Page 20 of Falling Hard

He just chuckled as the ding signaled the elevator had arrived at my floor.

Half tempted to just crawl back to my room, I slowly pushed myself to my feet as Lynx held the elevator door open, watching me with amusement, and a little bit of something else—something darker—shining in his eyes.

“What—What are you doing here,” I stuttered, confused as to why it was him and not Critter.

“Taking you to Florida. I can’t let you go alone,” he replied, daring me to challenge his decision. His deep, husky voice caused butterflies in my stomach.

I thought about challenging him, but he shot me a glare, which silenced me.

Gathering a little courage, I stopped and glared at him. “What are you really doing here? You don’t even know me, so why would you want to take me to the estate? Surely, you have better things to do?” I knew pushing him could potentially piss him off, but I was already on edge, and I needed to know, needed to hear him say it, say something.

Stopping, he turned toward me, then raised his eyebrow and smirked. “Believe me, I know you.” Winking, he turned back around and continued forward

“What? What the hell does that mean, you know me? We’ve never even met before tonight, so there’s no way you know me,” I said, completely stunned by his response, as I quickly caught up to him. Opening the hotel room door, I dumped all my belongings onto the floor before crossing my arms and glaring at his back.

“You gonna answer my question, you big brute?”

Laughing, he shook his head, then pulled out his phone and shot off a quick message before walking over to the balcony doors and pulling the curtains open.

“Do I have time to shower before we have to leave? I’m kind of a hot mess right now, and hot showers really help calm my nerves. I’m still a little rattled,” I stuttered nervously as I rocked back and forth, biting my lip. My heart was going a thousand miles an hour because he was here, and we were standing alone in my hotel room.

Nodding in confirmation, he stepped out onto the balcony, and I made my way to the bathroom.

As I stepped into the bathroom, I noticed my reflection in the mirror. Moving to the bench, I placed one hand on the sink, then leaning closer to the mirror, I placed my other hand on my bruised neck. The outline of his fingertips around my neck caused me to shiver, and that was when I noticed a nasty bruise on my arm from where the man had grabbed me. My hands were also pretty scratched up, my hair was a mess, and I had mascara running down my face from all the crying.

“Oh, Libby, you look like you got run over by a truck. Just wonderful! The most gorgeous looking man you’ve ever seen is in your hotel room, and you look like crap, just great,” I muttered quietly to myself. I shut my eyes, and flashbacks of the events that had unfolded flashed through my eyes. I sucked in a breath, shaking slightly as fear slowly crept back into my mind.

“Pull yourself together, Libby. You’re fine. You’re just fine,” I muttered. Opening the glass shower door, I turned on the water and waited for it to get to the right temperature.

Turning back to face the mirror, I removed my tank top and yoga pants, revealing the light-pink lace bra and matching underwear I had on. As I was about to undo the clasp of my bra, I jumped slightly, and my eyes widened as I stared at Lynx, who was leaning against the bathroom doorframe. His arms were folded across his chest, and his eyes were locked onto mine like he was daring me to continue, which set my body on fire. Mustering up all the courage I could, which wasn’t much, I slowly continued removing my bra, letting it slowly slide off my arms, and as it dropped to the floor, my eyes never leave his. I reached for my panties next, challenging him to stop me, and when he didn’t, I slid them off, then stepping out of them, I turned toward him slowly. It was my turn to raise an eyebrow and smirk at him before stepping into the shower, letting the hot water wash over me, soothing all the aches and pains, stress and anxiety.

I found anticipation bubbling up in my stomach as I heard the bathroom door shut.

Waiting a few minutes, I heard no further noise, so I glanced through the shower door and noticed he was gone. Humiliation coursed through my veins as I stared at the closed bathroom door,

“Oh, my gosh, what were you thinking, Libby? Of course, he wouldn't want you. We will chalk that all up to adrenaline. You aren’t thinking straight after a very traumatic night. That’s right, now get yourself together, girl, and when you go back out there, pretend this never happened.”

Washing up quickly, I took extra care to clean the small amount of blood off my neck. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body and my hair tightly, then I grabbed the door handle and paused, straining to hear any kind of noise. When I heard nothing, I slowly opened the door and crept into the living area. I didn’t see Lynx right away, and when I glanced out the window, I spotted him on the balcony with his back facing me. I quickly grabbed my bag and purse, then headed back into the bathroom without him noticing.

I opened my bag and pulled out my favorite tattered T-shirt—one of my father’s old band tees from back in the day—then slipped that and a pair of black cotton shorts on.

I then wrung out my hair so I could get it as dry as possible with the towel so I didn’t have to use the hairdryer. I ran my brush through it before packing up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. Opening the bathroom door and sticking my head out, I noticed he was still on the balcony, facing away from me, so quietly, I headed for the door, and opening it as quietly as possible, I glanced over my shoulder for one last look at the man behind me, and then I left.

While I stood in the elevator, making my way to the lobby, I grabbed my phone and shot a text to my father, telling him I was safe and making my own way to the cabin and not to worry.

Instantly, my phone rang, and an image of my father popped up onto my screen. Groaning, I answered with a muffled hello.

“Libby Alaine Paxton, what the fuck do you mean you’re heading to the estate by yourself? Get your ass back up to your room now before I lose my patience,” he yelled, clearly pissed off

“I can’t go back up there. I made a fool of myself, and I have to get away from him before I make it worse. You have no idea. He’s so intense that he makes me do stupid things. We’ve just met, and I don’t know what’s going or why I feel the way I do. I’ve embarrassed myself enough, so I’m not going back up there and making a bigger fool of myself. He saw me naked and did nothing, absolutely nothing. I don’t know what I was thinking,”I rambled, knowing full well my father would understand what I was trying to say—he always did.

My father’s chuckles put me on edge, and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t flipping out on me. I remember when I told him I got wasted and lost my virginity to Critter, he’d damn near killed the poor man. If it weren’t for some of the guys holding him back and Critter escaping through the back of the clubhouse, he would have been a dead man.

“Sweetie, trust me when I say you ain’t embarrassing yourself, darlin’. In fact, you’re making things more interesting for a man like him.”

“What the fuck, Dad, you usually lose your shit when I mention a man seeing me naked, and now you’re laughing? Are you on drugs or something? Do I need to be worried?” I said.

“Never mind, Libby, I told him you took off, and he’s coming for ya.” With that, my father hung up.

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