Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males (24 page)

She thought he was going to say,
away from you
.
 
But if he was, he didn’t allow himself
to finish the sentence.

 
“I get it,” she said.
 
“I would have freaked out too.”

He looked down for a moment.
 
“I didn’t think I’d be out anytime
soon.
 
Leaving the state is one
thing, but getting brought up on assault charges is a whole other can of
worms.
 
It pretty much guaranteed
that I was going back to jail.
 
But
then today, out of nowhere, they came and told me I was free to go.”

“Just like that?” she said.

He shrugged, his eyes locking on hers
again.
 
“Apparently, that asshole
dropped the charges against me.
 
And
the state of Florida’s not going to pursue anything, so I was let go.”

She nodded, wondering if it was a good
time to tell him what she’d done.
 
But it didn’t feel right to say it, so instead she said, “I’m so happy
for you, Elijah.”

“It’s not over yet, though,” he said, his
expression turning more serious.
 
“I’m still going to have a hearing about my parole violation for leaving
Mass.
 
If they decide that leaving
the state and going to Florida is bad enough, they’ll put me away anyhow.
 
This just gives me a chance.”

“Well, it’s something,” she said, her
heart sinking a little.
 
“When is
your hearing?”

“A week from today.”
 
He sighed and shook his head.
 
“But I don’t want to talk about my
hearing.”
 
He was still watching
her.
 
“I want to talk about you,
Caelyn.”

She felt her breath catch in her
chest.
 
Sitting this close to him
was unbelievable.
 
Her entire body
was warm, burning up, and she sensed that the energy between them had only
gotten stronger even though they’d been away from one another.

“What is there to say about me?” she
laughed nervously.
 
“My life sucks.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted.
 
Saying it out loud was difficult, but
immediately she felt a weight off her chest.
 
“Everyone seems to hate me right now.”

“Who hates you?” he demanded.
 

“My family.
 
My roommate at Cambridge.”
 
She thought about Jayson, but didn’t
bother saying his name, especially since Jayson was now under the impression
that they might be able to rekindle their romance.

An impression that she’d purposely helped
to give him.

Elijah’s smirk turned down and he grit
his teeth.
 
“I don’t like hearing
you say that people hate you.
 
Are
these people giving you a hard time?”

“My sister Deena is.”

“I have a brother and a sister,” Elijah
said, “so I know what you mean.”
 
He
put his hand on her hand.
 
“But why
are you letting them get to you?”

Caelyn shrugged.
 
“I’ve been confused ever since…what
happened to me at Jayson’s apartment.
 
It’s like all of my confidence is gone.”

“It’ll come back.
 
Give it time.”

She looked at him, amazed.
 
“Sometimes you sound wise, like an old
man.”

“Shit, thanks a lot,” he said, sarcastic,
but still somehow pleased underneath it all.

“I’m serious.
 
You sound like you’ve been where I
am.
 
And it’s comforting.”
 
She allowed herself to feel the warmth
of his hand covering hers.
 
That was
even more comforting.
 
Having him
next to her, real and in person, seemed to make everything instantly better.

“You’re going to be okay, Caelyn.”

“How do you know?”

He adjusted his baseball cap with his
free hand.
 
“I just know.
 
I can tell a lot from looking at
someone—how they behave, carry themselves, whether they have any
backbone.
 
You’ve got backbone to
spare, kid.”

“Okay, you need to stop calling me kid.”

“It’s a term of endearment.”

“It’s weird.”

They looked at one another for a long
time, and Caelyn could feel the energy between them intensifying, and her heart
speeding up along with it.
 
Suddenly, she was nervous and fidgety.
 
She pulled her hand away from his, not
even knowing why.
 

She wanted him to kiss her.
 
She wanted to feel his arms around her,
his chest pressing against her chest.
 
But something frightened her, too.
 
It was so intense and it almost felt overpowering, like she might
drown—lose herself completely.

She looked outside the passenger window
at her parents’ house.
 

 
“I won’t call you kid anymore,” he said
softly.

She exhaled slowly.
 
“I don’t care about that.”

“You got all weird,” he said.
 
“It’s like a wall went up.”

She glanced over at him, taking him
in.
 
He was lean and relaxed in the
driver’s seat, his strong jaw jutting out as he watched her.
 
She felt drawn too him, but terrified
all over again.
 
“I’m sorry I’m
being weird,” she told him.
 
“The
last few days have been so crazy, and I feel like maybe I’m going nuts.”

“You’re not going nuts.
 
You’re just probably tired and mentally
exhausted.
 
You need to stop trying
to figure everything out,” he told her.
 
“Things will work out.”

Now she did look at him.
 
“What if they don’t?”

“They just do.
 
Everything works itself out, one way or
another.”
 
He grinned suddenly.
 
“Shit, look at me.
 
I was in jail and it looked like they
were going to throw away the key.
 
A
few hours later, I’m out—free as a bird.”

A quick spark of frustration clenched her
stomach.
 
“That didn’t
just happen
,” she said.
 

His expression grew puzzled.
 
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, you got out because I did
everything I could to get you out.”

Instantly she regretted saying it.

Elijah’s eyes narrowed.
 
“What did you do, Caelyn?”

Her hands clasped one another, fingers
twisting as she thought about how to say it without upsetting him.
 
“I did some reading online about parole
violations and everything.”

“Yeah…” he wiped a hand across his
mouth.
 
“And?”

“And I figured out that if Jayson pressed
charges against you, you’d definitely have to stay in jail.
 
So I called Jayson—“

Elijah closed his eyes and pressed his
hands against the steering wheel.
 
“You fucking called him?”
 
When he opened his eyes and looked at her again, Caelyn was stunned by
the intensity in his dark eyes.

“I had to talk him out of pressing
charges,” she said, almost whispering.

“Why?
 
Why would you have anything to say to
him?”

“Because.
 
I didn’t want you to go to jail.”

He stared at her, as if totally
disbelieving what she was saying.
 
“Caelyn, there’s no way he just dropped the charges to be a nice guy.”

She took a deep breath.
 
“No, he didn’t do it just to be
nice.
 
I told him I’d drop the
charges against him if he dropped the ones against you.”

Elijah put a hand over his face and
moaned.
 
“No, no, no.”

She reached out and touched his shoulder
and he suddenly threw open the car door and got out.
 
Before she knew it, Elijah had started
walking down the street, away from the truck.

He was walking fast, seemingly trying to
get away from her.
 
Caelyn got out
and ran after him.
 
“Where are you
going?” she cried.

“I can’t believe you fucking did that,”
he shouted over his shoulder at her.

“Elijah,” she yelled, breathing heavily
as she got close to him.
 
“Stop
walking so fast.
 
Hold on.”

“You must want to make me go and kill
that scumbag,” he yelled.
 

She grabbed the back of his coat and he
spun on her.

“Elijah—“

He grabbed her by the shoulders, not
hard, but his hands felt firm and strong against her.
 
He was staring into her eyes, his lips
close to hers.
 
“I would have rather
done five years than let you take the fall for me.”

“I didn’t take the fall.”

“You did.
 
You dropped those charges against the
guy who raped you.”
 
His face
changed to disgust.
 
“Now that
animal’s going to get away with hurting you.
 
At least, he thinks he’s going to.”
 
His eyes clouded over, as he seemed to
think it all through.

“Elijah, you can’t do anything else to
hurt Jayson.
 
I know you’re angry,
but it’s over.”

He was still holding her shoulders.
 
His face drew closer, so close that she
could smell his breath, his skin, and she could almost fall into his dark
eyes.
 
“How can I let him hurt
you?
 
I would kill to protect you.”

“I don’t want you to kill for me.
 
I’m okay.”

“Are you?” he said.
 
“Are you really?”

She nodded.
 
“I am now,” she said softly.

And then he was kissing her.
 
His hands moved from her shoulders to
cupping her face, as he gently touched his lips to hers.
 

Elijah’s lips were the softest she’d ever
felt.
 
They were like velvet, soft
and warm and insistent, but not overly aggressive.
 
He seemed to be happy to kiss her gently
at first, as his hands caressed her cheeks and then one hand moved to the back
of her head.

The kiss suddenly got more intense, as he
pulled her closer to him.
 
The night
around her felt completely beautifully, and she told herself she would remember
this moment forever and ever, until the day she died and beyond.

 
He broke away for a moment, looking at
her.

She smiled.
 
“I’ve been waiting for that,” she told
him.

His mouth twitched into a slight
grin.
 
“You have, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“What else have you been waiting for?”

She licked her lips.
 
“I can’t say right now.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both.”

He laughed and then leaned in and began
kissing her again, this time with more emphasis.
 
His tongue entered her mouth and she
could taste mint, and her body shuddered with the sensation of him against her,
feeling his skin and knowing he wanted her.

She wouldn’t have thought it was possible
that she might want him sexually, might be begging for him to do so much more
to her, not so soon after what Jayson had done to her.

But the truth was, she did.
 
Her body was responding, everything
inside her was responding, not caring what she’d been through or any of her
doubts and concerns.

Her body seemed to demand so much more
than just a mere kiss.

Everything felt tight and ready, waiting
like a coiled spring, and all it needed was for Elijah to turn the key and…

She moaned as his tongue slowly worked
its way in and out of her mouth and she ran her hands down the length of his
chest, to his rock hard abdomen.

It only occurred to her that they were
standing in the street when she heard the car pulling up behind them and felt
the headlights illuminating them.
 
She turned towards the blinding light.

“Oh, sorry,” she yelled, backing out of
the road, towards the curb.

Elijah moved with her.