Page 202 of A Matter of Time

“Yep.”

“I’m so sorry.” I chuckled, kissing his eyes, the bridge of his nose, his brows, his cheeks, and his lips as he smiled wickedly.

“It’s okay, baby.” He sighed heavily. “You and him, it’s a packaged deal. I don’t get you without him, and since I’m keeping you, I gotta deal with your brother.”

“You sound so thrilled.”

“He’s an arrogant sonofabitch. And he’s fuckin’ possessive and protective and today he was just… He’s so worried I’m gonna hurt you and he…he threatened me and I just felt like⁠—”

“You wanted to kill him?”

“I wanted to thank him.” He smiled up at me. “Because he takes such good care of you.”

“Awww, Sam.” I kissed him again. “That was nice.”

“He’s gonna sell the apartment for you, J, and give you the money. He said it was yours.”

“We’ll see. I’ll talk to him about⁠—”

“You can get it all straightened out tomorrow.”

“Why couldn’t we see him tonight?”

“Tonight he’s going to see Carmen. Is she hot?”

I smiled at him. “It’s an opera.”

He pinched my ass hard. “I know that, jerk. I’m not a total idiot.”

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder. “I love you.”

“I know,” he said, clutching me tight, his hands smoothing up and down my back. “This is the only thing that kept me going all day.”

I drew back to look down into his face.

“Knowing I’d have you at the end of it.”

The words that came out of his mouth were amazing.

“You’re vibrating.” He smiled at me with that lopsided grin I loved, the one that short-circuited my brain.

“What?”

“Your phone, dingus.”

I grunted, sliding out of his lap. “Nice.”

“Come back.” He reached for me.

I turned away and answered. “Hello?”

“Coward.”

“What?”

“Sending that poor man here alone to eat with me and discuss his intended future with you. Tsk-tsk.”

“I didn’t send anyone anywhere,” I told Dane. “I would have gone with him.”