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“Iwasgoing to meet this guy I like, but now I’m wondering if he’s kind of a psycho.”
“Psycho, huh?” He stepped toward me slowly. “I have it on good authority that he’s not.”
“A psycho would never admit that he was crazy, though, would he?”
He reached me, but his hand was still in his pocket, and he didn’t try to touch me. He looked down into my eyes. “I might have gone a little overboard on the live video, but I couldn’t help it. I needed you to know how committed I am to making a change. I’ve been letting Bridget call the shots for so long now, I stopped considering what I thought was best for me.”
“She had too much control.”
“She did. When Chad showed me how she had been manipulating us, I lost my mind. You were right. I’d given Bridget a free pass to control my life, and she took advantage. She was the one who gave all those pictures of us to the media and leaked my dad’s legal battle. She made me into a cheater and you the evil mistress. At the end of the day, she didn’t care how I got through the issues so long as I made it through with my reputation intact—or better yet, made you the villain so I didn’t look as bad.”
“But her methods were skeezy.”
“They were. I should have listened to you when you pointed out how unhealthy the situation was. It was my normal, so it didn’t seem like a big deal.”
“I didn’t realize she would go to such extremes.”
He pulled his hand from his pocket and slid it up my arm, driving goosebumps over my skin. “She’s the past now. I want you to be my future.”
I tucked my arms beneath his tux jacket and around his waist. “You make it sound like she’s an ex-girlfriend.”
“Nope. Never went that direction.” He chuckled, the rumbling low against my chest. “You were, though.”
“An ex-girlfriend?” I leaned back and pulled a face. “Can we take the ex- off that now?”
“Yes, please.”
“You know this means meeting the family, right?”
He grew still. “I would be honored to meet your mom, and Hallie is coming tonight, so you get to meet her at the after-party if the red carpet is too crazy.” He gave me a sheepish look. “She hounded me so hard when she found out you were in Fort Worth and I didn’t invite you to her birthday weekend.”
“I was sad about that too. But it worked out for the best. Food poisoning at your sister’s party would have been mortifying.”
“You probably wouldn’t have had food poisoning if you’d eaten with us instead of with Adalyn.”
I tightened my hold on him. “True. You could have saved me.”
“I was trying to prioritize my sister.”
“I see that now, and it’s sweet.”
He backed me up until my shoulders pressed into the elevator wall, then bent his head and pressed a kiss to the tender skin below my ear. “Can we stop talking about my sister now?”
“Sure, but only for a minute. I’m going to need a rundown about her, because now I want to knoweverything.”
He smiled, and I wiped it away with a kiss. I tightened my hold around his waist and tilted my head, deepening the kiss. Rhett held me like I was gentle and valuable, and he kissed me like he had nothing to hide.
“Excuse me, sir? Ma’am?” A staticky voice broke through our euphoria. “Is everything okay?”
Rhett leaned back. “Sir?” he whispered.
“Ma’am?” I looked up and found the camera. “Oh my gosh, we’re being watched.”
He grinned, kissing me softly once more before straightening. “Everything is fine. We’re good to go.”
“That’s wonderful news, sir.”
The elevator started moving, but Rhett didn’t seem to care. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me again. “I’m pretty happy that I get to do this now whenever I want.”
