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She nodded, taking a shaky breath. “Okay.”
We might be at an elementary school, but some intimate alone time was long overdue. I needed to kiss her, touch her, and make her bite her lip while she struggled to stay quiet so we weren’t caught.
The only splash of cold water over that was that I needed to make a phone call and deal with my soon-to-beexassistant and her bullshit.
“See you at the panel in an hour?” Troy asked, coming up beside me before I could say anything more.
“I’ll be there,” I agreed.
He nodded then glanced over at Bristol.
“Troy Pressure,” he said, reaching to shake her hand.
“Bristol Donovan.” She returned the shake. The caveman part of me didn’t like her touching any guy’s hand, but I knew I was feeling unreasonable. Over the top possessive. I could have lost her today. The pics in my back pocket could have sent her running as far from me as she could get. Marta could have ruined everything.
“It’s nice to meet you, Troy. Axel’s been a big fan since we were in elementary school,” she continued, sliding her arm around my waist. She’d always been so tuned in to me that she probably felt I was on edge from my obsession and anger. Maybe, she was, too. When she’d stormed into the gym earlier, her fury had been unmistakable. She’d tried to keep an outward calm, but one look at the press of her lips and the tremors in her shoulders, and I’d known something was wrong.
We’d been way too close to the point of disaster. And this time, it wasn’t my fault.
“That long,” Troy groaned. “Now, I feel old. And you’re…”
“She’s my girlfriend,” I said. I squeezed her hip. “Hopefully, soon-to-be more.”
Well, hopefully, she’dknowshe was more, anyway. My wife. My forever. And I prayed she’d stay that way when I explained the validity of our so-called fake wedding to her. If shit could just stop happening, so I’d have some good level ground with her, that would be great. The longer I didn’t tell her, the deeper a hole I dug. My family would have my head—her family, too—and she’d have my balls. I deserved nothing less.
“Nice. And together for a while, too,” Troy commented. “It’s always good to see a driver with stable support at his side. I’m glad you have that.”
With another nod, he headed off toward Dray, whose security appeared on the verge of rushing him out of the building. Shaking them, Dray met Troy halfway across the gym.
God, Troy was the polar opposite of my uncle. He considered a rock-solid relationship as a plus, not a minus. Why couldn’t he have been the one to offer me the ride six years ago?
I shook my head.
What was done was done, and I just had to deal with it from where I stood now.
“I need to make a phone call—and be with you,” I told Bristol. “Someplace private.”
“As cliché as it might sound, there’s a storage closet near the book fair room.”
“Perfect.”
Twenty-One
Axel
Taking Bristol’s hand, I lifted it up and pressed my lips to the back, inhaling the floral scent she’d sprayed on the inside of her wrist this morning.
“Show me the way, baby,” I murmured against her skin. Rotating her arm slightly, I sucked lightly on the tender skin just above her palm.
A tremor worked through her, and when she met my eyes, she clearly knew my plans for after the phone call. She bit down on her lip, before I reached up and pulled it free with my thumb. My mouth brushed over hers, not caring that there might be people still snapping pics around us and immortalizing our interlude.
“Yes,” I said, answering her unasked question. “I’m gonna make you moan.”
“Axel…” she whispered, her breath wobbling while our foreheads pressed together, our eyes closed. Together. United. Calm filled me, verifying what I’d suspected. She drove away my demons and eased my anger, and she would be the balm over the rough parts of my life.
“Show me the way, baby.”
“Okay.”
