his eyes are still narrowed on my phone.
He grabs it from my hand and answers it.
“Zoey’s husband. How can I help you?”
I look at him in confusion. We aren’t married yet. I see his jaw visibly clench.
“Yes, she’s married. Did you not see the ring on her finger?” He does the growl thing again. I look down at the ring and smile. I did have it on when we dropped off the laptop. It is kind of big and hard to miss.
“No, she won’t be working with your company again. Call her phone again and I’ll come down there.” He pulls the phone away from his ear and hits the end button. Elle would be so mad if she heard that. I usually don’t talk to clients much. That’s her job. I’m actually surprised the guy has my number. All calls usually go straight to Elle.
“Fuck. For a smart guy, he can’t take a fucking clue.” He slips my phone into his own pocket like he doesn’t want to give it back to me.
I look at him in bewilderment.
“First time I take you out of the house and someone is hitting on you. A fucking billionaire at that.” He shakes his head before running his hands through his short hair, looking a little stressed again.
“What are you talking about?”
“The man was hitting on you when we dropped off the laptop, and he just called to try to get you to go out with him.”
“No, he called to offer me another job, which isn’t surprising. I’m quite good at what I do.”
He shakes his head like he can’t believe what I’m saying. “Elle is right,” he states, confusing me further.
“Yes, she usually is,” I agree, because, well, she is.
“You don’t even see it.”
I look around the room to try to understand what he’s talking about. “See what?”
A half-laugh leaves him, pulling my eyes back to him. “Elle said men hit on you all the time and you just don’t see it. Never give them the time of day.”
“What? That’s not true. No one hits on me.”
He grabs me by the hips, lifting me up. I drop my bag, and all its contents loudly clatter to the floor. My legs go around his waist, my arms around his neck.
“It’s alright that you don’t see it, cupcake. You keep not seeing it, because you’re about to marry a bodyguard, and I’ll make sure those fuckers don’t get anywhere near what’s mine.”
I smile, wiggling against him.
“You were jealous?” I question, liking the idea of him getting jealous over me. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’d like some woman calling his phone, either.
“Cupcake, I’m jealous of everything when it comes to you. The food you eat, that computer that you can stare at for hours, anything that takes your attention from me.” His mouth comes to mine, and he kisses me deeply. “Jealous of these fucking clothes that get to be wrapped around your sweet, lush body all day,” he says against my lips.
“Then you should probably rip them off me,” I say, taking his mouth in an even deeper kiss.
I feel my back hit the bed, and he starts to rip my clothes from me, Hulk-style.
“I don’t want women calling your phone, either.” I feel him laugh against my neck as he places open-mouthed kisses there.
I give him a smack on his giant bicep.
“Cupcake, I don’t talk to many women except Pink’s sisters,” he informs me before taking my earlobe into his mouth and sucking it, making me moan his name.
“Would never even think about another woman now that I’ve tasted you. Fuck, who am I kidding? I knew no one else would ever do when your picture landed on my desk. Lit up my world. I was going through the motions and didn’t even realize how lonely I was until you came into my life. Made me want something I didn’t know I needed. Even if you left me, I’d spend every moment of my life trying to get you back. But I won’t let that happen. I’d never let you come close to thinking about leaving me.” I hear a click, then feel metal around my wrist, then hear another click. “No one could ever give me what
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
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