Page 26 of Can’t Let You Go (Ivy Ridge #3)

JASON

I ’ve been watching this asshole all night.

Watching as he ogles Fallon and adjusts himself under the bar repeatedly.

It’s fucking disgusting. When he goes from watching her to striding over to her table with what appears to be the swagger of an overconfident frat boy, I stand, making my way closer to the table.

I’m pretty sure she can hold her own, but that doesn’t mean I want this guy anywhere near her. Some guys can’t take no for an answer, and I want to give her some backup.

I catch her refusing his offer for a drink, and when he continues to try again, I’m ready to pop him in the jaw. He tries one last time, this time not giving her a choice, telling her when she’s done with her meeting he’ll buy her a drink, and I’m done.

“Really, I’m not interested,” she says, and I watch as he bends down so he’s at eye level. Fallon visibly grimaces, and her friend notices me approaching.

“Come on, sweet cheeks. You know you want to. Ditch your friend. I can show you the time of your life. I’m sure good dick is hard for you to come by, and all you need to do is get a drink with me,” he slurs, giving me even more of a sign that her telling him no isn’t going to be enough.

He needs an outside force to get him away.

“What part of no don’t you understand?” I say, my voice low in my irritation. The man’s eyes widen as he looks up, taking me in as I stand behind Fallon. “You alright, sunshine?” I ask, bending down to press a kiss to Fallon’s temple.

She stiffens, and I realize my actions might be over the top, but I’m feeling protective, and okay, maybe a little possessive of her right now. Even I’m surprised by my own actions. Was it another man showing interest in her, someone I have been feeling so back and forth with that set me off?

I don’t have time to process it right now though, and I focus my attention back to the situation. Fallon nods, her eyes wide as she takes me in. I step up so I’m chest to chest with this asshole.

“I think it’s time for you to leave my girl alone, don’t you think?” Those two words, my girl, slip out before I can think better of it, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me apprehensive.

The man glances between Fallon and me, eyes wide. “Hey bro,” he says, holding up his arms in surrender. “I didn’t know she had a man. I was offering her a drink.”

“Still doesn’t make it okay that you don’t understand what the word no means.”

He steps away from me, but I follow, keeping myself close to him. “Leave them alone, and maybe do a little research into consent.”

The man frantically nods, turning on his heel and stumbling back to the bar. He throws a few twenties on the counter next to his drink, and leaves in a rush. With him gone, I turn my focus back to Fallon. “You okay?” I ask.

Fallon glances up to me, and her eyes are dazed, from the alcohol, or the situation, I’m not sure. “Thanks. I was about ready to punch him in the jaw. Saved my hand from some bruising.”

I offer a small laugh, all while internally relieved that the situation has been diffused.

“As much as I would have liked to see that, I’m glad you didn’t have to punch him,” I admit.

This entire weekend has given me whiplash.

I don’t want anything to do with women, relationships or drama, and yet, here I am protecting Fallon, calling her mine, and giving her a nickname.

“Me too,” she says. She looks back to her friend. “Penny, this is Jason, he owns Blue Ox Brewery. Jason, this is Penny.”

I lean over, shaking Penny’s hand. “Sorry to interrupt your evening. I’ll leave you to it.” I point over at my table. “I’ll be over there if you need me, but I’ll probably head back to the room soon.”

“Could you…” Fallon hesitates. “Could you wait? After that, I’m not really sure I want to walk up to the room alone. I don’t think we will be much longer.”

“No problem.” I’m thankful she asked, because I wasn’t really wanting to leave her alone anyway.

“Thanks,” she murmurs.

“Take your time,” I say, and wave goodbye to her and Penny, telling her it was nice to meet her. As I walk away, I hear a small gasp and shriek from Penny.

I sit down at my table and watch as Penny talks to Fallon animatedly, and keeps glancing over at me.

It’s hilarious, because I know they’re talking about me.

I keep thinking through the last ten minutes, trying to justify my actions to myself that I was doing what any man should do, protect the woman who is saying no to someone that won’t listen, but yet, I can’t.

My mind is spiraling, telling me that really, there’s something more between us, something I’ve been fighting and telling myself is nothing.

Not long later, they’re paying their bill and hugging goodbye.

Fallon walks over to my table, and sits in the seat across from me.

She looks as beautiful as ever, with her hair in loose waves and the light makeup on her face.

She has such a natural beauty. It’s one of the things that attracted me to her all those years ago.

Some girls looked like they were ready to walk down a runway with how much makeup they’d slathered on their face for an eight a.m. economics class, but not Fallon.

There were days it looked like she rolled out of bed minutes before she had to be in the lecture hall.

It was adorable, and while her job requires her to be dressed more professionally now, it’s nice to see she hasn’t changed all that much.

“Ready?” I ask, my insides quaking with nerves that everything is suddenly changing, I’m losing my grip on my self control.

She nods. When I stand, she does too, and I can’t help but place my hand at the small of her back as we exit the restaurant. She’s warm and leans into me as we make our way to the elevator.

“Thanks again for earlier. I didn’t know what else to do to get him to take a hint. He was kind of an asshole.”

“No thanks necessary,” I reply. “Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t punch him. It was a close one.”

“Can I ask you something?” she says, her cheeks pinkening as I press the button to call the elevator.

The elevator dings its arrival. “Of course,” I respond.

“Why’d you call me sunshine? ”

“To be honest, it slipped out,” I admit, running my hand over my face, trying to hide the emotions roiling inside me. “I knew I needed a way to get him to leave without being too aggressive, and staking a claim on you… that was the only thing I could think of in the moment. The name felt fitting.”

She nods thoughtfully, not speaking any more on the subject as we exit the elevator and I let us into our room.

I inwardly cringe at the thought of sleeping on that couch another night, but I’m not going to say anything.

I don’t want to do anything to make her uncomfortable.

I already can’t believe I called her a pet name and pretended to be her boyfriend.

I could have approached the guy and made it clear she wasn’t interested, but no, I had to stake a claim.

The worst thing is… she didn’t deny it. She didn’t push me off. She leaned in closer, let me get another whiff of the perfume that keeps infiltrating my senses every second. Both when the guy was still there, and then again now when we were making our way back to the hotel room.

I’m going to shower quickly,” Fallon says, gathering her things from her bag.

“No problem,” I reply, sitting down on the god-awful couch.

She heads into the bathroom a minute later, and after I change into my own pajamas, I decide to call Josie, and see if Lennie wants to chat since they were out and about earlier and couldn’t chat then.

I pull her contact up, and start a FaceTime call. I hear giggles first, and there’s a lot of blurriness on the screen, and then Lennie’s face fills my phone. “Hey, peanut,” I say, a smile crossing my face.

She looks so happy, her hair is in some sort of weird twist on her head, and she’s in her princess nightgown. “Hi, Daddy!”

“Are you having fun with Uncle Andrew and Auntie Josie?”

“So much fun. Today, we went and visited Gramps, and then Uncle Andrew took me to his shop and told me he would make me my very own jewelry box!” she babbles.

“Wow, that’s so nice of him,” I say, eyeing my younger brother in the background. He’s already made her a toy box, and so many other things, there really isn’t a need for more, but he loves to gift his family with things he makes.

“How’s your trip?” Lennie asks, eyeing behind me. “Is the hotel pretty?”

“It’s really nice,” I say, standing up from the couch.

“Let me show you.” I flip the screen, and show her the room.

I take her over to the windows and show her the view of the city in front of us.

We chat for a while longer, longer than I thought, because the bathroom door opens, and Fallon strides out in her pajamas, her long hair damp on her shoulders.

I try to flip the camera, but I’m not fast enough.

“Daddy, was that Presley’s mom?” Lennie asks, her eyes bright and curious.

I inwardly curse, and glance over at Fallon with wide eyes.

I’m not quite sure what to do. Fallon smiles softly, and walks over to us.

She steps in right beside me, so close her head nearly rests on my arm.

I can smell her sweet floral shampoo. It smells so good, and it brings me right back to my fantasy from last night's shower.

“Hi Lennie,” she greets my daughter with a wave, directing my attention back to them. “How are you?”

“Hi Fallon!” Lennie says with so much excitement, you’d think I’d told her we were going to Disney World. “Is Presley with you? ”

Fallon shakes her head. “Nope, it’s only me. I’m at the same event that your dad is.”

“Huh,” Lennie says with a grin. I wait for the inevitable question about why we are in the same room, but it doesn’t come.

However, I can see Josie in the background, her face blazing red, trying to gesture at Andrew.

I’m assuming she’s trying to get him to shut up.

Well, so much for keeping a secret. Though, it’s kind of my own fault.

I took the risk, knowing Fallon could walk out of the bathroom at any time.

Fallon talks with Lennie for a few more minutes, her body so close to mine I can grasp at her warmth. When Lennie yawns, I decide it’s time to call it.

“Alright, Lenners, I think it’s time for you to get to bed.”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m fine. I want to keep talking to you, Daddy.”

“We can talk tomorrow when I pick you up, okay?”

Lennie hesitates, then agrees.

“Have fun with Josie and Andrew, Lennie. I love you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I love you, Daddy.” Lennie passes the phone back to Josie, and Fallon waves, then steps away.

Josie widens her eyes, giving me a look. I do the same, hoping to convey a glare that says, “don’t bring it up.” Thankfully, she doesn’t say anything, but Andrew is standing behind her, glancing between the two of us, and he starts to mouth words.

I scoff as he continues to mime words to me I definitely can’t understand. “Alright, well I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” I say, cutting off his silent rant. “Thanks again. Is she behaving?”

“She’s perfect,” Josie responds. “I think we might need to babysit the twins though, because if anything, she’s giving me more baby fever, and I don’t think we are there, yet. ”

I nod. “Yeah, a five-year-old is a lot different than a baby.”

Andrew waves us both off. “Nah, we’re ready. Lennie is a piece of cake, and I think a baby will be too.”

Oh wow, he’s in for a wake up call.

Josie rolls her eyes at her husband. “Have fun. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” We say goodbye, and disconnect the call, leaving Fallon and I alone. She’s organizing a few things in her bag, and I toss my phone down on the couch. “I’m going to use the bathroom.”

She nods, giving me a smile of acknowledgement. I head into the bathroom, letting the door close behind me as I try to prepare myself for another night of discomfort and pain on the couch.