I move past him.
“It’s the right call,” he says. I turn to look at Donovan. He’s facing the apartment again, eyes tracking the guys at the base of the building. “Don’t second-guess it. Just get the hell out of here.”
I go.
Bristol jumps when I knock on the window of the SUV. It takes her a second to unlock the doors. I slide onto the seat, the cold from the rain hitting as soon as I get my door shut. My teeth chatter, so I turn up the heat in the SUV. I’ll have to turn it back down again in a minute so Bristol and the twins don’t roast. They’ll be fine for now.
I reverse out of the loading zone and pull a U-turn in the middle of the street.
Bristol doesn’t say anything for five blocks. Then she pushes buttons on the console until she gets an inoffensive pop station and turns it up. “Can you stop here for a minute?”
Another loading zone. I pull into it. Bristol opens her door before I can stop her. She’s out on the sidewalk, in the goddamn rain, in a flash. I get out and jog around to her, stripping off my sweatshirt as I go. Fuck me. My shirt’s soaked through, too. I hold the sweatshirt over her head. “The hell are you doing?”
“Where are you taking us?”
“Back home with me.” I mean to saymy place,but it’s raining and cold and I want to be far from Building C.
Bristol shakes her head. “Will, we can’t move in together. We can’t just keep—keep staying with you because I got sick.”
“Why? Are you afraid I’ll fuck you like I do in the office?”
She lifts her chin. It’s cute, considering I’m holding my own sweatshirt over her head like she’s a princess. “I’mnotafraid of that. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I wish you’d do it again.”
Blood rushes out of my head and down to my cock. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
Bristol rolls her eyes. “You’re the one demanding that I stay with you. You’re also going to tell me you’re too much for me to handle?”
“I contain multitudes.”
“Right. And I’m just a silly corporate whore.”
“You’re not silly.”
Bristol cracks a smile, but it falters. “Why did you change your mind about taking us back? Did your spy give you bad news?”
“He’s not a spy. He’s security. Guy named Evan Donovan.”
“It would have been nice of him to tell me his name the second or third time I bought him a hot dog.”
“You bought him a hot dog?” I recognize that the flare of jealousy is ridiculous. Hot dogs don’t mean anything. And I happen to know that Donovan spends almost all his time hungry. He eats like he might get shot between every bite.
“I think technically I bought him five hot dogs. You still want me to come home with you?”
“There were some guys watching the building.” I don’t want her to think I’m making shit up just to get her to stay. Although at this point, I don’t care which fact convinces her. I just want her to get back in the car. “Donovan said they’ve been there for a while, circling. Looking at your window.”
Bristol’s face pales. “He doesn’t think it’s safe?”
“He said he could stop them from coming in, and he can. That’s why I hired him. But he also said it wasn’t worth it.” My sweatshirt has lost the battle against the rain. “You know my place is better.”
I want to make the argument in my mind that it’s not better, because I’m in it. That I’m just as dangerous to her as those fuckers. This time, I can’t do it. Itisbetter. I can take care of her, even if it hurts.
“I don’t know.” Bristol purses her lips. “You might have—” She glances around, then drops her voice to a whisper. “—rough sexwith me. Is that really better than sleeping alone?”
Fuck it. All it takes is one step, and I’m angled between her and the car. The twins can’t see when I lean down and kiss her. Fast. Hard. A bite to her perfect, soft bottom lip.
“You haven’t done that all week, Mr. Leblanc.”
“You were sick, sweetheart. Now get your ass in the car. You’re going to freeze to death.”