Golden Trail (The 'Burg #3)(171)

He’d briefed her about the day’s events, all except his chat with her brother, but he still had a few things he needed to make clear. So he set about making them clear.

“We got a lot done today. Devin, Ryker and me are gonna be takin’ turns listenin’ to the bugs. We know who she is and Dev’s got prints from the apartment that an independent lab is runnin’, we’ll have results tomorrow, so we’ll know who he is and hopefully get confirmation on her. We know who’s pocket Rutledge his in. This means it’s gonna get hotter. I told Jasper and I’ll tell you. You keep sharp. You stay smart. You don’t talk to Josie, Violet, Feb, anyone about this shit. You lock your doors when you’re in your car and you drive with your eyes on your mirrors. You see the same car more than once, you call me immediately. Tomorrow, I take you to the office and get you a panic button and you carry that with you everywhere. You don’t go anywhere unless someone knows you’re goin’, where you’re goin’ and when you’re expected to get there. You don’t sleep alone. I’m not home, you stay awake. I’m not in this apartment; you’re not in this apartment. Those vultures live close and my security system at home is solid, they still haven’t fixed this one.”

“But, the girls are coming over tomorrow to –”

“Yeah, and I’ll leave when they get here and come back before they’re gone. Colt’s wife and Cal’s wife will both be here. Someone might be dumb enough to f**k with you, and, baby, that’s the truth even if I can see it freaks you out, but no one would be dumb enough to f**k with the three of you.”

He stopped speaking and she didn’t say anything, just held his eyes so his arms gave her a squeeze.

“You get all that?” he asked.

Rocky nodded.

“You freaked?” he went on.

Rocky kept nodding.

“You think I’d ever let anything hurt you?”

Rocky stopped nodding, her mouth got soft, her lids lowered and she shook her head.

“All right, baby,” he whispered, his hand travelling up her back, her neck to cup her head. “I’m gonna clean this shit up,” he told her quietly, tipping his head to the table. “You go upstairs and get ready because I’m hungry.”

“Layne,” she breathed, her tits pressing deeper into his chest and his c**k started getting hard.

“Go get ready for me,” he growled.

“I have to ask you something first,” she said, her hands moving up his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair and curling around at the back.

“Yeah?” he prompted when she said no more.

“That night, after that first game we went to together, do you remember?”

“It was only a month ago, sweetcheeks.”

“So you remember,” she pushed.

“Yeah, Roc,” his arms tightened, “I remember every second.”

She smiled, she’d liked that night but she liked that he liked it too then she shared, “I didn’t want you to leave.”

“I know.”

Rocky kept smiling and she kept sharing, “Before Merry came, I was going to make a move on you.”

Layne smiled back. “Yeah, I know.”

Her smile got even brighter before her face went strange, uncertain and she started, “Would you have… um,” she pulled in a breath, “caught my move or deflected it?”

Layne felt his smile fading and he answered honestly, “I don’t know, baby.”

She nodded, her eyes slid away and he used his hand on her head to bring her attention back to him.

“It didn’t happen and I don’t know what I would have done if it did, but I do know that it would have killed to turn you down.” She studied his face and he repeated, “It would have killed, Rocky. I wanted you to make that move and even thinkin’ then that we’d never again be where we are right now, I wanted you and I wanted you to want me.”

One of her hands came out of his hair to cup his jaw.

Then she said, “You know, one of the reasons I fell in love with you was because you were always honest. With everyone, including me. I loved that. It made me feel safe. I still love that about you, especially knowing it takes courage to be honest. Your courage, I love that about you too.”

And he loved her words, f**king loved every one of them but what he didn’t love was what they might mean.

And he had to know what they might mean.

“In your life, was someone not honest with you?”

She pulled back an inch and her hand dropped to his chest. “What?”

“What you said made me think that maybe you meant that it was refreshing, someone being honest because you had someone not honest in your life.”

Her eyes drifted over his shoulder but she wasn’t hiding from him, she was thinking.

Still, he ordered, “Roc, eyes on me,” and her eyes came back.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t think so but…” She trailed off, her face going unfocused, she was still thinking.

Fuck.

He knew, looking at her, he was standing in a field full of mines, he’d put himself there, and now he had to find a way to get the f**k out or purposely jump on a mine which might cause damage but do it with the hope his body didn’t blow to smithereens taking Rocky with it.