Page 41 of His Own Heaven

She’d just quietly sized up the situation and taken charge. And as much as it had shocked him at the time that his sweetly submissive woman had dared to order him around, Toby was smart enough to be thankful too.

By not letting him ask the hundred and one questions that swirled around inside him still, she’d gotten them moving in the right direction, and now they were almost ready to go.

Lucy pulled one of Toby’s T-shirts over her head. It was far too big on her shorter, slimmer frame and slipped off one shoulder, exposing her scars.

Toby smoothed his palm over the ruined flesh and wished he had more time with her. Time to ask her how she’d earned those scars, to listen to her stories and kiss away her hurts. Time to explore her fantasies and help her discover new ones. Time to make her irrefutably his.

But they were out of time.

For now.

“We good to go?” Charlie said, joining them again.

“I think so,” Toby said, his mood sobering. The house was locked, and everyone was wearing pants. They were good to go. He took Lucy’s hand and walked towards the front door. “We’ll drop you home before we head off.”

Lucy shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll order an Uber. My house is out of your way, and the drive to Nambour is already going to take you close to two hours, especially with Sunday afternoon traffic.”

Toby clamped his hands on her shoulders and gently pressed his thumbs into the base of her throat. Just enough to focus her attention on nothing and no one but him. “We’re driving you home, baby.”

“But—”

“No buts,” he argued, his tone sharp as his frustration rose to the surface. “I may have let you take the lead when we needed it, but make no mistake. When you’re in my house, I’m in charge. Now you will do as you’re told or the next time I put you over my knee won’t be pleasant.”

Why didn’t she understand? She was his to take care of. His to keep safe. Even if it was something as simple as driving her home.

What did she think would happen? That he’d leave her sitting on his front stairs—or worse, drop her off by the side of the road—to wait for a car driven by God knew who, with no bra under her oversized T-shirt and a pair of stilettos in her hand?

Not going to happen.

And what the fuck kind of treatment was she used to from men if she expected him to essentially abandon her?

Even with his family in crisis, Toby thought to her well-being first.

Her cheeks pinkened, her jaw clenched, and she glared up at him, her eyes the colour of fire whisky.So fierce.“I’m only trying to help.”

Hooking a knuckle under her stubborn chin, he lifted it. “I know you are, baby.” He buzzed his lips over hers. “But I’m still driving you home. Come on.”

Everyone was quiet on the twenty-minute drive to Lucy’s place in Cleveland, two suburbs away. The air in the truck was thick with things unsaid. Toby was tempted to bypass her house altogether and just head for the hospital with his lover in tow. Of course, if he did that, he’d be forced to explain who Lucy was, how he knew her, and why he’d broken his age-old rule about fucking his employees.

Not to mention how pissed off his father would be that Toby had invited a stranger into their midst at such an unfortunate time.

An ER wasn’t the best place to meet anyone’s family for the first time, let alone the Bennett brood, especially since he wasn’t sure he could keep his hands off her for more than five minutes. That definitely wouldn’t go over well with his father.

Ulysses Bennett might be an artist and live up to the stereotype of all that entailed, but he was also fiercely protective of his children and wouldn’t hesitate to take Toby to task for being a lecherous arsehole when Rafe and Janie needed him most.

So maybe itwastime to surface and take a breath. Time to evaluate everything that had happened since Friday night.

Besides, if Lucy’s stiff posture and the way she was avoiding touching him were any indication, kidnapping her for his own gratification wasn’t the smartest move anyway.

When he pulled up in front of Lucy’s modest house, she quietly thanked him for the lift, wished them luck with their family, then practically scrambled over Charlie in the passenger seat, issuing apologies in her haste to leave the truck. Toby jumped out the driver side and hauled arse after her, catching her at the front door.

Damn, she moves fast.

“Lucy, wait.” He grabbed her wrist, frowned when she tried to yank it free of his grip. “Baby, what’s wrong?” His gut sank to his feet as one thought hit him hard. “You’re not pissed I have to leave, are you? Because I will not apologise for putting my family before—”

“Sex?” she said, shaking her head. “And of course I’m not mad you have to look after your family, geez. Be grateful you even have a family to look after. But sex is all this was, and now it’s over, so, you know, back to our regularly scheduled programming.” She turned away, but he saw her hands shake as she fumbled to get her key in her front door.

Toby reached over, took the key, and unlocked the door for her, mainly to give himself a few more seconds to process her words, but his brain was struggling to make sense of them. He’d thought they were on the same page. He’d thought she wanted him. And for something more than a good time. Obviously, he was mistaken. Still, he’d be damned if he walked away from her without making his own feelings known.

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