Page 63 of Black Heart

“We have to go to work,” she said around a yawn as she stepped away from him and quickly got dressed.

He forced himself to stay right where he was, but it was damn difficult, especially when she dropped her towel. There was no rush, after all. They’d go to work, and then tonight, he would take her out for dinner. Then, they would spend the rest of the night making up for all the years he’d stupidly wasted.

“We have to get going or we’ll be late for your meeting,” Marty said as she pulled her shoes on.

“There’s no rush, sweetheart. They’ll probably just sign me off when they realize that I don’t really have an anger management problem,” Tristan said, grabbing his keys and noting twin looks of disbelief.

“I don’t!” he snapped, feeling insulted.

When Shayne and Marty both rolled their eyes at that announcement, he decided that a little clarification was obviously in order. “I don’t have a fucking anger management problem!”

* * *

“Hello,Detective Black, my name is Elizabeth. I’m so happy that you were able to make it today,” a woman a few inches taller than Marty, rail thin with glasses and a pixie cut, said in a syrupy sweet tone better used on small children than on a six-foot-two man packed with muscle, who was carrying a gun, and was here for help with his anger issues.

A muscle in Tristan’s jaw did a little bounce as he did his best to rein in his temper. Well, Marty assumed that’s what he was doing since he looked furious and hadn’t yelled at the woman, yet. A few seconds later, his scowl disappeared and was replaced with a charming smile that actually frightened her. He was up to something and she was very much afraid that he was going to bring her down with him.

“Elizabeth, it’s very nice to meet you,” Tristan said charmingly as he shook her hand.

“I’m happy to have you join our group, Detective,” Elizabeth said in that same annoying tone that should have set Tristan off already.

“Elizabeth, I was actually hoping that you could do me a favor and sign this release form,” Tristan said smoothly as he handed her a piece of paper.

“I’m sorry, Detective, but I’m under strict orders not to do that,” Elizabeth said with a warm smile as she handed the paper back to Tristan.

“I see,” Tristan murmured, sounding thoughtful as he folded the paper and placed it in his jacket pocket. “And you’re positive that you can’t sign this?”

“Yes!” Elizabeth said, adding an upbeat tone to her answer.

“Very well,” Tristan said, smiling as he gestured for her to lead the way. Elizabeth looked pleased as she did just that.

“I’ll be ten minutes,” Tristan said, pausing by the door.

“The meeting lasts for an hour,” Marty pointed out, frowning as she looked down at the flier in her hand to make sure that she didn’t mess up the time. Nope, the meetings were an hour long, which was probably a good thing since it would give her time to figure out what the hell happened between yesterday morning when she was ready to kill the jerk and this morning when she was screaming his name at the top of her lungs while he took her from behind.

“Ten minutes,” Tristan said firmly before he closed the door behind him and left her sitting on one of the hard-plastic chairs lining the wall of the community center and wondering what she should do.

He told her that he loved her, and heaven help her, but she believed him. That didn’t explain why he’d kept her out of his life for all those years or why he tried pushing her away. Until he was able to explain a few things, they were going to take things slow. Well, slow but with sex since there was no way that she was going to deny herself that pleasure.

She still couldn’t believe that he’d been a virgin. That was definitely another thing that he was going to have to explain. She knew why she’d held off for so long. She didn’t want to make a mistake or end up with a kid before she was ready. Her friends couldn’t understand and, honestly, she didn’t care. This was her life, her choice, and she’d never been interested in sleeping with any of the guys she’d dated.

If she was going to be honest, she’d admit that the real reason that she’d held off for so long was Tristan. She’d been in love with him her whole life and anytime she even thought about another man, she felt like she was cheating on him. No matter how many times she’d reminded herself that they weren’t together, she couldn’t shake the feeling that being with another man was wrong.

That brought up an interesting question, how long was Tristan going to be able to do this before he changed his mind? She already knew that if he tried to push her away again that she would let him.

This was it.

He would never get another chance, not when she knew without a doubt that it would absolutely destroy her to lose him after last night. She-

“Ready?” Tristan suddenly asked, startling her.

“You’ve only been in there for five minutes,” Marty said, frowning as she looked past him at the closed double doors and-

Was someone crying?

“Elizabeth realized that I really didn’t need therapy and decided to sign off on my sheet, after all,” Tristan said with a heartfelt sigh as he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle tug, pulling her to her feet.

“She signed off? I thought she said that she couldn’t do that,” Marty murmured absently when she heard the unmistakable sounds of someone sobbing.

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