I smiled. “Yeah, that’s her new thing.”
Hatchet glared at me. “You let that dog get away with everything, don’t you?”
I smirked. “She’s cute. I can’t say no.”
Hatchet shook his head. He glanced at Everest. “You all set?”
Everest nodded. “I’ll run everything by my lawyers, but I think we’re good.” He stretched a hand out to shake Hatchet’s. “Looking forward to being your business partner.”
Chapter Fourteen
Two nights. Three mornings. Eighty-five hours, give or take. That’s how much time I’d spent with Merci.
Tangled in sheets that now smelled like sex, sweet magnolia, and leather. Under her, when she took control and ground into that piercing she loved so much. Inside her, every thrust feeling less like a fling and more like a fucking claim.
More than one burnt breakfast. Long walks with Chaos through the woods and even longer showers. Filthy whispers at dawn, midday romps, and waking each other in the night with our tongues.
I wondered how much time a person needed to fall in love. If Reaper and Merrick were any indication, it happened in a heartbeat.I just never thought it’d happen to me.
I was smitten. Devastatingly, stupidly, head-over-fucking-heels for a woman I wasn’t supposed to touch. But I didn't care anymore. I’d tell her today. Lay my cards on the table, my heart on the line. We’d figure it out together.
A shrill ring shattered my racing thoughts in the quiet morning. Merci woke, stretching over me as she reached for her phone across the nightstand. I tightened my arms around her, wanting just onemore second of her warm body pressed against mine before Merrick and Kenna returned that evening.
“Hey, Kenna.” She sat, swinging her legs over the side and yanking on a tank top. The fabric clung to the curves I’d mapped with my fingers. “Yeah, I’m home. Sounds like you’re making good time.” She wriggled into her shorts. “See you guys soon.”
I closed my eyes, scrambling for the right words.
“So, they stayed in Fort Worth last night and got on the road early. They’re an hour out,” she said, her clipped tone already creating a chasm between us. “You need to go. Now.”
I stood, sheet pooling at my feet, wrapping my naked body around hers from behind. My chest pressed against her back. “Let’s talk first.”
“About what?” Merci grimaced. “We don’t have time. Eva’s going to drop off Brisket on her way through. You have to get out of here.”
I groaned. This wasn’t going how I wanted. What I needed to say required time. Processing, for her and me both. Now she was slipping away like smoke through my fingers.
“Hellcat, I want?—”
Merci interrupted me. “This was fun,” she said, already heading down the stairs.
I followed, smirking to hide the crack in my chest. “Just fun?”
“Just fun.” She shot a smile over her shoulder. “We got it out of our system, right? We always knew this had an expiration date. And it’s today.”
“Right.” I rubbed the back of my neck. How the hell did she sound so certain?
“Now that we’re done with”—she gestured in the air between us—“this, we move on. You go back to whatever flavor of the week you’re enjoying, and I go back to working insane hours and my battery-operated boyfriend.”
“Is that what youreallywant?” My voice came out rough.
I wanted more. I never wanted to fucking stop.
“Yeah, just friends?” She extended her hand like we were closinga business deal. The same hand that’d been wrapped around my cock two hours ago.
I stared at it, bitterness rising in my chest. I pushed past her and headed out the door. “Got it. Just friends. I got shit to do anyway. Drop Chaos at the clubhouse later, OK? See you.Friend.” I spat out the last word and didn’t bother to look over my shoulder to see her reaction.
* * *
Guilt coursed through me hours later when Merrick swung by the clubhouse to chat with Thane. But a foreign ache pulsed in my chest beside it.
