All Things Pretty
Page 11
“I assume you’re doing precisely what you tell me you’re doing. I know you know what would happen if I found out you were lying to me.”
“Yes, I do know. So then why have me followed?”
“You’re not being followed. You’re being protected. There’s a difference.”
“It doesn’t feel different. It feels like an invasion of my privacy.”
“You shouldn’t need privacy from me. I love you. I have only your best interests at heart.” Hearing the word love come from an asshole like Tonin’s lips is about as incongruous as Mike Tyson in a Gandhi costume. A guy like Lance Tonin doesn’t love anything but money. Possessions. Power. And his facial expression tells me I’m right. There’s no love there. No real concern. Obsession maybe, but no love.
“It’s not my privacy, per se. It’s Travis’s. Do you know what this will do to his routine?”
“Fine then Sig will keep a safe distance when you’re with Travis, but he will be going with you. This is non-negotiable.”
Tommi’s spine is so straight it looks like she might split in two if she tries to bend. I can tell she wants to say something else, but she’s keeping it to herself. Fear? Maybe. But I don’t think so. She doesn’t look afraid. She just looks…pissed. But then why not speak up? There seem to be some subtleties about their dynamic that I need to learn. I probably shouldn’t care. After all, I’m here to take down Tonin by whatever means necessary. I tell myself that Tommi might be “whatever means” and knowing all I can know about her will only help me.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
I ignore the fact that I’m anxious to know her, to learn her, to get a feel for her. She damn near fascinates me, but luckily I’m not the type to let a woman get to me. The fairer sex is a helluva lot of fun and I love everything about their bodies and the way their minds work, but when it comes to matters of the heart, I keep my distance. Not much good comes from love and that knowledge will serve me well in situations like this. There’s zero danger of me getting too close.
Angrily, Tommi slings her purse strap over her shoulder and stalks toward me, barking a short, “Let’s go,” as she passes.
I glance at Tonin and he bobs his head once, his already-thin lips thinning further as his jaw flexes rhythmically. “Don’t lose her.”
I return his sharp nod. “No problem.”
With my long legs, I catch up to Tommi before the elevator doors close. I stick my hand in to stop it, grinning at the way her eyes flash at me.
“I don’t see anything funny about this situation.”
“Funny? Not funny, but your eyes are like green fire and your cheeks are all pink and flushed, like you’ve just been fuc– errr, like you’ve just been kissed. It’s sexy as hell. And I always grin at sexy-as-hell women.”
If anything, I think she actually gets madder. Which makes me wanna smile all the more. I edge up close to her and stick out my bent arm. “Wanna punch me? Would that make you feel better?”
She turns furious eyes up to mine and, for a second, I think she’s gonna cuss me out, the way her mouth drops open. But she doesn’t. Instead, she balls up her fist and pulls back to land a decent punch to my deltoid.
I nod at her. “Not bad for a girl.”
“Want me to try again? Below the waist? With my knee?” She says the words through gritted teeth, like she relishes the thought of nailing me in the balls.
“As much as I like the thought of my ‘below the waist’ being on your mind, that’s not exactly what I was thinking.”
Her stiff posture and angry expression ease. “You wish I was thinking about your ‘below the waist’.”
“Hell yeah, I do. A beautiful woman like you, what man wouldn’t?”
She cocks her head to one side and watches me. “Lance is very jealous, you know. Aren’t you aren’t afraid of what he’d do to you for saying things like that to me?”
“Men take crazy risks for the love of a beautiful woman.”
Something sad happens in her eyes. “But it’s not love you’re after, is it Sig?”
“Is it love you’re after?”
She pauses before she answers thoughtfully, “Isn’t everyone?”
Before I can respond, the elevator doors open and she turns to walk out, her pace slower than it was when she left the living room upstairs. We make our way to her car in silence. I wait for her to click the remote that opens the door and then I reach around to open it, effectively trapping her between me and the car.
“Can I tell you something?” I ask her softly. My dick twitches when her big doe eyes fall to my lips and stay there. She nods. “I promise you won’t know I’m even here. Just let me follow you.”
Her eyes finally rise back up to mine and she nods again. “Please don’t disappoint me.” She says it quietly. Earnestly. Like she’s talking about much more than just this conversation. I feel a stab of guilt, knowing that not only will she be disappointed, but she’ll likely get into some amount of trouble in the end, when all is said and done.
Out of necessity, I brush it off and put on the glib guy that I’ve always been. “Baby, I never disappoint.”
One side of her mouth tweaks up in a humorless, lopsided grin. “Everyone disappoints.”
With that, she drops down into the driver’s seat and waits, without meeting my eyes, for me to close the door.
Who the hell is this woman? And who has hurt her?
CHAPTER ELEVEN- TOMMI
I glance back at Sig’s handsome face, partially concealed by the sexiest sunglasses I’ve ever seen. He’s leaning to the right, his wrist draped casually over the steering wheel of his big truck. He looks relaxed. Competent. Sexy.
Sexy, sexy, sexy! Why does that word keep popping up in my head?
Because he is. Everything about him is sexy. His smile, his voice, his eyes, his walk, his body. Even his stupid truck. Somehow he manages to make it look sexy, like a motorcycle on four jacked-up tires.
Stop being so ridiculous!
I pull my eyes to the road ahead just in time to slam on the brakes to keep from rear-ending Toyota in front of me. I bite back a curse, straightening my arms and legs as my car comes to a screeching halt. When the little old woman manages to make her left hand turn, I let out the breath I sucked in and glance in my mirror one last time. Sig is smiling, a smug smile that says he knows what I was thinking. It’s both infuriating and exhilarating enough to make my stomach flip over.
“Yes, I do know. So then why have me followed?”
“You’re not being followed. You’re being protected. There’s a difference.”
“It doesn’t feel different. It feels like an invasion of my privacy.”
“You shouldn’t need privacy from me. I love you. I have only your best interests at heart.” Hearing the word love come from an asshole like Tonin’s lips is about as incongruous as Mike Tyson in a Gandhi costume. A guy like Lance Tonin doesn’t love anything but money. Possessions. Power. And his facial expression tells me I’m right. There’s no love there. No real concern. Obsession maybe, but no love.
“It’s not my privacy, per se. It’s Travis’s. Do you know what this will do to his routine?”
“Fine then Sig will keep a safe distance when you’re with Travis, but he will be going with you. This is non-negotiable.”
Tommi’s spine is so straight it looks like she might split in two if she tries to bend. I can tell she wants to say something else, but she’s keeping it to herself. Fear? Maybe. But I don’t think so. She doesn’t look afraid. She just looks…pissed. But then why not speak up? There seem to be some subtleties about their dynamic that I need to learn. I probably shouldn’t care. After all, I’m here to take down Tonin by whatever means necessary. I tell myself that Tommi might be “whatever means” and knowing all I can know about her will only help me.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
I ignore the fact that I’m anxious to know her, to learn her, to get a feel for her. She damn near fascinates me, but luckily I’m not the type to let a woman get to me. The fairer sex is a helluva lot of fun and I love everything about their bodies and the way their minds work, but when it comes to matters of the heart, I keep my distance. Not much good comes from love and that knowledge will serve me well in situations like this. There’s zero danger of me getting too close.
Angrily, Tommi slings her purse strap over her shoulder and stalks toward me, barking a short, “Let’s go,” as she passes.
I glance at Tonin and he bobs his head once, his already-thin lips thinning further as his jaw flexes rhythmically. “Don’t lose her.”
I return his sharp nod. “No problem.”
With my long legs, I catch up to Tommi before the elevator doors close. I stick my hand in to stop it, grinning at the way her eyes flash at me.
“I don’t see anything funny about this situation.”
“Funny? Not funny, but your eyes are like green fire and your cheeks are all pink and flushed, like you’ve just been fuc– errr, like you’ve just been kissed. It’s sexy as hell. And I always grin at sexy-as-hell women.”
If anything, I think she actually gets madder. Which makes me wanna smile all the more. I edge up close to her and stick out my bent arm. “Wanna punch me? Would that make you feel better?”
She turns furious eyes up to mine and, for a second, I think she’s gonna cuss me out, the way her mouth drops open. But she doesn’t. Instead, she balls up her fist and pulls back to land a decent punch to my deltoid.
I nod at her. “Not bad for a girl.”
“Want me to try again? Below the waist? With my knee?” She says the words through gritted teeth, like she relishes the thought of nailing me in the balls.
“As much as I like the thought of my ‘below the waist’ being on your mind, that’s not exactly what I was thinking.”
Her stiff posture and angry expression ease. “You wish I was thinking about your ‘below the waist’.”
“Hell yeah, I do. A beautiful woman like you, what man wouldn’t?”
She cocks her head to one side and watches me. “Lance is very jealous, you know. Aren’t you aren’t afraid of what he’d do to you for saying things like that to me?”
“Men take crazy risks for the love of a beautiful woman.”
Something sad happens in her eyes. “But it’s not love you’re after, is it Sig?”
“Is it love you’re after?”
She pauses before she answers thoughtfully, “Isn’t everyone?”
Before I can respond, the elevator doors open and she turns to walk out, her pace slower than it was when she left the living room upstairs. We make our way to her car in silence. I wait for her to click the remote that opens the door and then I reach around to open it, effectively trapping her between me and the car.
“Can I tell you something?” I ask her softly. My dick twitches when her big doe eyes fall to my lips and stay there. She nods. “I promise you won’t know I’m even here. Just let me follow you.”
Her eyes finally rise back up to mine and she nods again. “Please don’t disappoint me.” She says it quietly. Earnestly. Like she’s talking about much more than just this conversation. I feel a stab of guilt, knowing that not only will she be disappointed, but she’ll likely get into some amount of trouble in the end, when all is said and done.
Out of necessity, I brush it off and put on the glib guy that I’ve always been. “Baby, I never disappoint.”
One side of her mouth tweaks up in a humorless, lopsided grin. “Everyone disappoints.”
With that, she drops down into the driver’s seat and waits, without meeting my eyes, for me to close the door.
Who the hell is this woman? And who has hurt her?
CHAPTER ELEVEN- TOMMI
I glance back at Sig’s handsome face, partially concealed by the sexiest sunglasses I’ve ever seen. He’s leaning to the right, his wrist draped casually over the steering wheel of his big truck. He looks relaxed. Competent. Sexy.
Sexy, sexy, sexy! Why does that word keep popping up in my head?
Because he is. Everything about him is sexy. His smile, his voice, his eyes, his walk, his body. Even his stupid truck. Somehow he manages to make it look sexy, like a motorcycle on four jacked-up tires.
Stop being so ridiculous!
I pull my eyes to the road ahead just in time to slam on the brakes to keep from rear-ending Toyota in front of me. I bite back a curse, straightening my arms and legs as my car comes to a screeching halt. When the little old woman manages to make her left hand turn, I let out the breath I sucked in and glance in my mirror one last time. Sig is smiling, a smug smile that says he knows what I was thinking. It’s both infuriating and exhilarating enough to make my stomach flip over.
