Page 7 of Possessing Paisley
While I meander down one of the secluded and manicured walking paths near the office, I pull out my phone and snap a photo of the empty granola wrapper, then send it to him. I love walking this trail when the weather’s nice, which doesn’t happen often enough in the Pacific Northwest.
Paisley: There. I ate a granola bar. It was dry. Kind of like your personality.
God. I can’t seem to not say snarky things to him every time we speak. Then again, he does the same. I guess it’s just our thing.
Almost immediately, a response comes through, and it has me grinning.
Kieran: Eat another one. The first one wasn’t enough because you’re still a bit cranky.
Chuckling, I rip open a bag of crackers and snack on them between replying to the big, grumpy guy. Once in a while, I check over my shoulder, thinking someone else is on the path, but there’s never anyone there.
Paisley: I’m only cranky because I’m tired of dealing with assholes today. All I want is a hot bath and an entire cold bottle of wine to myself, then I’ll feel better. Seriously, thank you for the snacks. I needed them.
Kieran: Give me names of the assholes.
As soon as I read the question, a shiver slides down my spine. A cranky mafia guy asking for names usually isn’t a good thing.
Paisley: It doesn’t matter. I’m fine. No need to go all caveman and protect me. I can do that myself.
Kieran: And as I said before, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should have to.
He is insufferable. I swear. He thinks he’s a knight in shining armor or something. Deep down, really far down, in the pit of my stomach, I find it sweet. But it’s still Kieran. I don’t trust theguy as far as I can throw him, and considering he’s a solid two-hundred and fifty-ish pounds, I probably can’t even make him budge.
After I get back to the tall glass building and throw one last glance over my shoulder, I head directly to my office and shut the door behind me.
Paisley: Have a good day, Kieran.
I won’t ever admit how many times I check my phone for the next hour to see whether he has replied. And I also won’t admit that I feel a twinge of disappointment when he hasn’t.
3
KIERAN
I’ve been restless all afternoon. Paisley is a brat. I swear the little demon gets off on driving me to drink. I wonder if she stays awake at night just thinking of new ways to irritate me.
At least she ate some of the snacks. She also didn’t give me shit about leaving them for her, which in my opinion, is a win. I felt slightly stalkerish, sneaking over to Bash’s house at four this morning to put the bag on her car. And why I didn’t just take them out to her when she was leaving for work to hand them to her in person, I have no idea. I was awake. I was also standing in front of my home office window, watching her. She needs a damn keeper. Someone to look after her, make sure she eats and drinks water and wears fucking pants instead of those short skirts that show off way too much for my liking. If she were mine, I’d keep her hidden under as many clothes as possible. Otherwise, I’d spend a lot of time breaking the necks of all the men who turn to stare at her. Fucking perverted assholes. Yeah. She needs a keeper. A Daddy. And thank fuck, it won’t be me.
Unable to concentrate on my work, I slam my laptop closed and storm out of my house for some fresh air. It works almost immediately as I’m greeted with the smell of newly cut grass.There’s just something soothing about it. It only takes a couple of minutes before I get to Chloe’s front door and knock. I need a distraction, and my sister will be perfect for that.
“Kieran!” She leaps into my arms and hangs from me like a baby monkey.
A lump forms in my throat as I pull her against me and hug her tightly. She’s the only blood-related family I have left. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but it makes me sad as hell that I missed so much time with her because of her asshole father. I plan to make up for all the time missed, though.
“Hey, baby sis. Are you busy?”
Chloe beams at me after finally letting me go. “Never too busy for you. I was just going over some of the blush samples the lab sent over.”
She waves me into the house, and I follow her through the foyer and down a hall that leads to the private office that Bash, Cali, and Scarlet designed for her. The walls are painted a soft yellow—Chloe’s favorite color—with shadow boxes hung throughout the room holding uniquely designed makeup palettes.
The gold-framed chairs with furry pouf seats positioned in front of her desk look uncomfortable as hell. I’m pretty sure they’re more for aesthetic purposes than comfort. I’m also not sure if they’ll hold my weight.
When I turn to look at my sister, she’s smirking, just waiting to see if I’ll take a chance on one of them.
She starts giggling. “Sit. You’ll be fine.”
I glance down at the chair again and sigh. I guess I’m sitting. As I lower myself, I half expect it to crumble, but it’s surprisingly sturdy and comfortable. I’ll never admit it, though.
“What are you doing here? Daddy is out with Declan and Killian.”