honestly, I was bummed she wouldn’t be home all day. I knew I was being a sexist pig, but I liked knowing she was safe. And now that the shop was rolling in dough, she didn’t even need to work. But I would never tell her that. She clearly loved her job. I knew I couldn’t give up inking just to stay home with her. “That’s so great, baby. I’m happy for you.”

“Me too.” She was practically skipping. “I start tomorrow.”

“Wow. That was fast.”

“Well, they want me.” She shook her hips and twirled her hair. “What can I say?”

“You aren’t conceited at all,” I said sarcastically.

She hit my shoulder playfully.

“But, um, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?” she asked.

“Scarlet. Have you told her?”

“Oh yeah,” she said quickly. “She’s cool with it.”

“Oh. Then everything is settled.”

She studied my face. “Why do I feel like you aren’t happy about this?”

“No, I am,” I said immediately. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

She believed me. “Okay.”

“So, where is this publishing house?”

“It’s only a few blocks away. Actually, it’s really close to the shop.”

Well, that was good news. “Now I can fuck you on my lunch breaks.”

She rolled her eyes. “So romantic…”

“Who’s this friend of yours? Did you go to college with her?”

“Yeah,” she said. “He and I had a few English classes together. We both wanted to be writers but we became editors instead.”

He?
“It’s a dude?”

“Yeah…” She glared at me. “Why does that matter?”

“So, I can’t hire girls but you’re going to run off and work with some guy that pulled a bunch of strings just to get you a job? That sounds hypocritical.”

A fire rose in her eyes. “It’s not the same thing and you know it, Ryan Sisco.”

“Don’t say my whole name like that. It’s king.”

“No, it’s pig,” she snapped.

“It just sounds weird to me,” I said. “Why is he so desperate for you to work with him?”

“Because I’m qualified.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Because I’m good at what I do. Because I have fifty clients under my belt and countless novels with my name on them. That’s why.”

“No…”

Now she was getting pissed. “Get over yourself, Ryan.”

“Are you working with this guy directly?”

“No. I’m the boss of a department, and he’s my boss.”

I was liking this less and less.

“Why would this guy help you out? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Because he’s my friend, you idiot.”

I shook my head. “He wants to get laid.”

“Or he’s a good guy,” she countered.

I shook my head. “No such thing.”

She rolled her eyes. “I already took the job so I don’t care.”

“Does he know you have a man?”

Janice was about to explode. “If you don’t trust me, why are we even together?”

“I do trust you. I don’t trust men.”

“I can take care of myself.” She wasn’t backing down.

“My sister was harassed until she was almost raped. I’m innately distrustful of men with power.”

“Well, if it ever came to that, I would just quit. Problem solved.”

“Or you don’t have to work at all because I make plenty of money for both of us.”

That just pissed her off even more. “Fuck you, Ryan.”

“No, fuck you.”

She stormed off. “I’m taking that job. I don’t give a shit what you think. You were supposed to be happy for me that I’m getting something I really want, but all you care about is how this affects you. You’re pathetic.”

“I couldn’t hire the most qualified applicant because you didn’t
want me working with a single female in the office. How fucking psycho is that?”

“It’s not the same thing!” Her eyes were wide.

“Just because I fucked inked girls before doesn’t mean I’ll cheat on you because they are impossibly irresistible. You’ve fucked just as many partners as I have. How do I know you aren’t going to hook up with him at work?”

She slammed the door. “Go to hell!”

“You’re such a hypocrite,” I screamed back.

She opened the door again, flipped me the bird, and then slammed it again.

I wanted to grab my keys and storm out, but I promised myself I wouldn’t do that. I was livid with Janice for her behavior but I couldn’t walk out on her. She hated being alone in the apartment at night, and if my sister’s relationship with Sean taught me anything, it was to not leave during a fight. Instead, I opened a beer and chugged it while I watched the Yankees game. Hopefully that would calm me down.

Janice didn’t come out of the bedroom for hours. She knew I was still there because she would come out if she suspected I was leaving. It was past midnight and time for me to head to bed.

I locked the doors and turned off the lights before I walked into
the bedroom. She was already lying in bed, facing the wall. I removed my clothes then got into bed beside her. I set my alarm before I lay back and stared at the ceiling. We always had sex when we fought, and I knew this night wouldn’t be any different. We were pissed at each other but wanted to fuck like animals.

I pulled her to her back then separated her legs, finding her entrance quickly. I gripped the headboard while she placed her legs over my shoulders. We only fucked when we were pissed at each other. We never made love. And right now, I was fucking her brains out.

Her tits bounced up and down as I pounded into her. Her nails dug in my ass and she pulled me further inside her, wanting it hard and fast like she always did. She was a heathen in bed, and rocked my world every fucking time. She pissed me off and drove me insane, but fuck, I loved this girl so damn much.

When I felt her tighten around my cock, I knew she was coming. She stayed quiet because she was still pissed at me, but she couldn’t hide that knowledge from me. Fucking more girls than I could count gave me insightful experience when it came to women.

As soon as she was finished, I came inside her, filling her completely. Her tight and wet pussy always felt amazing. Even when I was angry with her, I couldn’t deny that. I stayed inside her for a moment, looking down at her. “Mine,” I barked.

She held my gaze, not intimidated by the look. “Stop acting like a caveman.”

I grabbed the back of her neck. “Mine,” I repeated. “All of you. Parts of you. Everything. It’s mine and I don’t fucking share.”

“That’s never changed, Ryan.”

I finally pulled out of her and released her neck. “If I can’t work with women, then you shouldn’t allow this random guy to help you.”

“He’s not random,” she snapped.

“So you’ve kept in touch with him this whole time?”

She shrugged. “Kinda.”

“Married?”

“Divorced.”

I growled. “I don’t like this.”

She rolled her eyes and turned on her side. “I don’t give a shit, Ryan. Good night.”

I stared at her back before I spooned her from behind and fell asleep.

Janice was on my mind exclusively the following day at work. I wondered if this guy had a thing for her in college and thought he’d have a chance now that he was divorced. What if he pressured her? What if he pursued her? What if he expected something in return for arranging her dream job for her? The possibilities circled in my mind endlessly.

I met Cortland for lunch, but Sean and Scarlet tagged along.

“What are you doing here?” I asked my sister.

She raised an eyebrow. “Why are you an ass today?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’ve been at the office a lot.”

Sean hooked his arm around her waist. “She keeps me company.” He winked.

“TMI.” I turned to Cortland. “Split a pizza?”

“Let’s get a combination,” Scarlet said.

I glared at her. “You need a whole pizza to yourself. Get your own, fatass.”

Cortland eyed me. “You really are in a bad mood today.”

I teased my sister all the time, but everyone seemed to hear the anger underneath. They all knew me pretty well.

After we ordered, we sat down. Cortland waited for me to share my thoughts.

“Janice has a new job,” I said sadly.

Scarlet sipped her soda. “Aren’t you happy for her?”

“She said some guy from college arranged it.”

“So?” Scarlet glared at me.

“I just don’t like it.”

“Don’t be a pig,” she snapped. “She’s really excited about this. Ryan, this is her dream job, something she always wanted at R and R.
Don’t spoil it for her by being an ass.”

“You don’t get it,” I snapped. “I hate knowing I can’t protect her. When she was home all day, I knew no one would bother her. But this…it’s out of my control.”

Scarlet glared at me harder. “If she feels threatened, she’ll leave.”

“You didn’t,” I snapped. “Carl kept harassing you but you stuck around.” That was low, but it was my darkest fear, that someone would treat Janice like that. She was my whole world. I’d be nothing without her.

“I had to pay rent. I didn’t have a choice.”

“You could have moved in with Sean,” I countered.

“We weren’t together at the time. It wouldn’t have worked.”

Sean looked uncomfortable. “I’m with him on this one, Scar. Sorry.”

She turned her wrath on him. “What?”

“I understand why he’s nervous. The idea of you working outside the house would make
me uneasy too, after everything you’ve been through. I love that you stay home all day and come visit me when you have free time.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“That doesn’t justify ruining her dream.” Scarlet wasn’t backing down. “You need to be supportive, Ryan. Janice is a smart girl. If some guy messes with her, she’ll shove her heel into his ass. Don’t doubt her.”

She would never understand. I didn’t bother arguing.

But Scarlet opened her big mouth and continued. “You’re just jealous, Ryan. You can’t handle the idea of other men checking her out, but you love it when women do it to you. You want to lock her in the apartment all day so no one will know she even exists. That’s no way to live.”

“You make it sound like she’s
a prisoner,” I snapped. “Which she isn’t. Believe me, this would have gone quite differently if this ‘friend’ of hers was a girl. Men don’t help women just because they feel like it. They want something in return.”

“My dad isn’t like that,” Sean said.

“Well, that’s one exception,” I countered.