Page 39 of Fight For Her
I needed to tread lightly but also get her to talk through her feelings. That release happened for a reason, and it wouldn’t help to stuff it back in. “I wonder what kind of questions he’ll ask.”
She swirled the makeup brush all over her face. Watching her was kind of mesmerizing if I was honest. She was like an artist but with an already perfect canvas.
“Are you covering up your beauty mark?” I asked.
Dropping her hand down toward her waist, she turned. “What?”
Damn my lack of filter. “Don’t cover up your beauty mark. The one right above your lip.” I got up to lean against the bathroom’s doorframe and watched her posture straighten. “I think about it all the time, that little bullseye.” I wanted to take her upper lip between my teeth and nibble and graze that tiny dot with my tongue.
“Bullseye?” she laughed. “Are you hiding a bow and arrow somewhere I don’t know about?”
“Something like that,” I murmured. She shook her head and continued applying her makeup. “I saw you crack a smile. Come on, tell me what’s wrong. Besides the interview, you know we’re both going to nail that.”
I watched her apply a layer of fire engine red lipstick and smack her lips together with a pop. What I wouldn’t give to have those lips wrapped around my— “Wait, what did you say?” With my mind in other places, I missed her words completely.
Narrowing her eyes and slinging a hand on her hip, she repeated, “I don’t know. I guess I’m drained. I have no idea where those emotions came from. God, I haven’t cried like that since…” she wavered.
“Since?” I encouraged keeping my gaze firmly on her.
Sighing, she came and perched on the bed next to me close enough that I could smell her perfume. Honey with a hint of spice. “Since Ben.”
Ah, Ben, the first asshole that broke her heart. She’d told me bits and pieces about him when we first started dating, but not much. “Do you want me to beat him up? Because I’m more than willing.” I cracked a smirk.
She didn’t laugh at my joke, only silently toyed with a loose thread on her sweater. “Joking. You know that right?” I nudged her with my shoulder, wanting to feel some kind of connection between us. “You can talk to me. Maybe I can shed some light on the subject, seeing as I’m also a major dick who hurt you.”
A small smile lit up her face. “I can agree with that.” She sighed again. “We were together for two years. The longest relationship I’d had before him was a month if that. Everything seemed perfect. We were going to move in together. We talked about the future…”
Here was the part where the other shoe dropped. I knew all about that, not that I’d ever tell her or anyone else details about Amy. I set my palm on her thigh like a reassuring anchor.
“Things changed. He grew more distant, ignoring my calls and texts. He would always meet me at the office after work, and we’d go to dinner. He meant to surprise me every time, but he did it so often that I came to expect it, to expect him leaning against my car in the parking lot with a cheese grin on his face, opening his arms wide the second I got close enough to reach him.” She laughed, a sad sardonic sound. “Up until the last time he did it, I faked being surprised. I knew how much he loved to see my face light up.”
Fuck, my heart was cracking in two. Maybe I wasn’t joking. This prick needed an ass kicking. “What happened, baby?”
She sniffed and sat up, continuing with a clear voice, “He was away for a work conference with some coworkers. His responses were short and unlike him the entire trip, but I figured he was busy. I knew he was coming back on a Friday, and he hadn’t told me otherwise. By Sunday, all my messages from the weekend had gone unread, so I went to his place. I was getting worried that something might have happened to him. Well, I wasn’t wrong. Something was happening to him.” I squeezed her thigh gently, knowing what was coming. “I slipped into his house with the key he’d given me and found him lying flat on his back with some woman riding his face.”
My chest tightened, and I forced myself to focus on her instead of reacting like I wanted to. “I’m so sorry.” I wanted to make a joke to defuse the situation, but for the first time in a long time, nothing came to me.
She stood and paced the space in front of me. “Yeah, me too. The kicker of it was, that for two years he told me he didn’t like giving oral. He said it made him gag.” A cynical laugh slipped through her lips.
“What? You’re kidding, right?” I yanked at the scruff of my beard, not sure what to do with my hands.
Shrugging she said, “Nope. Two years and he didn’t go,” she pointed down with her index finger, “more than a few times.”
“That piece of shit wasn’t a real man then,” I nearly growled. What kind of idiot wouldn’t devour every inch of this woman if they had the chance?
“Apparently, it was only me that made him gag, since Melody, that’s her name by the way, was like an all you can eat buffet.” She cast her eyes toward the rug and leaned against the wall.
Rules be damned. I stood up and walked toward her slowly to give her enough time to tell me to fuck off. I boxed her in with my body, placing my hands against the wall beside her head and leaned in. Her kissable red lips were so close, her rapid breath warm against my face. I had time to savor her lips later, at that moment, I needed her to hear my words.
“Baby, he’s a fucking idiot. Ifyou were mine, I’d lick and suck every inch of your body. You’d be my every meal, the only sustenance I needed. I wouldn’t let a drop go to waste.”
Her eyes glazed over and warm puffs of air escaped her lips. Even her breath smelled sweet. It took every ounce of strength in me to back away from her.
I walked closer to the door, letting her regain her composure.
She cleared her throat, then grabbed her purse from the side table, tossed a few things inside the small bag, and yanked the zipper closed before stomping behind me. “I bet you said that to all the women you fooled around with in Wyoming.”
We were back to this then. “You know that’s not true.” I reached for the door and let her out in front of me. Lowering my voice, I stepped closer so she could hear me. “I thought about you the entire time I was gone. I had to help a friend. That’s all.”
