“Bella’s boyfriend,” she said, hugging him close.
Chuckling, Jake gave her a light squeeze before pulling away. “What brings you here?”
“I’m checking this place out. I hear it’s the bomb.” She opened her arms wide imitating an explosion, the sarcasm easy to hear.
“Okay, your sister is at her place with Maya.”
“Sharing places now? It’s getting serious. Do you have a diamond picked out?”
Before he met Bella any thought of settling down filled him with fright. When it came to his woman, he knew it was going to be the next step for them.
“You’re settling down already. It’s only been a couple of weeks,” Nick said.
Daisy looked past him to Nick.
“Who are you?” Daisy asked, eyeing his friend up and down.
“This is Nick Clark. He works here too.”
“Are you a Dom?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Nick took Daisy’s hand, kissing her knuckles. Heat filled her cheeks as she started to stutter. “So, you’re settling down?” Nick turned back to him, still holding Daisy’s hand.
“I’ve met the right woman. She’s waiting for me at home.”
“The good little wife then,” Nick said.
Laughing, he left them and pulled his cell phone out. He dialed Bella’s number, waiting for her to answer.
“Hello,” Maya said, answering the phone.
“Hi, will you put Bella on the phone?”
“Why? What’s wrong with me?”
“You’re not my woman, and I don’t want to talk to you,” he said, walking toward Ryan’s office.
Maya huffed. “Tell that friend of yours, Chris, he can kiss my ass. We’re completely over. He can buy me as many flowers and chocolates as he likes. I’m not going near him and his septic cock again.”
“Shut up, Maya. Give me the phone.” Bella fought with her friend. A little scuffle and a squeal met his ears. “Hey, Jake. How’s work?”
“What did you do to get her off the line?” He sat down in the first available chair and relaxed at the sound of her voice.
“I pulled her hair. Maya’s like every other woman. She’s all bark and no bite once you handle her right.”
“Just like you. I seem to recall you liking your hair pulled when it’s the right moment. Your mouth is always full when I do.”
Bella groaned. “Stop. It’s not fair because now all I want is for you to come home so we can do exactly that.”
“He’s talking dirty to you. Your cheeks are all flushed and your nipples are—”
“Maya, shut up. You’re not being very friendly.”
“Your cheeks are flushed?” he asked.
“What do you expect when you talk like that.”
“I’m rock hard.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m thinking about what I want to do to you when I get my hands on you.”
Her breathing came over the line in pants.
“Are you working this weekend?” she asked.
“Yes. You can stay at my place for the weekend and I’ll wake you up when I get home. You’re not at the library, are you?” He rubbed a hand over his face, waiting patiently.
“No, I’ll stay at your place.”
They talked for several minutes and he enjoyed their conversation. What he was about to do cemented in his mind as the right thing.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he said
“Okay, work hard but not too hard.”
He hung up the phone. The words, ‘I love you’, were on the tip of his tongue. Jake kept them back. He wasn’t ready to take that next step.
It was only a matter of time before they were there. He knew without a shadow of a doubt he belonged to Bella just like she belonged to him.
She stood up and sat on the arm of the sofa, wrapping her arms around her friend.
“I’m a fucking idiot for believing there is anything good about him.” Maya sobbed.
“No, you’re not. He invited you back to meet his parents, right?”
“Yeah. It’s why I thought he might be wanting to take it to the next stage. I was so fucking wrong.” Whenever Maya got upset, her friend took up cursing to get her through the pain. “I hate him. I want to make a voodoo doll of him and cut off his penis.”
Laughing, she tightened her hold on Maya. She wasn’t letting her friend leave her home tonight.