Holding Strong
Page 101

“I’m pretty sure he kissed her, not the other way around.”
“That’s not how it looked to me. Do you think Stack likes her?”
Denver shrugged. “Sure. Why wouldn’t he?”
“Denver Lewis, you know that’s not what I mean. Does he like-like her?”
Why did women always want to analyze things? “He’s confused, far as I can tell.” Wind shook overhead tree branches, and the wet leaves sprinkled them with rain droplets. Denver stepped her out from under the long branches. “Don’t worry about your car. I’ll take care of it.”
She frowned at him. “I can—”
“No need.” A truck drove slowly past, making Denver frown. Then he saw the driver smile and pull over to pick up a friend who stepped out of a building. “I’ll take care of it.”
Cherry grumbled, but didn’t push him. “Are we going back to my place now?”
Absently, he shook his head. “We’re going to my house tonight, remember? I need to soak my shoulder for a bit and all you have is a shower.”
She did an about-face. “You hurt your shoulder?”
“It’s fine.” He’d overworked every muscle today in an effort to sweat off tension. It hadn’t helped. “It’s just sore, that’s all.”
“There’s a bathtub upstairs.”
“In Rissy’s domain? Yeah, I can’t see Cannon liking that idea.”
She smacked at him. “It’s not like she’d peek in on you.” After only a short hesitation, she added, “I don’t think.”
He grinned, but remained watchful. “Maybe I should just show her the goods to take care of her curiosity.” Across the street a group of people laughed as they walked along. Somewhere farther up a car door slammed.
Denver realized Cherry had stopped and he turned to find her standing stiffly, her arms crossed and her face tight.
The grin caught him by surprise. “Just a joke, girl. Don’t get all huffy.”
“It’s not funny.”
Reaching out, he caught her elbow and drew her forward and into his arms. There on the sidewalk, with the steady drone of dripping gutters around them, he kissed her. “We made that exclusivity bargain, remember?”
“It covers looking or showing?”
“Definitely.” He didn’t want anyone else even thinking of Cherry’s body, much less seeing it.
Satisfied, she nodded. “Okay then.”
He got her to his car and held the passenger door open for her.
As soon as she was seated, she said, “The bathroom door has a lock.”
“Buckle up.” He closed the door and walked around the hood to get behind the wheel. He started the car, but his thoughts were divided between danger and Cherry in the bath. “You soak in the tub a lot?”
“Often. Rissy doesn’t mind.”
“Damn.” He could almost see her resting back, her blond hair pinned up while the water lapped at her big, soft breasts. He shifted in his seat. It seemed no matter how many times he had her, or what else might be going on—like a few lunatics offering up threats—she got him primed so easily.
“We could soak together,” she suggested.
Yeah, he’d like that. But suspicion reared its ugly head.
He pulled away from the curb before asking, his tone as casual as he could make it, “Is there a reason you don’t want to go to my place?”
“No. I’d actually like to see where you live.”
“Then why all the hesitation?”
The seconds ticked by until they turned into a full minute.
“Cherry?”
She grumbled again, this time with more irritation. “I’m still annoyed with you.”
“Really?” She’d hid it well. “How does that play into going to my place?”
“It doesn’t. It’s just...I wanted us to talk.”
“We’re talking.” But yeah, he knew that wasn’t what she meant.
“You,” she said with emphasis, “have some explaining to do, but now we have to worry about stupid Carver, so I’m trying to put it aside for the moment.”
So levelheaded. She had reason to be mad. She also had reason to prioritize. “Appreciate it.”
Looking very pugnacious—and cute—she glared at him. “On the off chance that creep is hanging around, maybe following us, I don’t want to lead him to your home. But I know admitting that to you is only going to fire you up more and I do not want to turn this into you being annoyed with me.”