Page 53 of Merciless Protector

She didn’t know how badly I wanted to eat her. But today, I’d decided to keep my hands to myself and prove that what we had was far more than sex. And so far, I’d been right. She had an adventurous spirit. I’d known that much from her working for the FBI.

I picked up a dulce de leche cheesecake and asked, “If everything was taken care of, where would you go in the world and why?” before taking a bite.

“That’s hard,” she said, tapping a finger to her chin. “There are so many places.”

I held up a finger and swallowed my bite before I said, “Only one.”

“You drive a hard bargain.” She thought for another second before saying, “Initially, I would have said Egypt. I think it would be cool to see the pyramids in person. So much history there. But if I only get one, I’d say Italy for the same reasons.”

A laugh burst from me. “Oh, you’re a cheater.”

She shrugged. “You didn’t specify city versus country. You said place.” I had to give her that one. “What about you?”

I didn’t have to think. “Anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”

Her jaw dropped, and I flashed a smirk. “You are too smooth.”

She’d used those words before. I shrugged. “You said place,” I repeated. “And my place is with you.”

With that, I got up, drew her to me and kissed that sweet mouth of hers that I’d been dying to kiss. She tasted like chocolate ganache cheesecake. I used one hand to cup her face and the other I let fall to the small of her back to draw her closer.

She tightened her grip around my waist and lifted on her toes. She was so soft everywhere I was hard. Though there was a roof of sorts above us. Everything above the short wall was open air. We would be seen if we took things to the next level.

Though I didn’t want to, I pulled back. “As much as I want to devour you, I promised you a date.” I flashed my teeth and took her by the hand.

“Next stop?” she asked. Her eyes were filled with the same desire I felt.

I swallowed as my mind raced with where we could go. In the end, I said, “Central Park.”

We walked the seven blocks to Fifty-Ninth Street. To the sides of the gated entrance, horse-drawn carriages lined the way. As we drew closer, my ire grew. Some of the horses looked tired and likely thirsty. My sister had ridden horses when she was younger, and I’d spent a fair amount of time in the stables when she had lessons.

“Give me a second,” I said to Tayla, letting go of her hand and heading to confront the first handler I got to.

Starting a fight wasn’t the best course of action, even if I wanted to. I wouldn’t ruin Tayla’s first day in New York that way. Instead, I used the next best option.

“I’ll pay you for a ride, but I want you to rest and water your horse for the time it would take us for the ride.” A carriage had just pulled off with a family of four. “You stay here until they get back, and I’ll double your fee.”

The man didn’t have to think about it too long. He accepted the first half of the payment. I made the same offer to two more handlers whose horses looked worse for wear. When I was done, I asked the one I had just spoken to for the brush. He knew what I was referring to. A minute later, he produced one. I waved Tayla over.

“Have you ever brushed a horse?” I asked. She shook her head. “Here, do it just like this. It helps to relax them, and honestly, it’s relaxing for me.”

I showed her how and then handed her the brush. The smile on her face thawed my heart even further. I got a brush from another handler and brushed that horse as we waited. Not long after, a carriage arrived with an enthusiastic horse. I handed the brush over and went to see that handler and arranged a ride.

“Are you ready?” I asked, having sidled up behind Tayla and whispered in her ear.

With only a grin, she slayed me. I would have done anything for her. Suddenly, it clicked what Connor said about knowing when you have the one. The one woman who would own your heart. He said it would hit me like a sledgehammer and there would be no denying it. He said it had been like that for him with my sister and he’d tried to ignore it. But ultimately, couldn’t.

I led Tayla over to the carriage and helped her up. I didn’t immediately get in and asked the guy to wait a second as I went over to proposition the three handlers in another bid to give the horses more resting time. I offered them additional money to wait until I got back. They took me up on it. Luckily, I’d gotten cash from my mom, who believed in keeping money in the house. She didn’t completely trust banks and I’d wanted more cash than I could get from an ATM at one time in case something came up.

After that was done, I got in the carriage and sat next to Tayla. Unable to keep my hands to myself, I grabbed hers as we began the tour of Central Park. I’d chosen the long ride, and we saw everything from the Wollman Rink. New York’s famous ice-skating rink where Love Story, Serendipity, and Home Alone 2 were filmed. We rode by the carousel and the Central Park Zoo. We also saw the Boathouse and Tavern on the Green, the most lucrative famous restaurant in the world, and other places where movies were filmed. An hour later, we returned and the three handlers were still there. I paid them and felt better as the horses looked perkier after the rest and water.

“That was amazing,” Tayla said.

Though I had seen it before, it was different being with someone who was only seeing it for the first time. I noticed things I’d taken for granted. “It was.”

“You’ve seen it before,” she teased.

“Not with you.”

---