This Time Around (Maybe #2)(32)

“Threw him to the wolves, did you?” he asks, a humorous glint in his eyes.

I raise an eyebrow. “Are you calling my best friend a she wolf?”

He grins. “She’s beautiful…”

“But?”

“But… I’m not really looking for something right now. I haven’t even been with a woman in a few weeks, and I’m usually the one who…” He looks at me, realising who he’s talking to and clears his throat. “Well, let’s just say I made Ryan look like a choir boy.”

“Nice,” I say dryly.

He winces. “I’m sorry, for what it’s worth he never even thought about getting serious with anyone after you left. It was you or no one.”

“By no one, you mean endless bouts of meaningless sex?”

He pours me a juice and slides it over. “He was trying to forget you. It was his coping mechanism. I’m sure you did what you had to do to try and get over him, to try and move on with your life.”

I sip on the juice, not saying anything. “He’s a good man,” Tag says, not taking his eyes off me.

“I know,” I tell him.

“Don’t hurt him, Taiya,” Tag says softly, his baldhead cocked to the side.

“He’s the one who f*cked up and hurt me,” I say, turning to watch him dance with Isis.

“I think he’s paid his price, haven’t you?” he says, before leaving to serve someone.

“Are you okay?” Reid asks. I turn to face him and smile.

“I’m fine. Where’s Summer?” I ask him, moving the subject away from me. He gives me a look that says he knows what I’m doing, but answers me anyway.

“She’s at her brother’s house.”

I’m about to reply when Ryan comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me.

“Let’s go home.”

“Now?” I ask, looking around for Isis.

“Yes, Reid is taking Isis home. She wants to stay a little longer.”

I stand up. “Okay.” I say bye to Isis, Tag and Reid. Ryan practically pulls me out of the bar.

“What’s the rush?” I ask.

“Need to be inside you.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.”

He starts his bike and I hold on tight.





Chapter Eighteen

Taiya

“I wasn’t with anyone while I was gone,” I blurt out. I run my fingers over his stomach, not looking at him. I feel him go rigid, and he puts his hand on mine, stopping my fidgeting.

“You weren’t?” he asks, his voice husky.

“No.”

He clears his throat. “Why not?”

“What do you mean ‘why not’?”

“Say it, Taiya,” he demands, cupping my face and lifting my chin up to look at him.

“Because I didn’t… I don’t want anyone else.”

He looks at me in such a way that I actually feel lightheaded. “I love you.”

“You damn well better.”

He smiles with his eyes. “I’m never letting you go again. You know that, right?”

“As long as you treat me how I deserve to be treated, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” I say, placing a kiss on his chin.

He rolls over so I’m under him and kisses me. “I’ll always treat you like a princess. Well, maybe not in the bedroom,” he adds. I pinch his ass, making him laugh. His phone rings, and as he gets up to answer it, I head to the bathroom to have a shower. When I come out, dressed for the day, Ryan is sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxer shorts staring down at his phone.

“What is it?” I ask, standing before him.

“Jack wants Reid and me to go and see him.”

“He found her?” I ask, running my palm down the back of his head.

“He didn’t say. He just said to go and see him,” he says, looking up at me.

“Cryptic much?” I say as I move my fingers along the stubble across his jaw. “Are you going now?”

“Yes. As soon as my wife kisses me, I’ll have a quick shower and go,” he says, nuzzling my tummy. I straddle his lap and give him a kiss he will be thinking about all day. My hands start to roam and he pulls back, his heavy lidded eyes staring into mine. “Those lips are magic.”

“I must have had a good teacher,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.

“Damn straight,” he says, rubbing his hands down my thighs.

“Lots of practice on your end? Hmmmm,” I tease, grinning at his slightly sheepish look at my dig at his experience.

“Are you ever going to let that go?” he asks, his voice turning serious.

I bite my bottom lip. “I’ll try. I get jealous and that’s kind of hard to control.”

He grins at that. “Trust me, I know the feeling.”

“You’ve never had to share me with anyone. How could you possibly know the feeling?”

He scowls. “Just the thought is bad enough.” I kiss him again, before he heads for a shower and I head back to my apartment.

*****

I walk into my apartment, grinning when I see Isis in the kitchen, looking like death. “What happened to you last night?” I ask her.