Page 37 of Protecting Andie

He pulled up in front of his house and cut the engine. “I don’t know how long it will take for you to close down your place up there, but I want you to move here with me. We have a future together.”

Her heart expanded, and she felt like she’d just won the lottery or something. “Yes. And I do believe we really have something that could last.”

He leaned over and kissed her before opening the car door and hopping out. He was at her door before she could get out. He didn’t pick her up and carry her inside, but he did make them walk fast.

Once inside, he pressed her up against the door, his lips finding hers. The kiss was hot, their passion on fire. When he pulled up her shirt, his fingers ran over her breasts, making her nipples pucker. She needed him inside her.

“I want you,” she moaned as she clutched his sides.

“Bedroom,” Rider said.

She laughed as she pushed him away and scurried for the bedroom, tugging off her shirt along the way. He was right behind her, removing his clothes, too. They tumbled onto the bed together, him intent on getting her to come.

Rider was thrilled that Andie wanted to stay. It was almost too easy. He had found someone who matched him well. She was kind and was really interested in him, not just his body, but his life.

After making love to her, he held her, breathing in her sweet scent. “I don’t know when, but at some point during the wedding week, I started to fall for you.”

She turned and stroked his hair. “I’ve fallen for you. I know those words are loaded, and I don’t want to make you?—”

“I love you.” She blinked, and he smiled, then laughed. “I do love you. I know it’s fast.”

“I love you, too.”

He kissed her, relieved to hear her say she felt the same. He’d never thought he would have someone he could spend his life with. When the other guys on his team found women, he was happy for them and just assumed being paired off with a woman wasn’t for him. Finding Andie had changed everything for him. Now, he couldn’t imagine living without her.

24

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. It had taken him way too much time, but he’d finally figured out where Andie lived. She would pay for sending him to jail. She was supposed to be with him, taking care of him, but she’d left. He needed to get her in line.

He showed up at her apartment, ready to demand she come back to him, but no one answered the door. Her car was in the lot, so he waited. She didn’t leave the next morning by nine, and he had to use the bathroom, plus he was starving. He had to go to the fast-food place around the corner that he’d seen last night and get some food and take time to piss.

When he made it back to the lot across from her apartment, it was full. He had to park down the road from her place. This was ridiculous. How could he watch her place if he couldn’t park right across from her apartment?

Agitation filled him. She had to be with him. There was no other alternative.

Tony left his car and headed to her apartment, knocking on the door again. He kept knocking, knowing she would need to answer because he was being too annoying.

The door across from him opened, and a man stepped out. “She isn’t here. She’s gone for the month.”

Tony stared at him, not believing the guy at first. But it made sense. She wasn’t around. She hadn’t answered her door, and her car hadn’t moved. She wasn’t here.

“Do you know where she went?”

“Said to visit a friend. That’s all I know.”

Tony turned to walk away but then turned back. “When did she leave?”

The guy shrugged. “I don’t know. Three weeks ago. Yeah, it was exactly three weeks. She took off on a Monday morning.”

He turned and stalked back to his car. Seven days. That’s how long he had until she was home. He would make her see that she needed him. She’d always been easy to manipulate until she wasn’t.

Doing the dating thing had fucked him over. Other women weren’t as compliant as she’d been. He needed her back in his life. She would come under this thumb because, at the end of the day, she was just some dumb bitch who wasn’t smart enough to live without a man telling her what to do.

25

Andie couldn’t believe she was headed back to Portland. She wanted to stay in San Diego and forget everything there, but she had to pack up her clothes and send them south to her new home.

Emily was already gone, living her best life on the East Coast. She’d been prepared to be alone and sad with Emily gone, but now she had someone special, and he wouldn’t let her be sad and alone.

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