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“But when I tell you why I didn’t bring them here, it will.” He fanned his fingers over my cheek, keeping them there while I took a bite of my burger, attempting to lick the corners of my mouth, but knowing my face was the mess he’d warned me about earlier. “Going all the way back to high school, when I first got my license, this was where I came when shit got hard. When things spiraled out of control. When I needed a fucking break from everything and everyone around me. I’d order from the drive-through, and I’d sit in my car, just like this, and eat and give my brain a rest.”
My eyes briefly closed, relating to that emotion. “I get that. On every level.”
“College was no different. Post-college was the same.” His hand moved to my chin. “When you showed me that package from David, I wanted to find that motherfucker. I wanted to wrap my hands around his throat. I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure that bastard never contacted you again.” His voice rose, sharpened. But I felt the wave start to fall, the crest sinking into the top of the ocean as he said, “Sometimes, pouring myself a drink isn’t enough. Neither is going to the gym, or out for a run, or hitting the bag as hard as I fucking can. I need something more.”
“And that’s when you come here, like you did tonight.”
“With you.” He wiped the corners of my mouth with his thumb and sucked off whatever was on his skin.
“You get turned on by me walking out of your hotel.” I nodded toward his hand. “But whatever you just did, that’s what does it for me.”
He laughed. “That shit was good too.”
I allowed a few moments of silence before I said, “I’m honored you took me to your place.”
He took a bite of his burger, his mouth instantly cleaned with a napkin. “You know how fucking ridiculous that sounds? My place is a goddamn fast-food restaurant.”
“Mine was a coffee shop in Atlanta. A little hole-in-the-wall that couldn’t even make a latte and never had any paper towels in the restroom, so the floor was always wet from everyone’s hands air-drying. I didn’t care, I loved it.” I took a drink of my Coke. “They had these cute little almond cookies that were bite-sized and chewy and kinda gooey—so yum—and I would order a bag of them and drink my black coffee. Nothing made me happier.” I plowed several fries into my mouth. “What I’m saying is, who cares where the place is? What matters is that you have a place.” I licked off the tiny onion that had been dangling on the burger for dear life. “And now, I know what yours is, and now, you know mine.”
His stare intensified as his hands freed from the food and moved to my body. “You think the two of us are so different. But we’re not.”
“Can I tell you something?”
He nodded.
“The list of reasons I’m so fucking wild about you keeps adding up,” I told him, using his own words.
His laughter filled the silence. “Kiss me.”
“But I have In-N-Out sauce all over me.”
He moved inches away from my face. “And you know I don’t care.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Brady
My driver was about fifteen minutes early, so when I got to the plane, none of the crew was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. My unexpected arrival was even more apparent when I climbed the steps and walked into the cabin, looking toward the back, where Lily was bent over, taking bottles out of a box and arranging them in a cabinet. She hadn’t bothered to bend her knees and crouch down. She was doing this all from a standing position, her ass high in the air, like I was behind her, pounding her in doggy style.
Fuck me, it was one hell of a view.
A view I’d seen a few hours ago, when she walked naked from my bed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for this flight—a quick one-day round trip that she didn’t know I would be on or that I’d paid for.
I nodded at Diesel, sitting on the couch on the right side of the plane, and quietly made my way toward the galley. I didn’t want to put my hands on her from behind and scare the shit out of her. Not when David was looming in these woods, which I was sure made her on edge.
So, I gave her a warning and said, “Now, that’s one hell of an ass,” and I halted in the doorway of the galley.
She froze, face pointed toward the ground, as though she was processing the statement and the voice that had spoken it, before she lifted and turned toward me. “Thank God it’s you.”
“Hi, baby.” I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her closer.
The smile didn’t take long to grow across her mouth. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m your passenger.”
She gazed up at me with eyes so wide. “We’re taking you to Dallas?”
“You shouldn’t be shocked that I’d pay the Daltons to use their jet just so I could have you as my flight attendant.”
