Page 12 of Garnish with a Candy Cane
That confession makes her head fly up again from her drink, and she licks the dab of white fluff from her lips. “He likes you!”
Likeseems to be too mild of a description for Duke’s emotions. As well as mine, which scares the bejesus out of me. “Too much, I think, especially since we barely know each other. You can’t like someone you don’t even really know, can you?”
Her head bobs up and down, slow with the realization. “Men like him are…” She taps the air with her fingertip searching for the right word. “…decisive. Hunters you know. They see what they want and go after it. He wantsyou.”
All eyes in the shop jerk to us again from her squeal, and I have to shush her again before Jana comes back. Keeping me from having to admit I want him too. Maybe not with the same fervor as he has for me. We just met…although under unusual and intense circumstances. Kind of a one-night stand. Those usually end in awkward maneuvers to get away quickly in the morning I would assume. Kind of like I tried to this morning. But he followed. I ran and he chased. Does that mean I’m just a game? A predator tracking his prey like Heidi says. Or does he want more? Something real? This is too confusing.
“What’re you going to do?”
“I have no idea. He’s picking me up after work. I guess I’ll talk to him some more and decide if I want to see him again.”
A little grimace tightens her expression from my assertion. “I don’t think he’s going to give up easily if you say that you don’t.”
With my break time over, I push off the cushion and head back behind the cash register. Ignoring the pounding of my heart as I ring up a man with a dozen pumpkin shaped sugar cookies. Heidi’s wrong. I don’t think Duke will give up at all.
“She’s on the move, boss.”
Worry tinges Cedric’s voice, and I can hear the hesitation in his tone, uncertain what to do since she’s not doing what he expects her to do. I told him to watch her, but fuck I’ll lose my shit if he watches her walk away. “Follow her. Wherever she goes, you go. Got it?”
“Got it!”
His normal upbeat cadence returns. He likes specific instructions and abides by them to the letter. Well aware I can trust that he won’t ever defy me, I just need to remember that I always have to be very precise with my orders to him about her. Especially now since I’m obviously distracted. I’ve never had a woman I’ve cared enough about to look after thus he’s never had anyone else to protect before except for me. The idea of which triggers the ideal solution. “Don’t let anyone fuck with her. Guard her like she’s me.”
“Yes sir.”
Good. Then I know he’ll kill for her if necessary. The tension coiling in my muscles releases from the confirmation. As much as I want to be the one to take care of her, I have no choice to leave her with the man I trust the most so I can get this project done for her. Usually I dole out commands and everyone scrambles to make them happen. But with this – with her – everything has to be perfect so I oversee the work myself.
I shove my phone back in my pocket and hustle into the living room, reviewing all the activity. One of the decorators climbs a three-step ladder to attach a sparkling green garland coiled with tiny white lights to the window frame, while the other woman concentrates on the fireplace mantel arranging candles, silver ball ornaments, and various sizes of gold and green cones. The drywall guy stoops to smooth the plaster closest to the floor, finishing out the wider doorway. If the doctor I hired to assess Merry says she can sit in a wheelchair, then by god she’s going to get out of the bed the nursing home trapped her in. Overworked and underpaid, those poor nurses and aids understandably took the easier route keeping her in bed. However, with some physical therapy and extra attention, Merry will be mobile, which will make Noelle happy. Which will make me fucking delirious.
My cell pings again but a different message than I expect fills the screen. Cedric asks if it’s okay for her to go inside the nursing home. Must be lunchtime already. Before I can respond, he calls me. “Yes, it’s fine but make damn sure–”
“Why do you have someone following me?”
Noelle.
I’m not sure if I should be furious or amused that she got the phone away from Cedric. “I’m making sure you’re safe, Duchess. He’s guarding you.”
The same adorable yet frustrated growly shriek from this morning in her apartment squawks through the speaker.
“We just met. You can’t take over my life like this.”
Too late. I smile and feign a reasonableness in my tone that I hope calms her hilarious fury. “I’m not taking over. I always protect what’s mine.”
Silence, which speaks more than words at this point. She wants to be angry – thinks sheneedsto be angry for some misguided attempt at independence – although there really isn’t any reason for her to object. Not when she feels the same way I do. Even though she refuses to admit the truth.
Seconds pass and all I hear is her heavy breaths until they finally quiet down too. I give in first. I don’t mind. Although I never explain myself, with her I can bend a little since she doesn’t understand me or my world yet. “I care about you Noelle. I want you to be safe.”
“Really?”
Astonishment floods her voice so deeply I wish I was there to tell her in person how I feel about her. “Really. You never have to doubt my intentions toward you.”
“I better go. I only have thirty minutes.”
Noise crackles in the background like waves crashing against the surf before Cedric’s deep voice comes through. “She’s kind of mad I think. Stomping inside like she’s crushing skulls.”
I can always count on Cedric for a disconcertingly specific visual.
“But she kind of sniffed a few times too like she might start bawling. I don’t like that.”
