Lieutenant Casanova

Chapter 8 - Hunter

"You can let go of me now," Paige says to me as I hold her firmly around her waist waiting for Karina to drive away. My dream girl, the woman who had a hold of my heart, was in my arms again, and she wanted me to let her go?

Uh...nope!

I know she was telling me to let go of her waist, but I read a deeper meaning into it. I told her there was no chance of me ever letting her go, and I meant every word. The moment our bodies touched in her dad's kitchen, and I felt the warmth of her body against me, I knew I never wanted to go a day without being able to hold her in my arms. I also knew, however, that having my dream of being with Paige turn into reality would not be easy.

She is just coming out of a relationship, and I can tell she is hesitant to jump right into another one, especially with me, and it was not just because she thought I was some kind of playboy. I know she does not want to make things awkward between me and her family if things did not work out between us. Not only did I work with her dad and brothers, but I was close to them as well. They were my second family.

Paige, however, is my everything. I want to be near her all the time to protect her and keep her safe, especially after what happened Dillon last night. I also don't want her to feel threatened from women like Vanessa or that girl this morning in the café. Aside from finding her knocking that chic on her ass a huge turn-on, I did not want her to ever be put in a position where she felt she needed to get into a fight, physical or verbal, with anyone over me. I belong to her. Always have, always will.

After Karina and her babies left, Connor and I followed Paige back into her boutique. I knew her brothers were all watching Paige and me through the window by the way they were grinning at us when we walked in.  I walked up behind Paige and wrapped my arms around her waist like they were naturally supposed to be there just as her brothers were giving her grief about how touchy we had been with each other. My spunky little Paige gave them grief right back before going to the backroom to fetch the tuxedos for Daniel's wedding. Her brothers sure do love to mess with her. It's cute.

"Maybe I should go make sure she calms down before she makes good on her threat to use you all as pincushions," Maddie giggled.

"No. He should go," Nick said pointing at me.

"Yep, I agree. Go work your magic," Jackson said with a wink. I roll my eyes at them and laugh as I head towards the back and disappear behind the curtain. As I approach Paige, I can hear her mumbling to herself, and a smile spreads on my face. I loved seeing this feisty side of her, especially when it is aimed at her family and friends.

"What the hell is happening?" I heard her whisper to herself as she sifted through the garment bags in front of her. I knew she was feeling confused about us, or at least the attraction we are both feeling. I started to think it would be better if I turned back around and sent Maddie in here to talk to her. I didn't want to confuse her more or make her feel uncomfortable to be around me. But my legs and arms were obviously not on speaking terms with my brain because my legs brought me to her and my arms immediately wrapped around her waist, holding her close to me.

"Hopefully something good is happening between us," I whispered into her ear. I felt her body tense for a bit before relaxing against me. She let out a long exhale and tried to step forward out of my hold. When my hold tightened, she let out a soft giggle and shook her head before turning in my arms to face me. I instantly got lost in her eyes and smiled. Her hands were initially holding onto my arms, but after a few minutes, they started making their way to my shoulders and neck. Our eyes never wavered from each other.

My hands moved a little lower down her backside and pulled her hips to mine. I know she felt how hard I was getting by the way her eyes widen and the way she bit her bottom lip. I leaned down and buried my face into her neck grazing my lips against her skin. She let out a soft whimper as she pressed her hips closer to mine.