Harm's Way: Riot MC Biloxi by Karen Renee (best life changing books .TXT) 📗

and I feared dropping the Worcestershire bottle, but proving how damn observant he was, Michael took it from me and put it back on the shelf.

His hands slid past my cheeks to my neck, his thumbs ran along the top of my cheekbones and into my hairline. With gentle pressure he guided my face to look at him. “Do you remember what I said to you about this?”

I shook my head.

He smiled. “Pretty sure it was something along the lines of not wanting to analyze us. And if we’re good together, we’ll keep it going. But I wouldn’t talk about feelings.”

Case and point, I thought.

His head moved in a slight nod. “Thing is, we aren’t good. We’re better than good in a way I didn’t think was possible. But it is too soon.” He leaned away a touch. “I mean, three days of sex, Stephanie, does not make for a love story.”

Anger took over my face, and I did not care. “Sex does not make a relationship, Michael. It enhances it. End of.”

To my dismay, he tipped his head back and laughed.

I broke out of his hold and poked his chest. “Nothing’s funny here, mister. No pot roast for you!”

Har

HER COMMENT ABOUT NO food for him made him laugh harder.

She stomped to the other side of the kitchen and he said, “It’s hysterical that you said ‘end of’ regarding sex and it only enhancing a relationship.”

She turned angry hazel eyes at him. “It isn’t the basis of a relationship.”

His expression sobered. “It’s a key component.”

She waved a spatula at him. “A component, yes. The foundation, not even.”

“At the risk of prolonging this crazy argument, when a couple stops having sex, they often stop being a couple, so it’s a big part of the foundation.”

Her head was bowed over the pot. She tilted it up to the ceiling with a growl, making him worry, but then she came toward him and he blocked her from getting the Worcestershire.

He grinned. “The cat got your tongue, Miss Priss?”

Those big eyes flashed at him. “We can agree I’m not prissy, so stop calling me that.”

“You shouldn’t make it so easy to rile you, baby.”

She reached for the bottle but he caught her hand. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.

“Am I right? Sex is important to a relationship.”

A pout twisted her lips, giving him the urge to kiss her. Then she sighed. “You’re right... a little bit. But other stuff is important too.”

He shook his head. “Didn’t say it wasn’t, babe.” His arm snaked behind him, then he handed her the Worcestershire. “Have at it.”

She beelined it to the pot on the counter.

He wandered to the fridge for a beer. Just as he pulled a bottle from the carton, he heard her cute growl.

“My friend, Courtney, was right again. Behind every great man is the door I need to open.”

He turned to her with a questioning look. “Come again?”

She grinned. “Well, really she said behind every great man is the drawer she needs to open, but as big as this kitchen is you’re always where I need to be.”

He licked his lips, liking how she reacted to that. “I’m gonna focus on the ‘great man’ part of that and get out of your way.”

“Okay.”

When he didn’t move, she widened her eyes.

“Want a kiss, baby.”

She leaned up and made to give him a peck, but he wrapped his arm around her to turn it into a much longer, more satisfying kiss. When he ended it, her eyes were filled with a dazed look. He felt a satisfaction he hadn’t felt before.

“Better?” he asked.

“I guess,” she murmured.

“You guess,” he chuckled. “Don’t worry, hon, one day you’ll get used to me being right.”

He left the kitchen for the living room and found an NFL Pre-Season game on TV. By the time the first quarter ended, he realized the kitchen was too quiet, but the scent in the air had his stomach rumbling. He wandered through the kitchen and back to his bedroom, but no Stephanie.

His sigh mingled with a grumble as he went to the other side of the house.

The door to her room stood open. Her futon was pulled out and she had her back to the door. Not meaning to read over her shoulder, he could see her scrolling through her phone and the pictures of apartment layouts couldn’t be missed.

He had to bite his tongue not to say, “No.” The sensible thing to do would be to turn around and let her be, but nothing about his attraction to her made sense.

He gently lowered his body onto the futon behind her, snaking his arm under her shoulder. Her body stiffened in response.

“Do you know what’s in front of every great man?” he asked.

“The whole world.”

That took him aback because it was true, but not in the way she meant ‘the whole world.’

He grinned as he decided to throw caution to the wind. “You’re right because when he has the right woman, his whole world is in front of him.”

She shook her head. “You’re not making sense.”

“I am, Combes. A man like me takes his woman’s back. He’s behind her to make sure she’s good. And that means his whole world is what’s in front of him.”

“That’s good to know.”

He shook his head. “Where am I right now?”

“In my room, on my futon.”

“What’s in front of me, Stephie?”

“Me,” she whispered.

“Right.”

“I’m not your whole world.”

Not yet.

He kept his body loose even as that thought alarmed him. After a beat, he said, “No, but you could be. Just like you didn’t say you loved me, you said you could love me. So, I don’t know why you’re scrolling through apartments, but this is good. You don’t need to run just because something could happen.”

“I have to protect myself.”

“I can respect that, but does that mean you have to walk away from a good thing?”

“Knowing when to walk away is just as important as knowing when to take a risk.”

“Like poker,” he muttered.

Her body stiffened, which