Ripping Pages by Rachel Rae Page A

town,” I said shivering. That really was some scary shit.
    He grabbed me and gave me a hug. He cupped my face and looked me up and down, rubbing his thumbs along my cheeks. His tall frame towered over me. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
    I laughed a small laugh. “No, I was about to call the police when our super came and kicked him out. I'm ok. Thank you.”
    He breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. What the fuck? Did you get a good look at him? Do you know who he is?” he said pacing and rubbing his face in frustration.
    “Umm, no.”
    “Well, you're not going back there. You're staying here until Tatum gets back, and then we'll get you two into another apartment.”
    “Van. I can’t—” I started, but he cut me off with a kiss to my forehead.
    “No. I'm serious, Tinley. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
    He looked at me intently, and my knees started to buckle.
    “Ok.” I said. My voice meek.
    “Ok. All right. Now that we've established that, when does Tatum get back?”
    “Thursday. But Van...”
    “Sweetness...” he warned.
    I flushed, and then I got kind of irritated. “So, what? You just expect me to live here with you for four days?” I crossed my arms across my chest for emphasis.
    He smirked that delicious smirk. “Of course, I do. Now, come on. You must be hungry. Come sit down. Chinese will be here soon.”
    “You ordered me food?” I asked incredulously.
    “Of course, I did.” He sat down and patted the seat next to him gesturing me to sit down.
    I stood there shocked. Who did this guy think he was making me stay here and ordering me food? It was sweet and kind of hot. Just being near him had my stomach flipping and desire coursing through me. I had never felt this way around a guy. Ever. I wasn’t sure how I would keep my raging hormones in check while I stayed here, but I was damn sure going to try.
    I sat next to him on the couch, and he draped a blanket over me.
    I smiled at him, and he grinned down at me.
    He took a swig of his beer and clicked a button on a remote, and the immense mirror hanging on the far wall adjacent from the couch started changing into a baseball game.
    “Wow, that’s freakin’ awesome,” I said in awe.
    Van laughed. “Yeah, I don’t like to spend money unless it’s on electronics or real estate. I thought this was a mandatory purchase.”
    “Um, yeah.”
    The doorbell rang, and Van went to answer it. I felt safe with him. Why did I judge him like I had? He was always so nice to me. Weren’t rock stars supposed to be man whores? He hadn't brought a girl home tonight, so maybe he wasn’t that big of one. Or maybe he already had one somewhere before he came home.
    He walked back into the living area holding a huge brown sack and two drinks.
    I smiled and grabbed the drinks from his arms.
    “I didn’t know what you liked, so I just got a bunch of different stuff.”
    “Oh yeah? That’s great. Thanks. I'm pretty easy to please.” As soon as I said it, I felt the innuendo hanging in the air.
    “I bet you are.” He grinned at me before rummaging through the bags to set out the food.
    I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped me.
    We sat down to eat, and he handed me the remote.
    “Sorry. You can turn on your housewives or Teen Mom or whatever you want.” He smiled as he crunched into an eggroll.
    Damn, he was even sexy when he was being a messy eater.
    I turned it to Dumb and Dumber. A movie I was sure he would like. Who didn’t like Dumb and Dumber ? We started to laugh uncontrollably when we both started to quote a particularly hilarious part of the movie where they pee in beer bottles while driving down the road. He was so easy to be around. I suddenly found myself staring at him while he laughed and twirled Lo Mein around his fork. He put the fork to his lips and looked at me. I could see the desire in his eyes, and I knew mine looked the same. I wanted him. I wanted him now.
    He dropped his fork and grabbed the back of my neck