Keep the Faith (Bulletproof #1.5) (8 page)

Chapter 15

Sarah

The very next day, when we could have had horrible hangovers and snowman dream regrets, we didn’t. The night was calm and relaxing, just as it would have been if Jayde were here. In a weird and psychological way, she was. I could feel her presence. Not in a paranormal sense, but in the sense she was there. I know, it’s rather difficult to explain. Anna would not stop talking throughout the entire movie, and it was her idea to watch the damn thing. I woke up in my own bed this morning where I don’t remember getting into it to begin with. Glancing at the clock, I see it’s after ten and panic mode immediately sets in. Fuck, we’re late for work!

Running into the living room, I see Anna is still passed out on the couch. The empty wine bottles and one lonely vodka bottle litter the living room floor. “Anna! Anna get your ass up! We’re late for work!” She groans and mumbles something incoherently that I don’t catch.

“Come on, we’re late. It’s after ten!” I say rushing back into my bedroom to get dressed. There’s no time for showers so we have to make due with some cheap perfume. I hear an “oh shit” coming from the living room then footsteps rush to the other bathroom and I only assume Anna has heeded my warning and is getting ready.

“We are so screwed!” Anna yells as she runs back into the living room to clean up the remnants of our party last night.

“Yeah, but there is no time for cleaning. We have to go now.” I say, grabbing my briefcase and purse before sprinting for the door.

“Anna, come on,” I say and she nods. “Alright, I’m coming.”  Before Anna can make her happy ass down the stairs, my phone buzzes with an incoming text. It’s Leo. Good lord, what does he want? My heart skips a beat just watching his name flash on the screen.

“Who texted you?” Anna asks when she finally meets me at the door, all put together like she didn’t get drunk off her ass last night. How the hell is she able to do that?

“It’s Leo.” I read the text then groan. “Ugh, he wants me to come in to help out. Something about taking inventory and Phoebe is nowhere to be found.”

Anna smirks then grabs her purse off the table in the hallway. “You go on into the café, and I’ll head to the paper. I have to get a hold of Zac anyways and see what’s going on with the search. You go get your sexy café barista boy. I’ll take a cab to the paper,” Anna suggests and before I can protest, she’s out the door in a flash. Goddamn-it. Phoebe told me to take a break from that place but I guess one little visit wouldn’t hurt.

Making my way down-town to the café, I pass by the shop Anna told me belongs to Zac’s grandmother. The little shop was adorable with its downhome country feeling. I make a note to stop there one day this week. Pulling up to the café, the place looks empty. Looking at the clock, it’s just after eleven which marks the beginning of lunchtime. This place should be full of customers right now. Did I read Leo’s text wrong? I double check it and sure enough, there in plain text was:
“Need to count inventory and I can’t find my cousin and you’re the only other one allowed to count inventory.”
There was no way I could say no to that. I get in my usual parking spot, and get up to the front. It’s very quiet. The thought crosses my mind that somebody had stolen Leo’s phone and lured me here into a trap. Get it together, Sarah. Stop binge watching those crime shows on Netflix for crying out loud, you’re losing it. But, after everything that has happened, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched. Testing the door knob, it opens easily which strikes me as odd. I tiptoe inside, trying to keep as quiet as a mouse. The whole store is dark which is another red flag.

A rustle from beneath the counter puts me on high alert. My keys are still in my hand along with the pepper spray I picked up not too long ago. I have it aimed and ready to attack the trespasser who might be back there. A minute later, a head pops up making me drop my keys with a gasp.

“Hey, oh sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I should have turned more lights on,” Leo says, sitting a box of coffee stirs on the counter. “I’ve already gotten started, there’s about a thousand stirrers divided between about ten boxes. We should be good on those for a while.” I can’t say a word because I can’t stop staring. He mentioned something about coffee stirrers but that’s not what has me on guard. It’s the fact he’s wearing a tight black tee and somewhat tight denim jeans. Not too tight but holy fuck are they tight enough. He’s wearing cowboy boots and a backwards Los Angeles Angels baseball cap.

“Sarah?” He waves a box of spoons in my face, snapping me back from my thoughts. Shaking my head, I mumble. “Yeah, yeah sure.” I sit my purse down and pick my keys back up off the floor and look around the room.

“What?” he asks, looking confused. Hell, I’m confused myself. This was only the second or third encounter with him and I could barely contain my nerves. Something isn’t right when I’m around him. I don’t understand how it makes me feel. It’s almost as if he has this pull on me, making me succumb to him.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” I say, quickly averting my gaze elsewhere other than in his general direction. God help me get through this day and not go to jail for sexual assault.

“Umm, okay. Well there is still a lot that needs to be counted and ordered. Phoebe called me after I texted you and said she was busy and couldn’t come in which was fine because I told her I had asked you to come in,” I watch as Leo sits the box down, then picks it back up, then repeats the same motion of sitting it down. “There is still an entire backroom full of supplies that need to be counted and sorted. It may take us a good part of the evening if we don’t waste any time,” Leo steps away from behind the counter and doesn’t look me in the eye. He seems to be struggling with something which is making me even more on edge. I watch as his body shifts slightly, and he turns away from me. Did I do something wrong?

“Are you okay? You’re shaking,” I ask curiously. Leo sits down the box of spoons he was holding and steps away, shaking his hands at his sides.

“I’m fine. I don’t think I’ve eaten much today. It’ll be okay,” he then looks at me over his shoulder before turning back away from me, “actually, on second thought, we should probably cut this short.”

Now he has my full undivided attention. “Are you sure that’s all? And why cut this short? Leo, what is going on with you?” I ask purely out of curiosity.

Leo glances up then quickly averts his eyes to look around the café. “Stop with the fucking questions,” he says through gritted teeth. In a split second, his whole demeanor changed. The air in the room suddenly got thicker with this sudden change.

Every muscle in his back tenses up, making my nerves, and even worse my desire, on fucking edge. As much as I want him, telling him that would not be good for business. The old cliché, never mix business with pleasure.

“Leo?” I try one more time. Grazing my hand onto his back, his skin feels like it’s on fire. He’s angry which is obvious, but at what? It couldn’t be me, could it? He turns around and gives me his full attention and the predatory look he gives me just about knocks me to my knees.

Holy. Fuck.

Chapter 16

Sarah

You know that look a lion would give to its prey, before devouring it piece by piece, the look that says “I’m going to sink my teeth into you, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do to escape,” would mimic the look Leo is giving me right now. This look should scare the shit out of me. I should run for the hills but I don’t. In the best way, nothing has turned me on anymore in my life.

“Leo? What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?” Don’t stop fucking looking at me like that. I know he’s nine years younger than me but holy fuck please don’t stop looking at me like that. God, I’m so turned on, it hurts so badly.

“I have tried to contain it. Every fucking time you look in my direction, I have to fight the urge to pounce on you and devour you whole. Do you have any fucking idea how hard it is to sit here and think about you while I’m trying to help out my cousin? It killed me to see you walk out the door when she told you to take a break from this place. I almost stopped you then, but I knew you needed time to sort out what you needed to sort out. Fuck, Sarah.” I shut the part of my brain up that tells me to run. Were we in the Twilight Zone?

“I can’t act normal around you. I tried. I gave it my fucking all. Sarah….” He’s on me in an instant, sweeping me up into his arms and slamming me down onto the counter top.

“I didn’t want to do anything about it, because of all you’re going through but I don’t want to fight it anymore. I fear if I continue to fight it, you’ll run away.”

“Leo,” I rasp out. The cool of the counter top hits the back of my thighs. Why the hell did I decide to wear a short skirt today? I’m glad I made that decision.

“What is it, Sarah? Do you want me as much as I want you? I walk out of this door every day and pray to god you’d come back in here, beg Phoebe to let you come back to work, and then having the endless torture of thinking about your legs wrapped around my waist while I pound into you over and over is a constant cycle in my mind. Is that how you think of me, Sarah? Because it’s sure as fuck how I think of you.”

Uncle. UNCLE. I give up, or give in. Either way, he needs to stop talking like that otherwise I won’t be responsible for my actions.

“Leo, I…I had no idea,” I say, leaning into him but he takes a step back, leaving me sitting on the counter feeling every bit of desire for him.

“That’s right, Sarah, you have zero idea the kind of person I am. I shouldn’t be doing this,” He says then darts off to the back of the store, leaving me confused and turned on. What the fuck just happened?

“Leo?” I shout from the front. Hopping down, I follow him back there. What I will find, I have no fucking idea but I need to know. I find him standing over Phoebe’s desk, not moving just standing there.

“Did Phoebe ever tell you why I came back here? What my reason was for returning to Charleston?” he asks in a husky voice.

“She only told me you were taking a break from college in between semesters.” I reassure him. Was that not the reason? I take a step closer to him, feeling the heat radiate off of his back and instead of pushing me away, scaring me, it does the opposite. The heat draws me in, consumes me.

“Right, college,” Leo says in a chuckle. “That’s what she wants you to think.” He turns to me and we almost bump into each other since I have moved within an inch of his body.

“Sarah, you should leave. I shouldn’t have called you here,” he says. I look up and down his body and that’s when I notice he stands at least a foot taller than me. Looking back up, his green eyes shine in the darkness, beckoning me towards them.

“Leo, what aren’t you telling me?” I ask. He blinks a couple times before leaning in a bit before pulling away abruptly. “Leo!” I shout when he almost makes it to the door.

“You have no fucking idea what I am, Sarah. It would be better if you didn’t know. God fucking damn it.” With a sudden thrust, he punches a hole bigger than my head into the wall of Phoebe’s office. He turns to me once again. “I’m nothing but trouble, Sarah. Trouble with a capital T. It would be wise of you to stay away from me, sweet cakes.”

We stand within a few feet of each other, staring down the other, waiting for the next move. Our movements are like a game of chess, a pawn in each other’s game. One move then another, each move deflecting the others.

I’m growing incredibly impatient while feeling the pull of his desire against my own. This must have been what Jayde was talking about when she felt an instant connection with Zac.

“Why don’t you let me be the one to figure that out Leo? I don’t like to play games. I’m a grown ass woman and I don’t like it when men play games.” My own anger surprises me but if he’s playing this hard to get bullshit, I’m not having it. This isn’t high school.

He’s still standing in the doorway, blocking my path to the rest of the store but that doesn’t bother me. I attempt to push by him but his strong hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me.

“Let me go,” I grunt. “If you aren’t going to do anything, then leave me the hell alone. Like I said, I don’t play games.” A slight tick in his jaw sends a shiver down my spine. The grip on my wrist tightens despite my efforts to pull away.

“Sarah.” He breathes out heavily, almost like it pained him to say my name.

“Leo,” I retort quickly. No emotion, no desire. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Don’t do this,” he says with a slight strain to his voice. This whole hot and cold act is getting old fast.

“You’re one to talk. You come in here, first you’re all sweet then you turn into this crazed animal and now you’re begging me not to do this? Do what? What am I not doing?” I ask a little louder than I intended.

Leo steps right up into my face and wraps his hands firmly around my waist and pins me against the doorway. “First off, I don’t fucking beg for anything. I take. I take what I fucking want and I don’t ever fucking beg for it. You’d do well to remember that, sweetheart.” I’m pressed up against the doorjamb so tightly, I can barely move. Leaning up, I get right in his face with my own anger taking me by surprise.

“Then fucking take it. Take it all because like I said, I don’t play…” Before the final word leaves my lips, he crashes his lips down onto mine in an instant, claiming my lips in a passion induced kiss that has me leaning up from the doorway to get a better grip. Leo’s muscular arms wrap fully around my body, enclosing me in his warmth. God, I was right. He kisses like a god. We are a battle of lips and teeth and it’s a battle I don’t want to win. His hands come up to grab a handful of my hair and that’s it. He is marking his territory. The firm grip he has on my hair shouldn’t turn me on but fuck it all, it does.

Soft moans and grunts fill the small space. His full weight is pushing me up the doorway so I’m high enough to where I can wrap my legs around his waist and oh my god. I feel his erection against my center and it does nothing to lessen the growing ache between my legs.

My skirt is bunched up around my waist and the pink lacy panties are soaked with my arousal.

“Leo…” I say in between breaths. His lips have moved down from my lips to my neck, leaving a trail of fire where his lips touch. It wouldn’t take much for him to bring me to orgasm. All he has to do is slip his fingers beneath the top of my soaked panties and then I would be gone. A mess of pleasurable proportions.

“Touch me please, Leo,” I rasp out. I’m so close, all he has to do is just barely touch me and I would be putty.

As if on cue, instead of meeting my demands, he pulls away and pushes my feet to the floor, dropping his lips from my heated skin. Our heavy breathing matching each other’s but confusion is written all over my face. What the fuck just happened?