Salvaged
Page 58
It took longer than normal to get across town because sometime during my coffee date with Kallie it started snowing. The roads were starting to get slick and the last thing I wanted to do was slide into a ditch and have to call Wheeler to rescue me when I was on my way to save him.
I parked behind the Caddy and noticed that along with his boot prints and paw prints in the snow there was also a set of tire tracks that looked much bigger and wider, and led all the way to the front door. I picked my way carefully through the snow and made my way up to the door. It opened before I could knock and I fell back a step when I was confronted with a scowling, shirtless Wheeler. His auburn hair was standing up in a million directions like he’d been pulling at it and he had an open bottle of some kind of liquor in his hand. I heard Happy bark from somewhere inside the house behind him and narrowed my eyes at him when he didn’t immediately open the door and let me in from the cold.
“Are you going to let me come inside?” I lifted my fingers to my mouth and blew on them to warm them up and to make a point.
He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a healthy swig. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Poppy. It’s not a good day. I’m not feeling very nice at the moment.”
Annoyed at his attitude and the fact that he thought I would only take him when he was sunshine and roses, I pulled open the glass storm door and wiggled my way around him into the warmth of the house. I took my coat off and went to throw it on the back of the couch when I suddenly realized the living room was completely empty except for the flat-screen TV that was sitting woefully alone on the floor in the corner. Every stick of furniture was gone. The walls were bare. The floors were barren and the windows naked. It looked like a home that had yet to have anyone live in it.
I spun around to face Wheeler, who was propped up against the wall still sucking back booze and glowering at me through narrowed eyes. “Where is everything?”
He lifted a tattooed shoulder and let it fall. His eyes looked like ice and his demeanor felt about as warm. “I finally hired some people to take it to storage. Kallie’s going to take it all when she gets her own place.”
“You got rid of everything without having anything to replace it?” I cocked my head to the side and asked, “Why would you do that?”
He swore and lifted a hand to shove through his disheveled hair. “Kallie told you what today was supposed to be, didn’t she? That’s why you’re here.”
I dropped my coat and my purse on the floor and crossed my arms over my chest. “She told me but that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I was worried about you and I couldn’t stand the idea of you hurting and dealing with it all by yourself.”
He lowered his head and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’ve had enough hurt in your life, Poppy. You don’t need to take any of mine.”
I gritted my teeth and pointed a finger at him. “That’s bullshit and you know it. ‘All in’ means we’re in it together through the good and the bad, Wheeler. It means we tackle the ups and enjoy the downs together. I’m not going to fall apart because you’re surly and don’t feel like playing nice. I’m not going to run away from you because the wolf is off the leash and looking to sink its teeth into anyone that might be close by.” I took a few tentative steps toward him, and when he didn’t move I reached out and snagged the bottle of booze from his limp hand. “I gotta tell ya, Hudson, a bad day with you is still better than the best day without you.”
His chin dropped until it almost touched his chest and I watched his shoulders lift and fall as he battled emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.
“I have you, so I didn’t think today was going to hurt so bad.” His voice was raspy and raw.
I set the bottle on the floor and moved into him so that I could wrap my arms around his waist. I tucked my head under his chin and kissed his chest where his heart was thundering erratic and wild under my cheek. “Of course it hurts, you wouldn’t be the man you are if it didn’t.”
I felt him sigh against my hair and slowly his arms lifted so that he was holding me the same way I was holding on to him.
“Did you really get rid of everything?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief out of my voice.
He nodded, his chin bumping into the crown of my head. “I did. Happy’s in my room playing with all the clothes I threw out of the dresser before they hauled it off. I don’t even have a bed to sleep on tonight. I didn’t want any part of Kallie in this house. It was always supposed to be ours and it’s about time I made it mine.”
I tightened my hold on him and tilted my head back so that I was looking into his frigid gaze. “When you first started coming around, when you made it known that all my issues and hang-ups didn’t scare you, I noticed that all the bad things I couldn’t forget were slowly being replaced by all the good things you forced me to focus on. We need to do that here, replace the memories of you and her and create memories that are just yours so you don’t have to try as hard to forget.”
All he was wearing was a pair of thin, nylon track pants, so when I pressed my hips into his I felt the immediate response. His body tightened and his dick twitched where I was rubbing against him.
He cupped the back of my head and I felt his lips touch my forehead. “I told you I’m not feeling very nice today and I’ve been drinking. That’s not a good combo, honey. I don’t want to scare you, ever. Right now, I’m scaring myself.”
I appreciated the warning. A lesser man would never give one, he would simply take my offer to kiss it and make it better, damn the consequences. Not Wheeler. He was always protecting me even from himself.
“Do you know why I’m here, Wheeler, why I had the courage to show up at your garage and ask you to take me to bed in front of all your guys and anyone else that might happen by?”
He slowly shook his head in the negative and moved his hands so that he was cupping my jaw in his rough palm. “Why are you here, honey?”
I let out my breath slowly and flattened my hands on his chest. “Because when I couldn’t trust myself, when I didn’t know anything or believe in myself, I believed in you. I knew that you wouldn’t hurt me, that you would be careful with me, so I didn’t have to trust myself and my choices because you were never going to be anything but a good man.” I slid my hands up around his neck and lifted myself up on my tiptoes so I could press my mouth to his. “I knew it then and I know it now. You are not a guest in this house, Wheeler. This is your home. You belong here and the only thing you should let through that door is happiness.”
I parked behind the Caddy and noticed that along with his boot prints and paw prints in the snow there was also a set of tire tracks that looked much bigger and wider, and led all the way to the front door. I picked my way carefully through the snow and made my way up to the door. It opened before I could knock and I fell back a step when I was confronted with a scowling, shirtless Wheeler. His auburn hair was standing up in a million directions like he’d been pulling at it and he had an open bottle of some kind of liquor in his hand. I heard Happy bark from somewhere inside the house behind him and narrowed my eyes at him when he didn’t immediately open the door and let me in from the cold.
“Are you going to let me come inside?” I lifted my fingers to my mouth and blew on them to warm them up and to make a point.
He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a healthy swig. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Poppy. It’s not a good day. I’m not feeling very nice at the moment.”
Annoyed at his attitude and the fact that he thought I would only take him when he was sunshine and roses, I pulled open the glass storm door and wiggled my way around him into the warmth of the house. I took my coat off and went to throw it on the back of the couch when I suddenly realized the living room was completely empty except for the flat-screen TV that was sitting woefully alone on the floor in the corner. Every stick of furniture was gone. The walls were bare. The floors were barren and the windows naked. It looked like a home that had yet to have anyone live in it.
I spun around to face Wheeler, who was propped up against the wall still sucking back booze and glowering at me through narrowed eyes. “Where is everything?”
He lifted a tattooed shoulder and let it fall. His eyes looked like ice and his demeanor felt about as warm. “I finally hired some people to take it to storage. Kallie’s going to take it all when she gets her own place.”
“You got rid of everything without having anything to replace it?” I cocked my head to the side and asked, “Why would you do that?”
He swore and lifted a hand to shove through his disheveled hair. “Kallie told you what today was supposed to be, didn’t she? That’s why you’re here.”
I dropped my coat and my purse on the floor and crossed my arms over my chest. “She told me but that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I was worried about you and I couldn’t stand the idea of you hurting and dealing with it all by yourself.”
He lowered his head and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. “You’ve had enough hurt in your life, Poppy. You don’t need to take any of mine.”
I gritted my teeth and pointed a finger at him. “That’s bullshit and you know it. ‘All in’ means we’re in it together through the good and the bad, Wheeler. It means we tackle the ups and enjoy the downs together. I’m not going to fall apart because you’re surly and don’t feel like playing nice. I’m not going to run away from you because the wolf is off the leash and looking to sink its teeth into anyone that might be close by.” I took a few tentative steps toward him, and when he didn’t move I reached out and snagged the bottle of booze from his limp hand. “I gotta tell ya, Hudson, a bad day with you is still better than the best day without you.”
His chin dropped until it almost touched his chest and I watched his shoulders lift and fall as he battled emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.
“I have you, so I didn’t think today was going to hurt so bad.” His voice was raspy and raw.
I set the bottle on the floor and moved into him so that I could wrap my arms around his waist. I tucked my head under his chin and kissed his chest where his heart was thundering erratic and wild under my cheek. “Of course it hurts, you wouldn’t be the man you are if it didn’t.”
I felt him sigh against my hair and slowly his arms lifted so that he was holding me the same way I was holding on to him.
“Did you really get rid of everything?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief out of my voice.
He nodded, his chin bumping into the crown of my head. “I did. Happy’s in my room playing with all the clothes I threw out of the dresser before they hauled it off. I don’t even have a bed to sleep on tonight. I didn’t want any part of Kallie in this house. It was always supposed to be ours and it’s about time I made it mine.”
I tightened my hold on him and tilted my head back so that I was looking into his frigid gaze. “When you first started coming around, when you made it known that all my issues and hang-ups didn’t scare you, I noticed that all the bad things I couldn’t forget were slowly being replaced by all the good things you forced me to focus on. We need to do that here, replace the memories of you and her and create memories that are just yours so you don’t have to try as hard to forget.”
All he was wearing was a pair of thin, nylon track pants, so when I pressed my hips into his I felt the immediate response. His body tightened and his dick twitched where I was rubbing against him.
He cupped the back of my head and I felt his lips touch my forehead. “I told you I’m not feeling very nice today and I’ve been drinking. That’s not a good combo, honey. I don’t want to scare you, ever. Right now, I’m scaring myself.”
I appreciated the warning. A lesser man would never give one, he would simply take my offer to kiss it and make it better, damn the consequences. Not Wheeler. He was always protecting me even from himself.
“Do you know why I’m here, Wheeler, why I had the courage to show up at your garage and ask you to take me to bed in front of all your guys and anyone else that might happen by?”
He slowly shook his head in the negative and moved his hands so that he was cupping my jaw in his rough palm. “Why are you here, honey?”
I let out my breath slowly and flattened my hands on his chest. “Because when I couldn’t trust myself, when I didn’t know anything or believe in myself, I believed in you. I knew that you wouldn’t hurt me, that you would be careful with me, so I didn’t have to trust myself and my choices because you were never going to be anything but a good man.” I slid my hands up around his neck and lifted myself up on my tiptoes so I could press my mouth to his. “I knew it then and I know it now. You are not a guest in this house, Wheeler. This is your home. You belong here and the only thing you should let through that door is happiness.”
