Page 42 of Crimson Love

The bags in her hands fall to the marble at our feet. I pull her tighter and press my tongue through her full lips.

She opens.

Fuck.

She tastes like new life and a fantasy that will live rent-free in my head forever.

I thought I knew what that felt like when I woke up from surgery, but it turns out Lennon Shaw ranks right up there with my new kidney.

My hand slides around to cup her ass, and her moan vibrates on my tongue.

An angry clearing of the throat cuts through the sexual tension.

Lennon and I both freeze, but we don’t pull away. Reality bites at me when I think about how fake this kiss is and how it might not happen again.

“That’s enough,” Lennon’s uncle bites.

She inhales a sharp breath, and I pull away far enough to kiss the tip of her nose.

“Wowza!” Blake exclaims. “I guess this isn’t new. Wait ‘til the staff hears about this.”

“Dammit, Lennon. You’re making a spectacle of yourself.”

I turn to glare at the uncle who I thought I hated, but he just made it official. “Don’t speak to her that way.”

Lennon cringes in my arms. “Andrei —”

Andrei.

Fucking Andrei.

He takes a step toward us. “I’ll talk to her however the fuck I want to. She’s mine.”

I shift Lennon to my side. “We haven’t even been formally introduced, Andrei, but I think I just proved Lennon is not yours.”

Blake crosses his arms and whispers, “This is intense.”

“This is Andrei Petrov,” Lennon announces before she stresses. “My uncle.”

Andrei glares at me. “I still don’t know who you are.”

I glare right back. “Jett Cross. I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but the jury is out on that. I’ve got to tell you, man, it’s not looking good.”

“Um...” Blake takes a step back. “As much as I want to stick around, I need to get back to the dining room. The waitstaff covered for me after Andrei asked about you. Devon and Harlow are there now. Do they know about this? Please tell me I’m not the only clueless one on the staff. I’ll feel like a real idiot if I missed the cues.”

“No one knows,” Lennon quips. “We’ve kept it under wraps ... until now.”

Blake motions to the bags sitting at our feet. “Are you moving out of the library?”

“She’s moving in with me,” I announce and feel Lennon tense at my side and look down. “Aren’t you, baby?”

She may be tense, but she supports my lie. “Yes. We’re finally making it official. There’s nothing like moving in together to come out to the world. Or at least the entire town.”

Andrei crosses his arms. “I’m disappointed in you, Lennon—for so many reasons. We’ll get to the bottom of that later. For now, I need to speak to you alone.”

“Sorry. It’s been a long day, and Jett promised to make me dinner.” Lennon looks up at me and presses her palm flat against my pec. “I’m hungry.”

I cup her face and don’t hate whatever this is. “It’s about time.”