Love, Honor & Protect- Addicted to You 2 Read online

  “Thank you,” I say then follow Melissa toward a counter full of silver rings. “What do you think will suit her best?” I ask, leaning over the counter.

  After a brief moment of silence, she points out a three-diamond ring with smaller diamonds wrapped around the band. “That one is beautiful, but I don’t take Tabitha for a flashy kind of woman.”

  I nod in agreement. “I agree with you.”

  “I can already tell this is going to be a long day,” she chuckles.

  It takes us three and a half hours to find the perfect ring for Tabitha, and Melissa, at the end of our hunt, seemed more relaxed around me. She’s smiled at me today more times than she has during the time she and Jake have been staying with me.

  “Hey, Tabitha.” Melissa skips into the kitchen and places a kiss on her cheek. “What are you up to?”

  Tabitha looks at me, then her, and tilts her head slightly. “What are you two up to?”

  Melissa and I share a look. “We have no idea what you’re talking about,” Melissa responds.

  “Oh, you don’t?” Tabitha looks at me and crosses her arms.

  “Not a clue,” I reply.

  She looks between the two of us for several seconds then sighs. “Fine, don’t tell me.” She picks up a wet washcloth and starts wiping down the countertop. “I’ll figure it out on my own.”

  Shaking my head, I cross the room and move in behind her and wrap my arms around her middle, pulling her into me. “Don’t be mad.”

  “I’m not mad. Just—”

  “Feeling left out?” Melissa suggests.

  I turn my attention to Melissa. “Not helping.”

  She smiles and shrugs before disappearing down the hall. “Don’t worry about it. Melissa and I were just doing a little bonding is all.” I lower my lips to kiss her neck. “There’s no reason for you to feel left out.”

  “I’m not upset, nor do I feel left out.” She turns in my arms and cranes her neck to meet my gaze. “I am happy to see the two of you getting along. I’m just curious as to what you two did today.”

  I go to answer her, but I’m interrupted. “Jeremiah, Remy is here. He says he needs to talk to you.”

  “Alright. Thank you. I will be right there.”

  “I’ll tell him,” Melissa says before turning and walking away.

  “What do you think he’s here for?” Tabitha questions.

  “He probably wants to talk about the game last night.”

  “Hey, you two.” Remy enters the kitchen.

  Tabitha pulls out of my arms and walks toward him. “Hey, Remy.”

  She wraps her arms around him in a hug. “Hey. How’s life with this nut case?” He jerks his head in my direction.

  She laughs.

  “Great, so far. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

  He leans forward and kisses her cheek. “I’m happy to hear that. I’m glad I won’t have to kill him.”

  She shakes her head but laughs. “Yeah, so am I.”

  Remy looks at me. “Do you have a minute?”

  I nod. “Sure.” I turn to Tabitha. “I’ll be back.”

  Walking into my office, I walk around to my desk and sit down just as Remy closes the door behind me and moves to sit in the chair across from me.

  “What’s going on?”

  “We found the kid who delivered the balloons and latte, but he’s not going to be back in town for another week,” he says softly. “He’s gone to Michigan to visit with his grandparents.”

  I take a deep breath and run my hand down my face. “Fuck.”

  “Look, I know you’re worried about Tabitha, but we are going to find out who did this,” Remy says, leaning over the desk. “We just have to wait for his return. I know you don’t want to, but we have to right now.”

  “What about the delivery company? Did you check their records?”

  He nods. “The person paid to keep their name off the records.”

  I slam my fist down onto the desk. “Fuck!” I push to my feet and walk around the desk toward the minibar in the corner of my office and pour myself a drink. “This shouldn’t be this fucking difficult.”

  “We will find out who did this, Jer, but until then, you need to stay as calm as you can,” Remy says from behind. “You don’t want to frighten Tabitha.”

  I take a huge gulp of Hennessey and turn to him. “I’m trying to stay calm, but every time I close my fucking eyes, images of her falling limp in my arms come flooding back.” I cross the room to stand before him. “I don’t ever want to feel helpless like that again. We have to find out who’s targeting the woman I love, or I’m going to lose my fucking mind.”

  He tilts his head to the side and raises a brow. “The woman you love?” he questions with a smirk. “Does she know?”

  I smile and nod. “Yes, and she feels the same way about me.”

  He slaps a hand on my shoulder. “That’s great, man. I’m happy for the both of you.”

  “Thanks.”

  ***

  The next three days were very difficult for me. Having to keep myself from asking Tabitha to marry me has proven to be one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. Every time I look at her, I imagine getting down on one knee and asking her to be my wife and to spend the rest of her life with me, but I hold off. I must speak with her family first and ask their permission. That’s why I’ve asked not only her parents, but also Barbara and Brooke to meet me at the diner for a short lunch to ask them.

  “Jeremiah.” I look up just as Barbara and Brooke are heading my way with Tabitha’s father close behind them.

  I stand from my seat to greet them. “Barbara, Brooke, Mr. Davenport, thank you for meeting me on such short notice.” I shake each of their hands. “I really appreciate it.”

  “Sure, son, but I have to ask—” Mr. Davenport wraps his arm around his wife’s middle when she walks over, “—why have you called us here?”

  “Please, have a seat.” I gesture toward the chairs around the table.

  Everyone takes their seats around the table then turns their attention toward me. “I know you all must be confused as to why you’re here,” I start.

  “That much is true,” Barbara says.

  “Well, the four of you are very important to Tabitha, the closest in her life, so I felt that all of you should be a part of this.”

  “A part of what?” Janice questions.

  Taking a deep breath, I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out the little black box and hold it up. Everyone gasps.

  “Is that—” Brooke starts.

  I nod. “I want to ask Tabitha to marry me, but I want all of your permission to ask her.”

  “Oh my God!” Janice squeals, earning the attention of nearby customers. “Is this really happening?”

  I can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “Yes, Janice, this is really happening.” I look down at the box in my hand. “I am in love with your daughter, and I want to make her my wife.”

  “When did you realize you wanted to marry my daughter?” Joseph questions, leaning forward on the table.

  I look him straight in the eyes. “The moment I realized I loved her.”

  “Which was when?” he questions.

  “The day I asked her to meet some friends of mine.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything then?” Janice questions.

  I shrug. “I didn’t want to scare her. We hadn’t even talked about what we were to each other yet. If I had told her I loved her already, I could have scared her away for good.”

  “You really love her?” Barbara asks with a stern look on her face.

  I nod.

  “Do you love her enough to never hurt her?” Brooke questions.

  Again, I nod.

  “I love her enough to do everything in my power to never intentionally hurt her,” I honestly say.

  “You have my blessing,” Janice says with a wide smile. “She loves you, and you love her. Plus, she’s happy, and that’s because of you. T
hat’s all we ever want for her.”

  “Thank you, Janice.”

  “Call me Mom,” she chuckles. “You’re already like family.”

  I smile. “Thanks… Mom.”

  “I’m with Momma Janice,” Brooke states. “You have my blessing to marry Tabitha.”

  “Thank you, Brooke.”

  “You’re welcome. Just don’t make me regret this decision,” she says softly.

  “You won’t.”

  I turn to Barbara, who is staring at me with a blank look on her face. I can’t tell if she likes me right now or hates me. Barbara and I haven’t had a problem with each other since we met, but I’m the man who wants to marry her best friend. Maybe, in her head, she sees me as the man who also wants to steal her best friend away from her. I’m not sure, but I do know that if I want to make Tabitha my wife, I am going to need her family and friends’ blessing.

  Suddenly, she takes a deep breath and leans back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest. “Let me see the ring,” she says.

  Without hesitation, I open the small black box and place it on the table. The women gasp while Joseph just stares at it with wide eyes.

  “Melissa helped me pick it out a few days ago.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Janice and Brooke say at once.

  “Thank you. I’m hoping Tabitha will like it.”

  “She’s going to love it,” Brooke squeals.

  “Alright, I give you my blessing, Ryan Reynolds” Barbara says suddenly. “You won’t have to worry about me objecting, but know this: if you ever hurt her, I am going to hurt you worse. I’m going to make you wish you were never conceived.”

  “Really, Barb?” Brooke questioned.

  “What? He does look like Ryan Reynolds,” Barbara said with a shrug.

  Nodding in understanding, I turn my attention toward Joseph Davenport. He hasn’t said anything for several minutes, and I am starting to worry. What if he says no? What if he tells me he doesn’t want me to marry Tabitha then orders me to stay away from her?

  “Calm down, son,” he says with a smirk.

  I raise a confused brow.

  “You look panicked,” he says with a smirk.

  I swallow. “What is your decision, sir?”

  He looks at his wife, who smiles at him and nods, then turns his attention toward me. “You have my blessing to marry my little girl, Mr. Keegan,” he says, though he looks reluctant.

  A huge smile spreads across my lips as I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. The feeling of joy and excitement rushes over me, and I close my eyes at the sudden dizzy spell that follows soon after.

  “So, now that you have our permission, when are you going to pop the question?” Brooke questions with a huge smile.

  “This weekend.”

  “So, you have exactly six days to prepare,” Janice says happily. “Would you like some help?”

  I chuckle and shake my head. “Tabitha isn’t really one for huge surprises. I’m just going to keep it simple.”

  Janice smiles. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Just make sure we are all around to see it,” Brooke says. “I want to see the look on her face when you get down on one knee.”

  I nod. “I will be sure to do that.”

  Past

  Tabitha

  (6)

  I’m sitting in Jeremiah’s office on his couch when I get this feeling like I’m being watched. So, I look over to see Jeremiah staring at me from his place at his desk.

  “What?”

  He smiles and shakes his head. “Nothing.”

  “It can’t be nothing, Jeremiah. You’re staring, again.”

  “I can’t stare at the woman I love now without a reason?”

  I smile and shrug. “Maybe.”

  Laughing and shaking his head, he pushes to his feet and crosses his office toward me. He lifts my legs and sits down on the couch, placing them over his lap. “You’re a hard woman not to look at.”

  “And you’re a hard man not to look at.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  I nod. “Sure.”

  “What do you think about marriage?”

  I cock my head to the side with a raised brow. “Marriage?”

  I was kind of caught off guard. I mean, was it too soon to be talking about the ‘M’ word?

  He nods. “Yes.”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “The guys, Remy and Jason, were talking about it the other day and asked me what I thought about it,” he says nonchalantly. “I was just wondering what you thought about it.”

  “Oh. Um, I’ve never really thought about it. I was never the type of girl who fantasized about her dream wedding or the man waiting for her at the end of the aisle.” I shrug and lean back against the arm of the couch. “The only thing I ever fantasized about was being a writer.”

  He looks down at my legs, gently rubbing circles in my calf muscles, then lifts his gaze to meet mine. “What about now? Do you ever think about getting married? Would you ever get married?”

  “That depends.”

  “On?”

  “If the man who asked me was the right man for me.”

  “What about me? If I were to ask you, you know, sometime in the future, would you say yes?”

  I blush at his intense stare and feel butterflies in my stomach. I love Jeremiah, there’s no denying that, but could I spend the rest of my life with him and remain as happy with him as I am at this point in our relationship? Or will I only set myself up for heartbreak?

  Come on. You know damn well there is no way of knowing that. Stop trying to find a reason to run from him, and take a chance. That’s what life is all about, you dimwit, taking chances. If you continue to think the way you do, you will die alone.

  “Yes, I would.”

  A big smile spreads across his lips. I don’t know if it’s the way his eyes twinkles and the curve of his lips when he smiles or the feel of his hands on me, but whatever it is, it has my panties getting wet.

  “That’s great news,” he says, sliding his hand up my leg.

  “Why is that great news?”

  Slipping an arm around me, he lifts me onto his lap so that I’m straddling him. I wrap my arms around his neck, and his arms go around my waist.

  “Because now I know what your answer will be in the future.”

  Smiling, I place a small kiss on his nose then kiss his lips. Slipping my tongue in his mouth causes him to let out a growl.

  “We need to stop before we start something we can’t finish,” he says, drawing back first. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to take my sexual frustration out on my employees, now would it?”

  “No, but—” I lower my mouth to his throat and suck, “—we could make it quick.”

  He groans and shakes his head. “No. I want to take my time with you, always. Never quick.”

  “But I want you now.”

  He chuckles.

  “And I want you, but we both have a lot of work that needs to be done. Besides, we only have five minutes left of our break.” He moves his hands up my front until he’s cupping my face. “Five minutes is nowhere near enough time for what I want to do to you.”

  Biting my lip, I lower my mouth to his once again then trail kisses along his cheeks and jawline. When I get to his neck, he tilts his head back to give me better access, and I nibble and massage on the area with my tongue.

  Suddenly, he pulls away and cups my face. “I’m … sorry, Tabitha, I can’t. I’m already as hard as a rock. It’s bad enough we can’t finish what we started.”

  I groan and throw my head back in annoyance. I know he’s right. That five minutes will be nowhere near enough time to have some fun in his office, but that didn’t dim my need and desire for him—the need to see him naked and have him buried deep inside me continues to grow and grow with no end.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so annoyed in my life.”

  He laughs. “Now you know how I fee
l.”

  Shaking my head, I let out a frustrated sigh, then climb off his lap, and slip on my shoes. “I guess I’ll just have to wait.”

  “Hey, don’t sound too upset. The wait will definitely be worth it.”

  As I move to grab my jacket from the coat rack, I hear him move in behind me then wrap his arms around my middle. “I love you,” he says against my ear.

  Smiling, I lean back into him. “I love you, too.” I turn around in his arms and wrap my arms around his neck. “I am the luckiest woman alive right now.”

  He gives me a quick kiss and smiles. “And I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

  Just then, there is a knock at his door. “Mr. Keegan, Ms. Brandon is here to see you.”

  He sighs and drops his head onto my shoulder. “Send her in,” he grumbles.

  Chuckling, I grab his face and lift his head. “As much as I don’t like that she kissed you, I think you should go easy on her.” I caress his cheek with my thumbs. “She’s your friend, and I’d hate for you to lose someone important in your life over a drunken kiss.”

  He smiles widely. “That’s one of the reasons I love you.”

  “I will see you later. Don’t work too hard, alright?”

  He nods. “As long as you take your own advice.”

  “I will.”

  It’s later in the day, and Jeremiah and I are in bed. “So, are we just going to lay in bed the rest of the day?” I ask.

  Smiling, Jeremiah wraps his arm around my bare waist and pulls me into him then buries his face into my shoulder. “Yes, and watch all the movies we can.”

  I laugh. “So, we’re Netflix and Chilling?”

  This time, he lets out a laugh. “Is that what they’re calling it now?”

  I shrug. “Looks like it.”

  “I just want to spend the rest of the day in bed with the woman I love.” He kisses my throat then licks me. “Is that so much to ask for?”

  Closing my eyes, I take a big breath and let it out slowly when I feel his hot tongue on my throat again. “No, it’s not.” I run my fingers through his hair and pull him closer.

  Just when things are about to get steamy, my phone goes off on the nightstand. “Whoever that is couldn’t have worse timing,” Jeremiah growls against my neck.