Unbreakable Hearts Page 17

  When Doug answered the door, the look of shock on his face told Oz that the guy knew who he was, triggering his what-the-fuck meter. “You Doug Donati?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Who wants to know?” Doug asked defensively, smirking up at Oz, a couple days’ worth of growth on his chin as if he were trying to grow his own goatee.

  “My name’s John Osby. I work for Citadel Executive Protection. I’m a friend of Tilly Maxwell’s.”

  Doug laughed sarcastically. “Oh, a friend, huh? You’re probably fucking her, aren’t you? I knew that bitch had someone else. Only reason she left me.”

  Oz clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes at the guy wondering how in the hell Tilly had spent two years with the little weasel. He stood about five-eight and maybe weighed a buck fifty. She’d definitely scraped the bottom of the barrel with this guy. Jesus.

  “First off, watch your fucking mouth. Second, thought it’d be a good idea to pay you a visit since she’s told me you were pretty pissed off that she broke up with you, and now that she’s been broken into twice, suspicion falls on you.”

  Doug jerked his head back in surprise, huffing out, “Me? I haven’t broken into her place! It was another gu—”

  Oz raised an eyebrow. “Do you know something?”

  The look on Doug’s face didn’t fool him. “No! I don’t know anything! Why would I?”

  Oz nodded slowly watching the tells Doug was now displaying because of his nervousness: shifting from foot to foot, fingers pulling at his pants leg, avoiding eye contact. What a prick. “That your PT Cruiser parked outside her house last night?”

  “What? No!”Doug sputtered, and Oz knew he’d caught the idiot.

  He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled his wallet out, smirking when Doug flinched. Getting a CEP card out, he handed it to him and said, “You need to call if you know anything.”

  Doug made a face as he looked at the card, holding it with his thumb and finger as if it was covered in dog shit.

  Oz rolled his eyes continuing. “Also, stay the fuck away from Tilly or you answer to me. I find out it was you who’s been doing this shit, not gonna be pretty. You know something and you’re not telling, I’ll be the first to bash your face in.” He turned to go then stopped, looking back and added, “And get yourself another fucking car. PT Cruisers are for pussies.” He turned and walked down the steps with a chuckle.

  “Yeah, well, at least my goatee looks better than yours!” Doug yelled after him, which made Oz snort. As he headed down the walk toward the cab that’d been waiting on him, another one pulled up and an older woman in a huge hat and church clothes got out, looking at him curiously. After they passed, he heard her say, “Who’s that, Doug?” and had to laugh at the answering reply of “No one, Ma. You making lunch? Can’t do sandwiches ‘cause I saw we’re outta bread.”

  Figured the guy lived with his mother.

  Getting in the cab, Oz gave the driver Tilly’s address. He’d been thinking about her all morning and hadn’t liked the way things had been left between them, so he was going to get a few things straight with her.

  At her place, he knocked on the door waiting for her to answer, ready to argue with her, but when she opened it and saw it was him she threw herself into his arms almost knocking him off the porch.

  “Hi, baby, I’m happy to see you too,” he said with a chuckle. When she pulled back, he saw that she’d been crying. “Hey, what’s wrong? What happened?” He frowned down at her as he held her by the shoulders. Shit. He hadn’t gotten an alert on his phone about her alarm, so it couldn’t have been that.

  “Come on in,” she said with a sniff, taking his hand and leading him inside. “Do you want anything to drink?”

  “I’m good. What’s going on, Tilly?” he asked, worried that maybe Doug had called and said something.

  “I’m gonna get you a beer. Hang on.” She hurried off, leaving him to frown after her. A minute later, she was back with two bottles, handing one to him then taking a long pull from hers. “All right. Can we talk?”

  “Yes, but tell me everything’s okay first.” If that bastard had been rude to her…

  She led him to the couch and they sat. She turned to face him, sitting on her leg that she’d tucked underneath her. “Everything’s fine. Well, I mean, there hasn’t been a break-in, but I guess you know that since you weren’t alerted. Oh, and my ex, Doug, just called.”

  He knew it. Son of a bitch. “What’d he say?”

  She chuckled, waving a hand and making a “pfftt” sound with her mouth. “Nothing important. Thank you for talking to him.”

  Well, thank God the guy hadn’t upset her. But now the way she was looking at him, like he was her hero or something for having talked to the dumbass, made him want to grab her and kiss her hard and long and wet and deep, but noticing her nervousness and the serious look she wore, he kept his hands, and his lips, to himself.

  “I need to tell you something, John, and I want to be very honest with you, okay?”

  Shit. Here it came. And now he knew he’d read her wrong, that the look she’d just given him wasn’t one of adoration but sympathy. She’d just that morning run and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what that meant. She was going to dump him before they even got started. He took a long drink from his beer thinking he might need it then nodded for her to proceed.

  “You know about my dad and all. Losing him was the worst thing that ever happened to me.” She bit her lip and looked down at the bottle she held resting on her thigh. “But I don’t think you know about my Uncle Tim.” Looking back up at him, she continued after he shook his head. “Uncle Tim was Dad’s brother and a cop too. He was my favorite person ever. He taught me to ride a bike, took Jeff and me to the park on his days off and he was the one who encouraged me to stick with my photography. He even talked to me about opening my own studio one day.” She cleared her throat. “He, uh, also knew about you.”

  Oz jerked his head back sharply in surprise, looking at her confused. “Me?”

  Great. Her uncle must’ve known about his record and the stupid shit he’d done when he was a kid and told her, and now she was going to tell him that she couldn’t date him because he’d been such a dumbass.

  “Yes, you.” She took a deep breath and blew it out. “I don’t think you realize what a crush I had on you when we were in school.” She bit her lip again and looked at him from under her lashes as her face reddened. “Well, I guess you kinda do since I told you last night.”

  “Babe,” he said, his lips twitching at the sides. She was so fucking cute admitting to it again; something that he himself had been too chicken shit to do.

  “I crushed on you so hard that I actually told him about you.” She took a drink from her bottle. “He, uh, checked into you.”

  She did know. Fucking great.

  “I knew you were a bad boy, but I didn’t realize you’d been arrested a couple times.”

  “Tilly, I—”

  She put a hand on his forearm. “No, this isn’t bad, John. I promise. Just hear me out.” She offered him a small smile as he sighed wondering how it couldn’t be bad. “Anyway, even though he knew about you, he didn’t judge you. He told me that teenage boys sometimes do stupid things and that you were just a stupid teenage boy.” She chuckled at his eyebrow raise. “Uncle Tim did know better than to tell my dad about you because he knew Dad would’ve thrown a fit that I’d even give you the time of day, but Uncle Tim was the kind of person who always gave people a chance. I mean, not that Dad wasn’t. It’s just that I was his daughter and he wouldn’t have understood.” She huffed out a breath moving her hand back to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “What I’m trying to tell you is that Uncle Tim and I were very close, especially after Dad was killed. And then nine months after Dad died, Uncle Tim died too. Same way. Almost the same exact circumstances.” Her voice had gotten quieter on the last part and her eyes shone with unshed tears. She closed her eyes and a tear escaped, falling down her cheek
.

  Oz wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, kissing the top of her head. “I’m sorry, Tilly. I didn’t know.” God, all the pain she’d suffered. No wonder she was so afraid of getting close to him.

  She pulled back facing him and set her beer on the coffee table then used her fingers to wipe her eyes. “Talking about them always makes me cry.” She smiled sadly but then a determined look covered her face and she went on. “What I’m getting at here is that I’m closed off.”

  “Noticed,” he said, curling a hand behind her neck, squeezing lightly.

  She looked at him in surprise. “You did?”

  His lips tipped up at the sides. “Tilly, every time we’ve gotten close, you’ve run. It was only two times, but, yeah, I figured it out.”

  She frowned. “Well, the first time I ran, nothing had happened yet. I mean, everything was good in my life!”

  “True. But it still tells me that when you get scared, you run.”

  Her mouth hung open as she looked at him. “Well, you don’t have to be all smug sitting there acting like you’ve psychoanalyzed me.” She got up in a huff, and he reached out quickly, looping his arm around her waist, making her let out a little yelp, and pulled her back to sit sideways in his lap. “What are you doing?” she screeched. She tried getting up again, but he was having none of it, holding her there. “John!”

  “Tilly. Listen.” She kept struggling to get away. “Listen!” he said more loudly, jerking her to him more tightly with his arm, making her finally stop trying to get away. She looked at him, none too happy. “Not psychoanalyzing you, baby. It’s just that I knew about your dad. Thought that was probably the reason behind it. Didn’t know about your uncle, though, and I’m really sorry.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “So what is it you’re trying to tell me?”

  “Let me up.”

  God, so feisty. “Not happening. Did you see what happened when I told you that you run?”

  She frowned at him for a few seconds then it was like a light bulb went on in her head.

  “Yeah. Told you you run, which made you uncomfortable, so you tried to run,” he stated with a chuckle.

  “Oh, God, I did, didn’t I?” she said quietly. “I’m like an open book, so easy to read, aren’t I?” She looked at him as if disappointed in herself.

  “Baby, you’re a woman, and I’ve never met a woman who was easy to read.” That garnered him a smack on the arm from her, which made him laugh. He cupped her face gently with one hand, turning her to look at him. “Tell me what it is you’re trying to say.”

  “Can I please sit on the couch? I promise not to run.” She smiled sheepishly at him. He raised an eyebrow but let her go, and she resumed her previous position. “What I’m trying to say is that, well, despite my feelings for you, even if they’re not reciprocated and all you’re wanting is sex, I’m willing to, um, try this with you.”

  What the fuck?

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “You think that’s all I want from you? Sex? Jesus Christ.” He set his beer on the coffee table and got up, walking away from her, ending up at the pictures she’d taken of him in high school.

  He heard her small voice say, “You mean it’s not?”

  He turned and frowned at her shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest. “Where’d you get that idea, Tilly?”

  “Well, last night when I, uh, said what I did, you didn’t seem to feel the same. I mean, not that I expect you to or anything! It’s just that since you didn’t, I thought maybe you weren’t interested in me that way, and, like, um, you just wanted a, uh, physical relationship.”

  He put his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling. Women. He had no idea where she’d gotten this from, had no clue what the hell was going on in that head of hers. He had to chuckle that she’d worried that she was an open book. Yeah, right. He looked at her. “That why you left this morning?”

  She put her head down, looking at her fingers she nervously worked in her lap. “Yes.”

  He walked over to her, standing in front of her. “Tell me. Is that all you want? Sex?”

  She looked up at him, eyes wide and biting her lip then shook her head.

  Well, thank God.

  He took her hands pulling her up off the couch to stand then bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck, putting his hands under her butt and lifting her to where she had to wrap her legs around his waist.

  “What are you doing?” she shrieked, laughing as he carried her to the stairs.

  “Gonna show you what I want,” he said, kissing her as he stepped up on the first stair, then the second but stumbling on the third. As they fell forward, he put a hand out and turned them so she landed on top of him, straddling him. “Can show you right here,” he said with a sparkle in his eyes as he put his hands on either side of her head and pulled her down for a hot kiss.

  “Might not be too comfortable,” she murmured against his lips then moaned when he turned them so she was on her back at his side and he slipped a hand inside her jeans.

  “So wet already. Jesus,” he mumbled as he moved his fingers over her. God, so slick and silky.

  Damn, he loved watching her react to him, hearing the sounds she made. When he slid a finger inside her, she arched up off the stairs with a loud moan.

  “Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, John!” she let out breathlessly as her body locked up for a second as her climax overtook her. She lay back for a second, breathing hard, eyes closed. “I—I’ve never come that hard before. That was just wow,” she said on a breathy sigh.

  Oz smiled down at her loving that he did that to her, could take her that high. When she opened her eyes, she cupped his face, rubbing her thumb over his goatee.

  “I love this,” she whispered, which made him smile even bigger.

  Finished with talking and ready to be inside her, he pulled her back on top of him and knifed up, keeping hold of her and stood, turning and heading to her bedroom. Upon entering he let her down then wrapping his arms around her, clasped his hands at the back of her waist.

  Looking down at her, he said, “Glad we talked, babe. I wanna try this with you too, but I hope you know I want more than just sex.”

  She tiptoed up, her arms lacing around his neck drawing him down to her, and pressed her lips to his in a kiss that rocked his friggin’ world.

  “Damn,” he murmured as he moved back. He pulled her sweater over her head then cupped her breasts in his hands, the lacy, violet bra she wore making him groan. God, she was sexy. He pulled one cup down and bent, teasingly biting one nipple, making her moan while he moved her to lie back on the bed.

  They continued undressing each other, exploring each other’s bodies with leisurely kisses and touches. She ran a hand over the scars on his shoulder, kissing them. “Wish I could’ve taken the pain away from you when it happened,” she murmured which made his heart want to fly out of his chest. God, so fucking sweet. Then she turned him so she could see the tattoo on his back. “This is a little intimidating, John,” she whispered, running her hand over it.

  He chuckled. “It’s a little harsh, I know. But, babe, at that time I was willing to die for my country.” He shrugged and felt her body tense against his. Turning back to her, he came up on his forearm, leaning down to brush his lips over hers. “Tilly, it was my life. Nothing to worry about now.” He watched her take a breath then relax as she ran her hands over his chest, moving in to kiss his pec. He pulled her face up and kissed her hard and deep, amazed that he had her in his life now.

  Reaching for his jeans on the floor, he got his wallet and pulled a condom out, putting it on, then slid his forearm behind her knee, stretching her leg up, and drove inside powerfully making them both cry out.

  Jesus, she felt good. He moved inside and felt her tightening around him. “Oh, yeah, baby, wanna feel you come around my cock.”

  And that was all it took. He felt her core grasping him tightly, clenching his length, spasming around him as she
reached her peak, calling out his name. Damn, she was so hot, so responsive to him, to his talking to her, and, God, he loved it.

  He pulled out and turned her over, sliding a hand under her belly to pull her up on her hands and knees then holding her hips, plunged inside her from behind with a groan. Heaven. This was fucking heaven.

  “Love how you feel, Tilly,” he moaned, driving inside her hard and hearing her answering moan. He then laced his hand into her hair and going back to sit on his knees, pulled her head all the way back to where she looked up at him, seeing him upside down, her back arching. Pumping slow and deep inside her now, he leaned down and kissed her lips. “Like when I talk to you, don’t you?”

  She whimpered and breathed out a “Yes.”

  “Turns you on, yeah?”

  “God, yes…” she said huskily.

  That’s what he wanted to hear. Damn, she was something else. He moved her head forward keeping his hand in her hair and with his other hand on her hip pulled her back hard to ride his cock.

  “That’s what I thought,” he said, now pounding inside her. Letting her hair go, he used both hands to pull her hips to him to meet each of his thrusts. When he felt himself there, he pressed against her, grinding himself inside her, coming hard, then drove inside several more times finishing.

  He rolled to the bed taking her with him. “Jesus,” he muttered, breathing hard and drenched in sweat.

  She lay on his outstretched arm, breathing just as heavily. “Wow.” Between gasps for air she queried, “John?”

  He turned his head, looking at her, so beautiful, her blond hair splayed around her head, spilling over his arm, her face and chest flush from her orgasm which made her glow. “Got me, babe.”

  She turned her head to him and smiled. “I’m glad we’re trying this.”

  He barked out a laugh, turning to face her and swept a lock of hair off her forehead. “I’m glad you’re glad. I’m glad too, babe.” He leaned down and touched his mouth to hers. “Wanna take you out, Tilly. Wanna show you off to everyone, let ‘em know you’re mine.”

  She giggled and put a hand against his hard chest. “I could stand being your trophy girlfriend.”