“I should get home and get ready for work.” I say after my breathing and my heartbeat has slowed to something close to normal.
“Yeah.”
He leans in to touch his lips to my forehead and my eyes slide closed. Kissing him might make me light up but the forehead kisses are going to be my undoing.
“Come on, we’ll walk you down to your car.” He takes my hand and walks me to the door, then calls for Skye to follow, and grabs the hardhat I wore upstairs last night. When we get into the elevator, Skye starts to prance in excitement, then the bell chimes and the doors open on the first floor and she takes off, disappearing out of sight before Clay even has a chance to place the hat on my head. While we walk through the building, I notice people starting to filter in to start work, and Skye stops to greet each of them on her way back to us, all of them acting like it’s a regular occurrence to have her around.
“You need to get her a yard to run in.” I tell Clay when we get outside, and she starts to roll around in a small patch of grass next to his jeep.
“She has access to the back of the building where we laid down grass, she just thinks we’re going for a ride and is showing off.”
“Now you need to take her on a ride, otherwise she’ll be disappointed.”
“She’ll ride with me later today when I run a few errands.”
He stops at the door to my car and opens it up, but before I can place my ass in my seat, he presses me up against the side of my car and cups my face in his large palms.
“I want you to stay the night tonight, are you good with that?”
“Yes.” I answer without even having to think about it.
His face gentles. “That was easier than I thought it would be.” He dips down brushing his lips across mine, then steps back enough for me to get in my car, and once I’m in my seat, he bends down to give me one more kiss, only leaning back enough to look me in the eye. “I’ll see you when you get off work.”
“Okay,” I say, and he shuts my door. Then I hear him call Skye and as I pull away from the curb, I watch the two of them in my rearview mirror as they both watch me drive off.
_______________
WITH MY FEET hurting from being in heels all day I get off the elevator and head down the hall to my apartment, flipping through the mail I picked up from the box on my way into the building. Like always it’s mostly junk and a few clothing catalogs that I plan on looking at later, then will likely toss in the trash because I won’t actually order anything from any of them.
As I get closer to my door, I lift my head and stop when I see Tucker leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes on me. Dread instantly fills my stomach, causing the soup I had this afternoon for lunch to crawl up my throat.
“What happened?” I barely whisper.
“Shit.” His eyes scan my face, and he shakes his head holding up his hands. “Nothing happened, I just need to talk to you.”
“Okay.” I take my bag off my shoulder and get out my keys as I walk to my door. “Clay should be here soon.”
“He’s actually what I want to talk to you about.”
I pause with my key in hand and look up at him. “You want to talk to me about Clay?”
“You need to cut him off,” he says quietly, tucking his hands into the front pockets of the vest he’s wearing. “I know you’ve been spending time with him but he’s not the kind of man you should get attached to.”
“And why is that?” I ask, feeling a little annoyed and whole lot anxious about where this conversation is going.
“Because he doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and as soon as he’s done with you, you’ll be left picking up the pieces. I know your dad, he’s a good guy and I feel it’s my obligation to look out for you.”
“Where is this coming from?”
“There have been a hundred women just like you in and then right back out of Clay’s life. You’re not special, Willow.” His expression fills with sympathy. “But I can tell you’re a good person and you deserve better.”
His words cause a knot to form in my stomach and my hands to ball into fists. Everything he’s saying just reminds me that I still don’t know what exactly it is that Clay wants from me, I really know very little about him.