Page 38 of Dangerously Yours

“I was about to ask if you were ready, but if you keep staring at me like that, then?—”

I hadn’t even realized Noah had rejoined me, but he had known what I was thinking, anyway. I blushed slightly, then turned the knob. “No, I really need to get home.”

“Then, let’s go,” he told me.

Noah was dressed in gym attire, which had me reminiscing about that first retirement party that I had thrown for a client. When he had moved the table for me, I’d stared at his bulging biceps, all the time imagining what they would feel like around me, and now I knew. All that muscle... I swallowed back my slight moan, and joined him in the elevator. A quick glance at my reflection had me closing my eyes. My long hair was not only familiarly tousled, but it was tangled which was a dead giveaway that I had just woken up. My face was flushed, likely from the memories of our night together, and I was in the same dress I had been in the night before. If this was what the infamous ‘walk of shame’ looked and felt like, I had a sudden appreciation for those photographed during theirs. Those people were ones like Noah, and the on-screen couple we had started watching on the big screen last night before dismissing it for our own private performance.

“You really should calm down, Lulu. I’m sure you’re getting all worked up over nothing.”

I knew he was right, so I forced myself to smile through my anxiety. “I know. I just...”

Hell, I didn’t even know how to justify that I was a control freak, and this ‘out of sorts’ feeling wasn’t one I relished, or had ever experienced before. I was a single mother, and in the beginning stages of a new relationship with a man I had fallen so completely for in such a short time. Sure, he was a famous athlete, and a Titan like my own children’s father, but he was so good with kids in general. My own son thought he hung the moon, and I was sure he would endear himself to my daughters one day as well. They couldn’t know about me and him yet, though. I needed to make sure they had come to terms andaccepted the end of my relationship with their father before I introduced another man into the equation.

The elevator doors opened, and I nearly fled from the enclosed space. Noah was right behind me, keeping up with me stride for long stride. We hurried to his car, and not long after, he pulled up out front of my building. It had only taken about fifteen minutes so it was just before noon. If lucky, I could get inside and throw on a pair of sweats myself, and no one would be the wiser. I leaned in and attempted to give Noah a quick peck before saying goodbye, but he grabbed the back of my neck and held me immobile as he thrust his tongue into my mouth. I hadn’t even brushed my teeth yet, but he didn’t care.

Cade had never mentioned me having morning breath, but now something like that was firmly entrenched in my mind. I pulled away, then smiled at him. “I really have to go, but I’ll call you later.”

He gave a curt nod. “I’d like that. Talk to you later.”

I grabbed my purse, then quickly exited the vehicle. I saw the way the doorman from last night looked at me, but I ignored him. Yes, I was disheveled, and in the same clothes I had left in the night before, but I couldn’t worry about his opinion on top of everything else. I quickly scurried past him, then into the elevator. A few minutes later, I unlocked my front door, then stepped inside.

I came to a sudden stop the moment I cleared the foyer hallway and saw a man sitting down on one of the chairs in the living room. “What are you doing here already, Cade?”

Now, my earlier fears had come true. I had been late, even though my ex-husband was early for the first time for anythingin his entire life. He got up from his seat, and the look he gave me might’ve made me wince at any other time. In the past few weeks, I had grown stronger, and maybe it had even started well before that, back when the man in front of me was betraying me left and right, and without a single ounce of regret.

“Clarissa told me all about your little evening, Lucy.”

Again, I hated when he addressed me with formality. “It’s none of her business what I do, and with whom.” And it wasn’t. Back at the restaurant, something had told me she would cause trouble for me, and she had.

“It’s already front and center on the society blogs.”

“What is?”

“Your whoring around with that player.”

I didn’t know if he meant ‘player’ in the sports sense, or in the dating sense, but it really didn’t matter. “I’m not a whore, and I would appreciate you remembering that.” I walked past him to go to my bedroom, and unfortunately, Cade decided to follow. I’d almost managed to get the door closed behind me though until he wedged his foot between it and the frame. “Get out,” I told him.

Cade didn’t listen, so I went to the dresser and grabbed a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt before going to the bathroom where I was able to get inside and lock the door before he could follow me inside. I quickly shed my dress, and kicked off my heels, before throwing on my clothes. After brushing my teeth, I pulled my hair into a ponytail, then finally emerged to find my ex rifling through my nightstand. At the sound of my gasp, he turned and held up one of my toys.

“I figured you would be done with these after finding yourself a human boy toy, I?—”

“Leave that alone right now. You have no right to go through my things.” I grabbed it from his hands, then tossed it back into the open drawer. “Get out of my bedroom, and my penthouse.Now!”

He stood up, and I thought he would oblige, until I went to exit the room, too. Before I could, he hauled me into his arms, then pinned me against the wall. Cade tried to kiss me, but I was able to thwart his few attempted advances. That only seemed to anger him more, so when he grabbed my throat, a small frisson of fear entered my mind, and I stopped fighting so hard.

“You were fucking that asshole Capshaw all night, so I’m surprised you even made it home to see your kids at all.”

At the mention of them, I pushed at his hands until his grip on my neck loosened. “Where are they?” He smirked, and I felt like kneeing him right in the groin, but refrained for the moment. If he didn’t give me my space, I couldn’t promise that I would continue to do so.

“My sister has them because we need to have a little talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I told him.

“On the contrary, there is much we need to say, unless you plan on humoring me in other ways.” I didn’t miss the way his eyes moved appreciatively over my chest, then lower. Bile rose in my throat. I knew what that look meant, and there was no fucking way I would jump in bed with him. My body was not only still tingling from Noah’s possession, but I hated this man in front of me with a burning passion.

“Stop looking at me that way because it’s not going?—”

My words were cut off when he grabbed my throat again, then forced me over to the bed. Before I could raise my knee to put some distance between us, he pushed me onto the mattress, then quickly came down on me. His weight was heavy, and even more so than Noah’s, so I couldn’t get him off of me. Cade tried to kiss me again, but I kept moving my head making him get my cheek, jaw, or chin, instead.

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