Ex Best Thing (Sisters From Hell Book 4), page 14
Giana blinked up at him with tears in her eyes, the bright and confident demeanor she exuded now gone in the face of her big brother. “I don’t know if I can anymore, okay? Maybe I need to start at the bottom where there aren’t any expectations.”
Daire stared at her for a long minute before dropping his hands and putting them in his pockets. “Okay. You do what you feel you need to in order to build up your confidence again. But don’t for a second think I’m going to let you sell yourself short. Remember, you always say I’m the cocky one. I’ve got enough confidence for both of us.”
Giana smiled up at him, a single tear slipping down her cheek. “I love you.” She gave him a quick hug and went down the hallway to her room.
Daire sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. How could my sisters not see what a great man he was? If they could take two seconds to see how he cared about his sister, how he volunteered to help other women, how he took care of me…they’d know. They’d know he was exactly the right man for me. They’d know I was head over heels in love with him.
I hated being on the outs with my sisters, but what I couldn’t ignore was my feelings for Daire. I wouldn’t bend to their peer pressure and turn my back on the one person who saw all the parts of me and stayed by my side. I’d get in a million catfights with my sisters as long as I could stay by his side.
“Want to watch a movie or go to bed?” Daire asked quietly, now standing over me. I blinked and thought about what I wanted. Not what my sisters wanted, or what I thought I should do, but what Izzy Waldo wanted to do.
I stood and slid my hand under his T-shirt and across his lean abs. “I want to go to bed.”
Daire’s eyes went the color of whiskey and he didn’t waste a second. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder before running from the room. I burst out laughing even as I bounced. It was exactly what I needed to pull me out of a sister-induced funk.
A door slammed shut and the world went upright again as Daire placed me gently on a huge bed. He stood back and ripped his shirt over his head, then off went his jeans. All the while, he stared at me with heavily hooded eyes and such a serious focus that I was squirming on the bed.
When he was completely naked and giving me visions of heaven with muscles and hair and veins on repeat, he spoke again.
“What you did tonight was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen, Izzy.”
I opened my mouth to deny the compliment, but he dropped to his knees and peeled my leggings off, baring me to him so quickly I snapped my jaw shut again.
He spread my knees with his broad shoulders and yanked my hips to the edge of the bed. With a loud groan, his mouth was on me, sucking, swiping, and tasting as if he was a starved man. Rockets of pleasure shot up my spine. My fists found purchase with the comforter, my head tossed back. He kept going, a man on a mission, and really, what did I have to complain about? He hadn’t even used a single digit, just his talented tongue, teasing out an orgasm that left me breathless.
“What the…” I gasped, pretty sure we’d set a land-speed record with that orgasm.
Daire stood and gently pulled the shirt over my head and unclasped my bra. Then he grabbed a condom from the table next to his bed and lay on top of me. I opened my legs and nestled him there. The tip of him was positioned at my opening, a mere centimeter more needed to connect us.
He paused, his rough cheek next to mine, his breath hot in my ear. He reared back enough to look me in the eyes.
“Izzy?”
His voice lacked the usual confidence. The swagger as Giana would call it. He sounded younger, maybe a little lost.
“Yes?” Whatever was troubling him, I’d help make right, just like he was there for me now.
He opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyes squeezed shut, and when he opened them again, the confidence was back.
“I was right before. When I said it. I love you,” he said, the words tumbling through my brain on repeat.
I smiled without thought. The words felt right in my gut. Like we’d always been moving toward this point. It was as inevitable as time itself.
“I love you too,” I whispered back.
Daire’s eyes went shiny and my heart squeezed hard. With a slow thrust, he slid inside, connecting us physically as well as emotionally. For as rough as he’d been with his mouth, he slowed everything down again, gazing into my eyes as he slid back out, then in again. He caged me in with his elbows on either side of me. He dipped his head and kissed me, slow and unhurried. He slid back in, and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
The rub of our bodies together, along with the heavy breathing, made the air turn warm. Soon, we had moisture on our skin and still he didn’t give us an inch of space between us. If two people could become one, this was it. The moment when I couldn’t tell his body apart from mine.
His pace picked up and he began to chant my name. Chills danced across his arms and seeing him almost lose it made me climb higher too. He slid his hand between us and found the one spot that could make my body sing. He gave it a gentle pinch and I was lost to the pleasure. Lost to the stars that danced in front of my eyes, the bright light that bloomed and spread through my limbs.
I heard him say it again in my ear as he stilled and shuddered, those three words that I knew would forever change my life. I wasn’t just one of the five Waldo girls. I wasn’t a baker struggling to make a name for herself. I wasn’t alone in this world.
I was his.
20
Daire
* * *
Izzy’s scent surrounded me as she slept. The sun hadn’t risen in the sky yet but I was fully awake, sifting through the various emotions that pummeled me as I lay there, happier than I’d been in forever. No, happy wasn’t the right word. Content. Peaceful. Like maybe this was the thing I’d been missing and hadn’t even known.
The one dark spot that not even the glow of our newfound love could make go away was Izzy’s family. I knew she would never be truly happy if her family turned away from her. Her sisters were her best friends, and loving me had taken them away from her. I wasn’t okay with that.
There was one thing I knew I excelled at and that was strategy. I was used to opposition and knew how to dodge around the issues and still get what I wanted. Normally it was over a business deal, but as far as I knew, relationships were a battlefield too.
Chief Waldo was the key.
Lord knew I didn’t want him to be, but even when I was dating Amelia, I’d known enough to stay far, far away from the man. I knew how important he was to those five daughters of his. One look at me and he would have had my measure. He would have run me out of town and had his police officers keep an eye out for me if I ever thought of coming back.
If I wanted Izzy in my life, I had to get Chief Waldo on my side.
Izzy lifted her head, her eyes puffy from crying the night before, but still she smiled as bright as the sun just peeking through the blinds.
“Good morning, cupcake,” I whispered, vowing then and there to make things right. I wanted every morning to start with a smile from Izzy.
“Morning,” she said with a giggle, burying her head in my chest. “I probably look like I got run over.”
That just wouldn’t do. I grabbed her slim body and pulled her on top of me, then cupped her face and held her so I could see her just inches from my nose.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in any room, any day or time. I swear to you, Iz. One of these days I’m going to make good on the spanking threat if you keep talking bad about yourself.”
Her cheeks went hot under my hands, but she didn’t look away. “Promise?”
Something about that soft voice made husky by sleep, made the animal in me come out. I rolled us over and showed her just how hot I thought she was. I was sporting morning wood that could be considered a deadly weapon. Her eyes widened and she didn’t hesitate to spread her legs to accommodate me, which only spurred me on. I ripped the sheets out of the way and her phone let out a ding. And then another.
I dropped my forehead to hers and forced myself to breathe. “Need that?” I asked through a clenched jaw, hoping desperately that she’d say no.
“Probably should. Monroe might have burned the bakery down with me not there. Besides, you need more ice on your eye. It’s a pretty shade of blue.”
I opened my eyes and saw the regret on her face. Dark smudges under her own eyes marred her perfect white skin. Probably from all the crap last night. She didn’t need me adding to her stress levels.
I kissed her quick and pushed off to stand by the bed. If I was touching her, I’d never get ahold of myself. “I’ll jump in the shower while you check your phone, and then I can take you in to work if you need.”
She scrunched up her nose. The phone let out another ding. “You don’t mind?”
Fuck it. I leaned back down and captured her mouth, teasing both of us with a taste that we both knew would be way too short. When I pulled back, we were both breathing heavy. If I didn’t do something about the erection poking Izzy in the chest, I might be taking a trip to Blueball without stepping foot outside my condo.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, turning and leaving before I lost control of myself. I was used to taking what I wanted, truly believing that the world was a winner-take-all type of place. Izzy was showing me that thinking of others was not only valiant, but much harder to do. Restraint was not yet one of my strong traits.
By the time I’d showered and gotten a cup of coffee and some toast in Izzy, her phone was blowing up with texts and calls from not only work, but her family. My advice was to tell them all to fuck off, but Izzy kindly wrote each one back that she was safe and she’d talk to them when she was ready.
See? This woman was a freaking angel.
Giana was already gone for her interview, but had left a change of clothes for Izzy. I hadn’t even thought about that small detail. I’d have to do something nice later for Giana. I was also starting to wonder if everyone else around me was a nice person and I really was the only asshole. Or an assho.
“What do you have going on today?” Izzy asked as we went outside to hop on the motorcycle.
I handed her the helmet and put on mine. “Just some work phone calls I can’t put off.” I had a hell of a lot more than that to do, but Izzy didn’t need to worry.
We took off and every second of the feel of Izzy’s arms around me was catalogued in my head. I didn’t know if we’d get forever together, so I wasn’t going to overlook a single moment. All too soon, we arrived at the bakery. Izzy hopped off and held out her helmet. She kept picking at her nails, a sure sign she was nervous.
“Hey.” I waited until she looked at me. “We’ll figure this out together, okay? Just keep the bakery running and I’ll be strategizing a way to make your sisters come around. Pick you up at four?”
Izzy swallowed hard, but nodded, leaning down to give me a kiss. Right there in the middle of town. In the daylight. Where anyone could see. Damn, I loved this girl. So fucking brave.
I zoomed off, even more determined to make things right. I loved her. I would do anything—even face a guy with a gun he knew how to use—to fix the rift with her family.
First stop? Mr. and Mrs. Waldo’s house.
Their little home was an American classic. Two stories with a white porch and a few steps up to the turquoise front door. Potted plants and flowers out front that I could just picture Susie tending on the weekends. Izzy had mentioned her dad had renovated part of the garage as a woodworking area. Which meant he parked his truck out front now and there it was. Chief Waldo was home.
I cut the engine and desperately wished I’d gotten the paint job fixed before coming over, but he already knew I was an asshole. My job was to convince him otherwise.
I knocked on the door and realized my hands were shaking, which was ridiculous. The last deal I negotiated had had seven zeroes behind it, and I hadn’t felt an ounce of nerves.
The door cracked open and Mr. Waldo stood there with a frown on his face so severe his mustache looked like a ripple of water ready to drown me. Unfortunately, he did not have pants on. His red boxers clashed with the pink flamingos splashed across his turquoise button-down shirt. At least I knew he wasn’t packing heat in those lightweight boxers.
“You got five seconds, boy.”
Well, shit. This was already not going well.
“I realize you probably hate me, but I need you to understand my intentions when it comes to Izzy. I love her, sir.”
Chief sucked in a long, noisy breath through his nose and narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t hate you. Hate is reserved for pedophiles and murderers. You one of those?”
“No, sir,” I was quick to respond.
“Then I don’t hate you. I just don’t trust you. Especially not when you show up here with a black eye and on a death trap machine. You ever have a puppy or a cat or something growing up?”
“Uh. Yes. We had a dog when I was a kid.” I frowned, not sure where this line of questioning was going and feeling discombobulated from the verbal whiplash.
Chief’s face broke into a smile that made him look ten years younger and a thousand times less scary. “They’re so cute, aren’t they? All wiggly and excited to see you? Kinda dumb, but the most loyal friend you could ever have, right?” I nodded and he kept going. “They take effort too, but you gladly do it because you love ’em. And then imagine one day, someone walks by your precious puppy and gives them a swift kick to the chest.”
I was wrong. The smile was creepy as hell and ten times scarier than the frown. Mr. Waldo leaned forward and pinned me with a weathered blue-eyed gaze that made me rethink the whole idea of stopping by.
“Kinda makes you want to find your shotgun, don’t it?”
I nodded along, but when he didn’t keep going, I figured it was my time to speak. “I know that I was the one to kick Amelia. Not physically, of course,” I was quick to point out in case there was any confusion there. “But I know I was a jerk to her. The worst. I’ve apologized to her, though I think I need to do it a few more times.”
“Jimmy? Who’s at the door?” I heard a woman’s voice call from inside the house, interrupting this odd conversation. “And where are your goddamn pants?”
The door opened wider and Susie stood there, her short dark hair reminding me of Izzy in a few decades. It was shot with a liberal dose of silver, and I got a sneak peek to what Izzy would be like when she got older. The vision made me smile, despite the ache in my chest that I might not be so lucky to still be in her life by then.
“Daire, what a lovely surprise,” Susie said with a smile, giving me hope this conversation could be turned around.
“Nothing lovely about it,” Mr. Waldo groused.
Susie slapped his arm and opened the door wider before turning and walking further into the house. “Come on in. Are you hungry? Thirsty? I think I still have some coffee in the pot.”
I took one step over the threshold and realized Mr. Waldo hadn’t moved an inch. I had to turn sideways and shuffle in awkwardly to miss scraping his belly as I went. The glare he directed my way wasn’t helping things. Damn, but the man had the power moves down to a science.
“No, I’m good, thank you. I’m sorry for dropping by unannounced,” I called after Susie, finally catching up to her in the living room that opened to the kitchen.
“No problem at all. We love company now that we’re retired.” Susie took a seat on the couch and gestured to the other side. I sat down and gratefully gave her a smile in return. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Not a pleasure…” I heard Mr. Waldo grumble back by the front door. The sound of a zipper filled the room and then he appeared, jeans now covering the red boxers.
“Well, you may have heard that Izzy and I are dating,” I started, not sure what all they knew.
Susie nodded. “Oh yes. We had an interesting phone call from Amelia last night. Then Esme. Then Oakley, and finally Vee. And of course, Poppy also called to make sure we’d heard the news.”
Damn. Izzy was right. News traveled fast in Hell.
I swiped a hand across my mouth and tried to find the words to convince them that I’d changed. Why would they listen to me and not their daughters? Fuck. This had been a terrible idea.
“Why don’t you just spit it out, son?” Susie said softly. When my head came up, she smiled, a mirror image of Izzy. “I believe in getting both sides of the story.”
Mr. Waldo had a seat in the recliner and muttered, “This oughta be good.”
I wasn’t an idiot. I focused on Susie and laid it all out there. If I had any hope of saving this relationship, Susie was my best ticket to freedom.
“Look, I don’t deserve your daughter. Plain and simple. I’ve been an asshole—excuse my language—most of my life, including being an asshole to Amelia. But something happened last year that opened my eyes. I won’t get into the details because they aren’t mine to share, but my little sister was assaulted. Physically and sexually by the man she was dating.”
I looked over at Mr. Waldo, who sat forward at that part. “I understand the shotgun comment. I can’t tell you how many times I reached for mine before putting it down and letting the courts deal with him. As horrible as that’s been for Giana, it was a gift for me. It changed me. I started volunteering at Gigi’s House, wanting to put my time and money to good use for once.”
Susie gasped. “That’s where Izzy volunteers.”
I nodded. “That’s how we met again, actually. Izzy trained me and she also agreed to help me be a better person. I saw how she was around people. Everyone loves her. She’s quiet, but always quick to seek out the person who needs her most in a group. She makes people feel good. She thinks of others before herself, which to be honest, sometimes drives me insane. She’ll work herself to the bone for everyone else before spending time on herself.”
