And also, eww. Raw garlic kisses won’t help.
I tapped my ring. “I have you. Inside is just work, Sir. I know that. Picture kissing me if it helps you finish this scene.” I trailed my hands slowly down, stopping at his waistband. “And then we’ll go to Gilded, and you can do a lot more than kiss me.”
“Christ, I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now hurry up.” His nostrils flared at me giving an order, but I held up my hands. “We’re at work. That means I get to control things.”
“Fine,” he relented, but he didn’t listen.
He took off in the opposite direction.
“Where are you going?” I called after him.
He turned around and walked backward. “You touched me and talked about our plans for the night. I’m taking a walk while I think about baseball stats before I make shit more awkward in there.”
Sitting at Gildedlater that night, I waited anxiously for Tripp to wrap up his conversation with Atlas at the bar. It was never-ending.
I got the feeling he was adding the torture as payback for my bossiness earlier.
With a disgruntled sigh, my mind and my gaze wondered. I was looking toward the door just as a big man in a suit walked in. He looked like an action star, even if I didn’t recognize him. Or maybe an athlete. He was muscular enough to be either. With his shaved head and full beard, he was attractive and all, but it was the stunning woman on his arm that drew my focus.
She also could’ve been an actress or a model. Her black hair was the length I always wished I could grow mine to, and it contrasted so captivatingly with her big blue eyes.
With their looks and size difference, they made a striking couple.
If I were to make a snap judgment—something I was getting better about—I would’ve guessed the big guy was mean.
I would’ve been wrong.
His touch was gentle as he pulled out a nearby chair and helped his date sit. “Wait here, sunshine. I’m going to talk to Atlas, and I’ll be back.”
She grinned up at him with the same idolization he gave her. “Okay, Daddy.”
Sunshine, so cute.
And Daddy? Not my thing, but still… Hot.
I watched him move to the bar, my brows lowering when he greeted AtlasandTripp.
I glanced at his date to see her taking everything in with a wide-eyed stare.
“First time here?” I asked, knowing I wasn’t supposed to talk but wanting to be friendly anyway.
“Yes. My husband and I are visiting from Vegas.”
“Fun. Maybe? Unless you’re here for boring work.”
“Nope. I mentioned last night that I’d always wanted to go to Disneyland when I was a kid, and we were on a flight this morning.”
The name.
The way he looks at her.
The attention to detail.
Heisgood.
Half a year ago, envy would’ve eaten at me as I told myself that I was fine being alone because it was better than being ignored. But I wasn’t alone. I had Tripp. He never ignored me. He never made me feel like I didn’t matter. He was better than good, so I felt nothing but happiness for the stranger.
