It was good, but not as good as it was with him.
A part of me feared it never would be.
* * *
“What kept you at the office all day yesterday?” Kaz asked as he let me into the house the next morning. My attention caught on his bare chest and the way his jeans rode low on his hips. I dragged my gaze up. He wore a smirk, but his eyes shone with something uneasy. “Avoiding me?”
“You caught me.” I slid my hand around the back of his neck and tugged him down for a quick kiss. “Trinity wanted to talk about my career, of all things. I stayed at the office afterward to get some admin work finished.”
His smirk slid away. “What did she say?” he asked as we moved to the living room. “Is this about the meeting with Theo?”
“Not—”
“Molly, if they fire you over what I said, Mase and I will walk away from our contract.”
Wait, what?
I whipped around, disbelief slamming into me like a giant wave. He couldn’t possibly mean that. Yet he wore a grim expression that lacked any hint of amusement.
“Don’t you dare,” I stammered out. “No one is firing me, but even if they were, you arenotgoing to break your contract on my behalf.”
His jaw moved as he grit his teeth.
“Tell me you know I’m right,” I demanded, my heart beating hard inside my chest.
He tore his gaze away from me to look out the window. I held my breath as I waited for his answer.
“I know,” he said finally. Then he added more firmly, “You’re right.”
I rubbed my temples, shocked he would even consider something drastic like throwing away their representation for my sake.
He stopped behind me, placing his hands on my hips before turning me around to face him. So much tatted skin. My palms landed on his chest, and his heart thumped steadily under my touch.
“Kaz, you can’t say things like that,” I muttered, drawing my hands up to his shoulders. “I hope you weren’t serious. You don’t need to woo me anymore, you know? We’re already sleeping together.”
“We’re having a few people over later in the evening,” he said, pointedly ignoring my comment. “You should stick around.”
“Okay. I’ll think about it.” Now that Mason and I were on good terms, I didn’t really have an excuse not to attend. I’d probably get a few good shots at the party, something different from our usual studio sessions, and Trinity could hardly fault me for doing photography during my personal time.
“You and Mase seem on better terms,” he said in a careful tone.
“We talked. We’re cool.”
“Be honest with me, Molly.” His voice dropped low. “Are you with me only because you’re still hung up on Mase, or have we moved past that by now?”
Indignation flared inside of me, but right behind it was a hot flash of shame. “I told you in the very beginning it was never about him.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
I pushed him away. “Where is all of this coming from? Why does it even matter? You’re getting what you want regardless of the reason, aren’t you?”
He crossed the distance between us and gripped my chin. “And you know exactly what I want, don’t you?”
“You want an easy lay.”
His chuckle was dark. “Because you’re so easy, huh? If that’s all it is, why did you stay with me earlier this week when I told you to leave?” He was referring to the day of his mother’s birthday.
I jerked my chin out of his grip. “Don’t over complicate this.”
