His to Love (Carmel Springs Book 6)

Chapter 6

Stevie~

Now, was sleeping with a coworker the worst possible thing that I could do right now? Yes. Absolutely. After what happened in Leyland, I could actually be considered a hypocrite for entertaining the idea of sleeping with Clayton Colter. Plus, I was new to town, and if it got around that I was sleeping with Clayton, people might think that I was sleeping with the whole force. Or worse, some of the other single officers might think that I was up for that kind of thing. At the end of the day, fair or unfair, women always got the short end of the stick when it came to their reputations.

Nevertheless, I couldn't ignore how he'd just said that he wasn't going to give me back if we did this. If he meant it, then Clayton Colter would be all that I'd know in Carmel Springs. There'd be no getting to know anyone else. There'd be no dating around or anything like that.

It'd be only him.

Making sure that we were on the same page, I said, "Don't make declarations that you have no intentions on honoring."

His hazel eyes regarded me seriously. "Stevie, I need you to hear me, and I need you to fully understand what I'm about to tell you, okay?" I nodded, dying to hear what he had to say. "If you ever decide to let me put my hands on you, they will be the only hands to ever touch that body of yours from now on." Oh, my. "And if you're thinking of just taking me for a casual ride, you've got another think coming, love. While this might sound like bullshit just to get in your pants, I've never had a woman hit me the way you did when you walked into the conference room on your first day. If you think that I'm going to brush this feeling off as nothing, then you've got a lot to learn about me."

Forcing my mouth to work, I said, "I have everything to learn about you, Clayton. I mean, we don't know each other at all."

"If you want to take this slow, I can do that," he said, but something told me that it would cost him to go slow. He looked like a feral tiger just waiting to be unleashed. "I can do whatever necessary to make you mine, Stevie. You just better not bullshit me."

"What does that mean?"

"Don't give me the green light if you're not all in," he answered. "I'm in this for marriage and kids, nothing less."

I could feel myself getting lightheaded again. "How...how can you expect that? How can you...we don't even know each other."

Clayton shrugged. "I just do."

"This is so insane" I muttered, wildly attracted to him, but not sure how a person went about committing themselves to someone that they barely knew.

Clayton's footsteps were silent as he closed the gap between us. I felt held captive by his stormy gaze as he reached up, then pulled my hair out of my ponytail, the strands falling wildly all around me. It felt freeing with the weight now evenly distributed, but I was sure that the weight of my hair had been the last thing on Clayton's mind when he had decided to undo my ponytail.

"Christ, you're fucking beautiful," he rasped deeply. "So fucking beautiful."

Yep, I was going to let this man ruin me.

No doubt about it.

"We're coworkers," I mentioned absently.

"I know, love," he replied evenly.

"Won't we get in trouble?" I asked, not even sure if I cared right now.

"I can always quit," he offered. "If it bothers you that much, or the higher-ups forbid it, I'll quit and go work for my brothers."

"For a woman that you barely know?"

"No," he replied. "For the woman that I plan on making my wife."

I had no defense against everything that Clayton was hitting me with, and even if I'd had anything to calm the thrumming in my veins, I couldn't even be sure that I'd do anything about it. I'd never had a guy hit me with love at first sight, and while I knew that I wasn't in love with Clayton Colter, he didn't seem like he cared. He wasn't asking for my love right now; he was asking for my word to see this thing through to the end. He was asking for a commitment, not love. As crazy as it seemed, if this is what being the focus of Clayton Colter's attention felt like, I could see myself falling in love with him as easily as I woke up each morning.