Sweet Renegade (22 page)

“What…what happened?” he wheezes.

“You almost got yourself killed by chasing me down,” I grunt.

The guy looks back at me. “What?” he asks, still confused.

“You crashed your car and we had to pull you out, your car is now on fire,” Rob explains.

Realization flashes across his face. He glares at Rob for a moment. “You slammed on the breaks, making me have to swerve to avoid hitting you,” he said, a bite of accusation in his tone.

“Yeah, well, if you hadn’t been following us and riding my ass in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to do that to try to get rid of you,” Rob snaps.

“Instead of trying to make this our fault, how about you take the fucking blame and thank us for saving your life? We could have left you in your car to burn alive,” I snap.

The guy sighs, guilt filling his eyes. He nods. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Thank you for saving me.”

Just then, a whole bunch of police, ambulances, and fire trucks pull up. EMTs race over to take care of the guy. I don’t know his name, and I really don’t care to know it. A police officer pulls Rob and me aside to ask for our statements on what happened. Lizette is also interviewed, and it is one in the morning by the time we get out of there. Rob drives us back to my condo and parks in my assigned spot. After saying goodbye, Rob gets in his car and leaves. Lizette and I head up to my condo for some much needed rest.

I’m sure that the tabloids tomorrow will be covered with pictures of us and all kinds of rumors and quotes from sources that don’t really exist. Whatever, I don’t care and neither does Lizette. We are happy together and that’s all that matters.

I open the door to my condo and let Lizette walk in first. We’ve been back together for about two weeks now. I’ve taken her on a few dates, this being the first one that we’ve been swarmed by the paparazzi. The other dates had been pretty low key. One of them, I rented out the entire miniature golf place so that we could play without being attacked. It had been seriously fun; we had laughed the entire time.

Her arms wrap around my waist, bringing me out of my thoughts. I glance down at her and smile. “Can I help you?” I tease.

She shrugs. “I don’t know, can you?”

“Depends on whatcha want,” I smirk, gliding my hands down her back to cup her luscious ass.

“I want to hold you, tonight scared me,” she says with a small frown.

I nod, humming my agreement. I pull her into a hug, sighing at the rightness of it. I drag her over to the couch and pull her down on top of me after I lie on my back. She curls around me, tucking her face against my neck.

“What do you say we go on a little mini vacation?” I ask.

This has been something I’ve been thinking about for the past two weeks. I just want to spend some time with her alone…completely alone. No distractions. I’m also dying to make love to her in front of the giant stone fireplace in the living room of my cabin.

She lifts her head and looks down at me, eyebrows raised curiously. “Hmm, where to?”

“We can go to my mountain house in Colorado for a long weekend,” I suggest.

“Ooh, sounds romantic,” she teases.

I smile. “It is. What do you think?”

She nods. “Sounds good to me,” she agrees.

“Great, we’ll go next weekend,” I announce.

Lizette giggles. “I need to check my schedule first, make sure there is nothing going on.”

I sneer. “Fine.”

She gives me a peck on the lips. “I’m pretty sure it’s clear,” she says before snuggling her face back into my neck.

“Good, cause we’re going next weekend,” I huff, making her chuckle quietly against my neck.

Chapter Fifteen

*Lizette*

I stare in awe at the magnificent cabin that we pull up to. It is absolutely gorgeous and very secluded. Beau pretty much has his own road leading to it. We are on the top of a mountain, so the view is incredible when I get out of the rented SUV. The air is thinner and crisper on the mountain. I am instantly in love with the place.

Beau grabs our bags and starts for the front door so I follow. He opens it and lets me walk in first. My breath catches as I look around the very large cabin. The living room and kitchen are one giant room. In the center of the living room is a huge freestanding see-through stone fireplace. Behind the fireplace, the back wall is solid glass and looks out over the valley beneath the mountain. There is a comfy looking semicircle couch situated in front of the windows.

I look around and find Beau placing our bags by the stairs that lead to a loft bedroom. There is another hallway on the first floor with more doors that I’m suspecting are other bedrooms, but the master bedroom is the loft. He looks up and gives me a small but tense smile. We’ve only been back together for two and a half weeks and I can tell that he’s still unsure of me and if I am in this relationship for the long haul. It hurts my heart that he doesn’t completely trust me, but that’s my own fault. I can’t blame him for feeling that way after what I did to him. I can tell that he’s trying to not get his hopes up, and he’s still holding back from feeling everything for me like he had before.

I return the smile, hoping mine is less tense. We’ve had some really great dates these past couple of weeks. We’ve had a lot of fun together, along with being all over the tabloids. My boss is still giving me shit about it, but I told him that if he didn’t like it, then he can fire me, but I would still be Renegade’s manager. He chose not to fire me, smart man. Some of the headlines have been somewhat nasty, calling me a cougar and a cradle robber. I try not to look at them, but some just pop up on my Facebook page.

“Hey, Sugar, you wanna go for a little hike?” Beau asks in his southern drawl, breaking through my thoughts.

I nod. “Yeah, sounds good, just let me go to the bathroom first.”

“Okay,” he replies. “It’s down the hall, third door on the right.”

After I go to the bathroom, we head out to go for a hike. Beau puts a couple of bottles of water, a handful of protein bars, and some trail mix in a backpack and slings it over his shoulders. It’s not super cold out, but beautifully crisp. The sun is warm but the breeze has a little chill to it, it feels good. Beau leads us to a trail at the edge of the clearing where his cabin is sitting. The trail is pretty clear to see, as if it’s used fairly often. I don’t know how often he comes here, though, so maybe he rents the place out certain times of the year? I’m sure he lets the rest of the guys use it, too.

“Ugh, it’s so nice to get away,” he groans before taking a deep relaxing breath.

“I agree,” I say from behind him.

He glances over his shoulder at me, looking a little guilty. “I’m sorry about all of the paparazzi shit,” he mutters.

I smile reassuringly and shake my head. “Don’t worry about it, Beau. It’s part of your life, you can’t help it.”

He sighs heavily, stops, and turns around to look at me. “But it was me who insisted on not keeping us a secret. We could have told the guys and left it at that. Maybe could have been a bit more private when it comes to us, but I wanted the whole world to know that you’re my girl and now look, we get swarmed where ever we go. I should have thought it through a little better,” he frowns.

I shrug. “It’s too late to go back now. The only thing we can do is deal with it and move forward.”

“I just don’t want you to resent me for it,” he says, looking down at his boots.

I stepped into him, cupping his face in my hands. I duck my head so that I can catch his gaze. He lifts his blue eyes to look into mine. “You have no reason to think like that. I could never resent you for something you have no control over. It would have gotten out eventually, and we still would have had to deal with this. So please, don’t worry about this anymore, okay?” I say, giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

He drops his forehead to mine and wraps his arms around my waist. “Yeah, okay.”

I give him a much-needed hug before pulling away. “Shall we continue?” I ask with a smirk.

“Yeah, let’s go,” he smiles and takes my hand, as we start down the path together.

*Beau*

Lizette looks stunning in the firelight, even more so because she’s naked and I just made love to her. We are lying on the floor in front of the fireplace on a thick quilt. Her blonde hair is thoroughly tousled and her skin is covered in a fine layer of sweat. I’m half covering her with my own sweaty body as we try to catch our breaths after that amazing session of lovemaking.

After a few more minutes of relaxing, we both get up to clean up. I pull my sweatpants and T-shirt back on before heading into the kitchen for something to drink. It’s turning out to be a great day. We went hiking, had a nice dinner that we made together, and made love in front of the fireplace like I’ve been dying to do for years. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and take a swig.

Everything has been going really well between Lizette and me. But I’m still worried. My stomach still churns at the thought that at any moment she could change her mind again. I’m trying my hardest to keep part of myself closed off from her because I feel the need to protect myself. It hasn’t been easy not giving her all of me like I had before, and I know that she knows that I’m holding back, but I’m still afraid to fully trust her.

Lizette heads for the stairs to the loft and says she’s going to take a quick shower. I nod and head over to the back wall of windows that overlooks the valley below. The sun has gone down, but it’s not completely pitch black yet. I sit on the couch at the end, next to the arm. I prop my elbow up on the arm and rest my head in my hand, sitting my bottle of water next to me on the couch. I sigh heavily. I wish I knew that I could trust her. I wish I knew for a fact that she isn’t going to leave me again. It’s eating me up inside and I don’t know how to stop it.

I love her. I know that much. I love her with everything I have. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with her. I’m afraid to even think about asking her to marry me for fear that she’ll reject my proposal. We’ve only been back together for about three weeks, so maybe I just need more time to get over this doubt that I have.

The world beyond the windows is slowly darkening. The only light in the cabin is coming from the fireplace behind me. I can see the flames flickering reflection in the windows. I can’t help but stare at it, it’s mesmerizing. I don’t know how long I am sitting there for but I startle when Lizette’s hand runs along my back as she comes around the couch.

“Hey, you okay?” she asks, a concerned frown on her pretty face.

I look up at her. She’s now wearing flannel pajama pants and a baby T-shirt. Her hair is dry but not straightened, so it’s a little wavy and frizzy. Not like I care because she looks cute as shit. No makeup…damn, she’s beautiful.

“Uh…yeah, I’m fine, just lost in thought I guess,” I say, giving her a small smile.

Lizette kneels down in front of me between my spread knees, her hands resting on the tops of my thighs. She looks up at me, her green eyes searching mine. She actually looks a little nervous, but I have no idea why she would be nervous. Dread hits me hard and fast, making my stomach roll violently. Oh fuck, what if she wants out of this relationship again and she’s nervous about telling me?

“What is it?” I ask her, my voice shaking a little.

She takes a deep breath. “There is something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” she says softly.

I swallow hard and nod. “Okay,” I wheeze.

A question? That sounds like it might be better than her telling me that she’s leaving. She must notice my apprehension and fear because she gives my thighs a squeeze and smiles.

“It’s nothing bad, I promise.”

I take a deep breath and try to relax. She seriously scared the shit out of me for a moment there. I place my hands over hers and give them a squeeze. “Okay.”

She removes one hand from my thigh and reaches into the back pocket of her pajama pants. My heart flutters at how much this feels like a marriage proposal. It makes me smile, that would be kind of out of the ordinary, but I like the idea of Lizette proposing to me. When her hand returns, she’s holding a small black ring box. My smile drops and my eyes go wide. No. Fucking. Way.

She hands it to me. “Open it,” she whispers.

With shaky hands, I take the box and slowly open the lid. Sitting in the slot of a little cushion is a stunning black titanium ring with a single square diamond embedded in the band. I blink at it a few times, unsure of what it means; my brain is having trouble connecting the dots. I lift my eyes to meet Lizette’s loving but anxious gaze.

“Lizzie?” I ask, needing her to clarify this gift.

“I love you, Beau, with my whole heart. Will you marry me?” Lizette asks, her voice trembling. I can see the tears welling in her eyes because the firelight is making them shimmer.

I don’t even know what to say. I feel like I’m dreaming. I must be dreaming. “Is this for real?” I whisper, not trusting my voice.

She smiles, the tears finally slipping down her cheeks as she nods. “I want to be with you forever.”

I snap out of my stupor and grab her, pulling her roughly into my lap. I tangle my hands in her hair and pull her down, crushing her mouth to mine. The kiss is raw and emotional, both of us fighting back tears.

“Is…this…a…yes?” Lizette asks between kisses.

I pull back, my hands still tangled in her hair and stare up into her beautiful green eyes that I will never get tired of looking into. “Hell yes, Lizzie, I will marry you,” I rasp.

She laughs…or maybe sobs…I’m not sure, but she comes back down for another quick kiss before she sits up and takes the box from my hands. She takes the ring out and holds out her hand. I put my left hand in hers and she slips the perfectly sized band on my ring finger. I absolutely love it. I’m never going to take it off.

“You know I’m going to get you a ring, too, right?” I smirk.

“You don’t have to,” she shakes her head.

“Sugar, I can’t let my fiancée walk around with her ring finger bare, doesn’t matter who asked who. I’m getting you a ring,” I say firmly.

“Fine,” she huffs.

I smooth her hair out of her face. “I love you, Lizette Parrish.”

“I love you, too, my sweet Renegade,” she giggles, leaning in for another kiss.