Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Grayson

"Are you here by yourself, Bonny?"

I don't like how she isn't meeting my eyes, how tired she looks and the distance she keeps trying to put between us.

"Um, Candy will be back in like ten or fifteen minutes."

I also don't like how she fell asleep up front with the door open and nobody else in the place with her. Anybody could look at her through the big windows and come in to take her. She would be in trouble before she even realized what was happening.

"You should put bells on the door, Bunny." She frowns like she doesn't understand why I would tell her to put the bells up. "So, you know when someone comes in."

"Oh, um, I'll let Candy know."

When she turns back around, I am standing so close to her she runs into me. "Bunny," I cup her face in my palm, "I'm going to let you have today and tonight baby, but Friday after closing time…you're mine."

I bring my lips down on her but keep the kiss short and sweet. I hear the door open and close right before I take a step back and turn. Candace is standing in front of us giving me a hard look. She crosses her arms over her chest and tilts her head at me like she might be trying to figure me out.

I keep my distance even though I indulge by waiting for her to leave and following her home to make sure she gets there safely. I sit outside watching as Tandy runs around her in circles and ends up pulling her to the porch. I can tell how tired she is, damn it. Not like I can say very much, it isn't like I've been sleeping either.

What the hell happened? Did someone say something to make her change her mind? Did one of the little shits from town confront her? I discard that idea immediately. I know enough about Bonny that I'm sure she would never listen to someone else and judge a person for no reason other than gossip. She's not that type of person. No this is something she's heard, or seen, or…I try to think of a recent time she might have seen me with another woman and misconstrued something, but I don't go around hugging or touching any other people. Just her and it will only ever be just her.

I suffer through another sleepless night spent pacing through my house. The next morning, I am sitting outside her house waiting for her to pull out of her driveway and follow her to the shop. By the time I shut and lock the door at the close of the day, I am more than ready to grab Bonny and figure this shit out. I'm so close to breaking that, I'm not sure if I can go another night. I'm not sure I can let her go. I might resort to tying her to the fucking bed.

When I don't see her car out front, I check the back and find nothing. God damn it! I speed from my office over to her house. Her car is there but when I call her, she doesn't pick up. I sit and wait for her to come out. I know she's got a girls' night planned tonight and I have no problem stealing her away and taking her to my house. Lilly and Candiace will just have to get over it and have their night without her.

When it starts to get dark, and she doesn't come out I start to worry. So, I get out of the car and knock on her freaking door. She opens it and lets out a little squeak.

"Is Tandy here?"

She frowns at me. "No, Mom's taking her to a birthday party for one of her little friends. Why?"

Instead of answering her, I volley another question at her, "Why aren't you headed to your girls' night with Lilly and Candiace?"

"Are you stalking me or something? How did you know about our girls' night?"

"Carrie at the diner talks to Lilly who was telling her about it. She told me I might be lonely tonight because you'll be with ‘the girls' and I informed her the girls might get a night, but I plan to have the rest of your weekend."

"What?! Why would you say that? Carrie has the biggest mouth…what is wrong with you?"

"Some red-headed temptress keeps me up at night and doesn't answer any of my calls."

The phone rings and she walks over to pick it up. I come all the way in and shut the door behind me, "Andy, slow down I can't understand anything you're saying."

Andy? Who the hell is Andy?

"What? Oh my God!" I can tell by her voice that something isn't right, "I'm… I'll come pick her up. Someone has to stay with her and…"

She sits down heavily on the couch, clutching her phone in her hand. "What's wrong, Bunny?"

"She… she left with him… of her own free will?" I bend down in front of her and note how tired she looks, how pale. "But she is okay, right?"

"Is it Tandy? Your mom?" She shakes her head no.

"Okay, thanks Andy. I'll tell Mom you called."

As soon as she hangs up the phone, I am right in front of her, "What happened Bonny?"

She looks at me with big tears in her eyes and her chin wobbles, "Storm had to take Candy to the hospital… because she… she fell."

A little sob falls out of her mouth, and she puts her hand up like she might be trying to hold the others in.

"Is she alright, Bonny?" Her eyes get a faraway look and she starts to blink slowly. "Baby, is she alright?"

She nods. "She… Storm took her home with him. Andy says… she knows his aunt and they can take care of her through the night."

"She? Andy's a girl?"

She nods absently. "Andy is short for Andria. I…I should call Lolly." She tries to stand up but I am too close for her to do that and she falls back on the couch. "I should…I…I'm so tired. What if I'm the reason she got hurt?"

Another sob is yanked out of her and tears start to roll down her face. Fuck this! She's exhausted and ready to drop and now she's blaming herself for what might have nothing to even do with her. Candiace could have tripped going through a fucking door for all we know. All Bonny said was that she fell, not why and how.

"Is your mom watching Tandy this Friday and Saturday night?"

She nods absently. And I stand up to my full height in front of her. "Then you're coming with me."

"What?!"

"You heard me, baby." I pull her up to stand next to me and then lower my shoulder so I can tip her over it. I carry her the same way a fireman would carry someone towards the door before I backtrack and start looking for her keys and purse.

"Keys and purse, baby, where are they?"

She hangs limply and I start to wonder if she's fallen asleep upside down until she says something, "On the hall table. The keys are on the hall table. My purse is also by the door."

I head back to the front door and grab her keys and purse before I lock up for her and finish carrying her to my car. I place her in the front passenger seat and buckle her in. I run around the front of the car not taking my eyes off her. By the time I pull into my driveway, Bonny is sound asleep.

I carefully undo her seatbelt and pick her up so I can carry her into my house. I take the stairs two at a time before I lay her on my bed. This time I don't hesitate to strip her fully naked. I've been pushed too far, let too much slip by, without showing her how much I want her, how much she belongs to me. I slip my own clothes off before crawling on the bed with her, knocking her thighs apart so I can take a lick, maybe give her a baby orgasm before lying down with her.

I place my mouth over her sweet pussy and run my tongue up her center before finding the bundle of nerves at the apex of her legs. I suck and nibble until her eyes slip open and her body tightens, and she gives herself over to me.