“We can’t,” he said.
“What? Why not?” I demanded.
“Because once I have you under me, I’m not lettin’ you go, Rowan.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, that once I claim you, you’re mine and that’s that.”
“That’s that?” I squeaked.
“That’s that,” he confirmed.
“Oh,” I whispered, then tugged on his vest. He met my eyes again. “What if I claim you first?”
His eyes crinkled at the corners before he smiled wide, then his mouth was on mine again and he lifted me onto my desk as he kissed me. Breaking the kiss, he dropped his forehead to mine. “I’m not gonna fuck you on your desk.”
I nodded. “I should take Lord out anyway.”
“Okay. I’ll grab a few things from my van first, then we’ll take him out together.”
“I can take—”
“We’ll take him out together, Rowan,” Scooby pressed, running his thumb down my cheek. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He kissed me quickly before helping me off my desk, then heading out to his van. I locked up my office and led Lord to the back door to wait for Scooby.
Before I could even register Lord’s growl, Scooby was back inside, his arm was wrapped firmly around my waist, and I was up against a wall as the door was bolted shut.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Not sure. Just give me a second,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Hey, Sundance. Yeah, something’s not right. Whoever you can send would be good.” Scooby met my eyes. “I don’t want to move her right now, but I will if I need to.” I let out a quiet gasp, and Scooby responded by giving me a gentle squeeze. “Nothin’ I was worried about at the time. Some shithead kids were messin’ with her cook a couple of weeks ago.”
“They were?” I asked.
“Hush, baby,” Scooby admonished. I wrinkled my nose but did as he instructed. “Yeah, brother, see you soon.” He slid his phone into his pocket and met my eyes again.
“What happened with Monty?”
“A couple ’a tweakers thought he might be an easy mark. He showed them he wasn’t.”
“With your help,” I deduced.
“He didn’t really need it, but yeah, I was there.”
I sighed. “I really didn’t think things through when I bought this place.”
“We’re gonna dive a little deeper into why youdidbuy this place later,” he said. “But for now, let’s get you upstairs.”
“Lord still needs to go out, Scooby.”
“I’ll take him.”
“Whatis going on?” I breathed out in frustration.
“Not sure. But right now, it’s not safe for you to be outside, so I’d like you to head up to your place, lock yourself in and don’t answer the door until I give you the all-clear, got it?”