He took her face between his palms and trailed his thumbs over her dimpled cheeks, making her eyes flutter closed. While leaning down to her, his mint breath tickled her face as he whispered, “Your… blush.”
She opened her eyes and jerked her head back. “What? I never blush. Never mind. I changed my mind, I’ll walk.”
She stood from the bench and limped toward the exit of the park, with little needles stabbing her ankle with every step she took. Halfway, she slightly turned and shouted over her shoulder, “Can you take them? Thank you!”
Brennan peered from the corner of his eye and had the privilege to witness a side of Errin she tried to hide above all.
She was gorgeous, as always. No doubt she still was the same proud and loud talking woman he came to know. But what drew his attention, and he sure did his best not to spoil the moment, was that for the very first time since he’d known her, she seemed vulnerable.
He wanted to park the truck, get her out of her seatbelt and put her little and lithe frame on his lap. He wanted to kiss that single tear away. The same tear she now stabbed away from her cheekbone.
He leaned over to her side of the Chevy and opened the glove compartment. With his eyes still focused on traffic, he rummaged around and took out the tissues. She grabbed them out of his outstretched hand but didn’t voice thanks. Errin blew her nose.
They didn’t talk on the ride over.
That bitchy receptionist, who later on appeared to be Errin’s boss, fired her right on the spot. She shouted that the dog Errin lost sight of had run back on his own to the kennel and had been there for over an hour already.
While this Casey person was ranting at Errin, he stepped up and demanded for the woman to shut her face. She had every right to be upset with Errin, to be mad at her even.
But the way she talked down to Errin, making snide remarks like she finally had the chance to go all out on her, had been unacceptable. She should have called Errin the moment that damn dog showed up at her doorstep. So he’d said as much before Errin put her hand on his bicep and steered him back towards the exit.
He heard that woman bitching while he stood outside on the sidewalk. Errin was irresponsible, never on time, and always had an attitude. Errin just hung her shoulders and asked him to take her to Lucky.
Not home, not to one of her sisters.
No, she wanted to go to Lucky.
His heartbeat had picked up knowing she wanted to spend time with him after being fired. She probably was going with him in the hopes she could talk with his grandfather, but he would take it, anyway.
He parked his black Chevy truck near the back entrance of the pub and opened Errin’s door for her. She must have lost her spirit somewhere along the way, as she complied when he picked her up and walked her through the pub and directly upstairs to his apartment.
Normally, Errin would bristle at his assumption to take her to his place without even asking first. But not today—not now. He glanced down to take her in as he held her in his arms.
Her hair still had that warm, glossy hue to it, but the rest of her was fucked up. And even then she was disheveled into nothing but perfection.
Tears marked her freckled and rosy cheekbones. Her baby blues were red rimmed, just like her nostrils from blowing her nose. She had the ugliest, ill-fitting jeans on and a blue sweater with several holes in it. And to be honest, she reeked of dogs.
Everything that makes Errin this perfect angelic little spitfire was hiddenby ugly clothing or tainted by her crying. But to him, she’d never been more beautiful. He entered his apartment, placed her crutch against the wall, and locked the door behind him. She remained silent.
He pushed his luck further by taking her into his bedroom. Her eyes widened in recognition and she squirmed in his arms. He held on to her tightly, not wanting to let her fall on the floor and hurt her ankle any more.
“Set me down, you ape! Don’t know what you’re thinking we’ll do, but you can forget about it!”
He snickered as he placed her in the middle of his king-size bed. He was a big ass man and although his bed was a bit too big for the room; he didn’t have the need for a lot of other furniture or any other belongings.
“Let me take care of you, Errin,” he softly said. He was hoping to let her rest her ankle for a few hours since it was twice its size again. And okay, having her close to check up on her and help her find her bearings after this shit of a morning didn’t sound too bad as well.
“Oh, you wanna fuck? Is that what you mean by taking care of me? You think because we had phone sex once, you can take me to your apartment? To your bed, to screw each other's brains out?”
He leaned in and she scooted back in retreat. He placed his knee on the side of the bed and placed his under arm next to Errin’s head as she fell to the mattress at his approach. Her breath tickled his face. She was breathing hard, like a cornered animal ready to pounce.
“It’s nothing like that, baby girl. Oh, but I dowant you. I can’t stop thinking about all the ways I want to fuck your big fuckin’ attitude into submission.”
Her eyes widened and narrowed just as quickly as she scoffed. “Ha! Good luck with that. In case you failed to notice, I’m not some meek little mouse that will beg you foranything.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I will have you begging, Lips. And soon.”
“Cut it out with the stupid nickname! I hate it!”