Page 16 of Phoenix

“Oh, if you’re not up for coming back to my place after work, I’d understand,” he said.

“No, I didn’t say that. I’d like to come home with you, Riggs, if you want me to,” she said. He wanted her to come home with him more than he wanted his next breath, but he didn’t want to seem too eager.

“I do,” he whispered. He stood from the edge of the desk and pulled her into his arms, sealing his mouth over hers. He kissed her like a starving man, and when she sighed into his mouth; he took that as a good sign.

“I’ve got to get back to work,” she said against his lips. He hated letting her go but Riggs knew how important her new job was to Phoenix.

He nodded, releasing her, “I’ll be at the bar when you’re ready to go home tonight. I’ll stick around until you’re ready.”

“Um, do you mind dropping me by Aggie’s so I can grab a few things? I’d rather not run home without pants tomorrow morning like I did today,” she said.

“Yeah, we can run by, but aren’t you afraid of waking up Mrs. Aggie and Lydia?” he asked.

“No, they are both sound sleepers. Plus, after everything Aggie has been through with Vindicator, she’s exhausted. She said she’d be going to bed early tonight.” Riggs thought that sounded like a great idea. It would give him more time with Phoenix, but he’d take whatever time she’d be able to give him. She was definitely worth the wait.

Phoenix

Phoenix finished wiping down the bar top and tossed her cloth into the dirty rags that Savage took home to wash. She could feel Riggs’ eyes following her every move, and she had to admit, she kind of liked it. She had never had a guy pay her that much attention. Then again, she didn’t have very much experience with men, so she really wouldn’t know how much attention a man should pay to a woman.

“I’m ready,” she squeaked. Phoenix grabbed her purse and waited for Riggs at the back door. He yelled back to Savage, who was in his office, that they were heading out and would lock up. Savage had already given her a key to the bar and filled her in on how to clean up for the night and lock up the bar. All in all, she really liked her job. It allowed her to hang out with people that she liked, and that was a bonus for her.

Riggs reappeared down the narrow hallway and reached for her hand. “He said that he’ll see you tomorrow, same time as tonight.” Phoenix had agreed to work as many shifts as possible without abusing Aggie’s offer to sit with Lydia or burn herself out. She was going to have to learn how to live on less sleepbut that worked for her. When Lydia was a newborn, she had Phoenix up every two hours for the first six months. Every time she complained to the doctor about it, he’d tell her that most babies were sleeping most of the way through the night by that age. That made her feel like a total failure, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her doctor was down at the clinic in town, and since she didn’t have health insurance, she had no other choice but to see him.

Riggs stepped in front of her, “Hey, where did you just go?” he asked.

“I’m still here, just thinking about when Lydia was a baby,” she admitted. “She was up almost every two hours. I’m going to have to get used to less sleep now that I’m working nights and getting up with her in the morning, but at least she’s trained me for it. I just don’t want to burden Aggie any more than I already am. I’m just worried about leaving Lydia with Aggie all night again.”

“If you’ve changed your mind, I won’t be mad, honey,” he said. “I know that your daughter comes first, and if you want to be with her, I won’t stand in your way,” Riggs insisted.

“You really are the sweetest man,” she said, rubbing her hand down his cheek.

“Don’t say that too loudly, honey. I have a reputation to uphold,” he said. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I haven’t changed my mind,” she insisted. “But I would like to go home in the morning to relieve Aggie.”

“If you want, you can bring her over to my house and get some extra shuteye. Since it’s Sunday, I’ll be on call, but probably won’t have to go in,” he said, “and I don’t mind watching Lydia. We get along great.”

“I noticed that tonight. She’s really taken to you, Riggs,” she agreed.

He wrapped his arms around her and Phoenix snuggled into his body. “I’m just wondering if her mama has taken to me too,” he admitted.

“I have,” she whispered. Riggs turned her back against the wall and crushed her lips with his own. He wasn’t going to be gentle with her and she liked that about him. Her only experience was with a man she practically despised. The only reason she was sleeping on his sofa was because she had nowhere else to go. She used him, the same way that he eventually used her, but at least she got paid for it. Plus, she got Lydia, but she didn’t know that the night he used her body. If she had, she might have felt less shame and guilt over what had happened, but having Lydia now, she didn’t feel those things. Honestly, she didn’t feel anything for her daughter’s biological father or what he took from Phoenix because he gave her so much more. He gave her hope because that was all she saw when she looked at her little girl.

Riggs ran his big hands down her body, cupping her breasts through her shirt. Phoenix couldn’t help but hiss out her breath. It felt so good to be touched like that by him. She had spent so much time watching him from her window, and now she was finally getting everything that she wanted from him.

He kissed his way down her neck, and she knew that she had to come clean about watching him. “Um, I have something to tell you,” she whispered. He stilled halfway down her neck and took a step back from her.

“Now?” he asked.

“Yes, well, I think that you might want to know this before we go any further,” she whispered.

“Okay, shoot,” he said.

“Um, you know how our bedrooms are across from each other?”

He shrugged, “Yeah.”

“Well, you don’t close your blinds,” she said, as though that would explain everything.

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