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“I’m not scared for everyone to know you’re my world, Ocean. I want it out. I want everyone to know you’re mine and that I love you. What are you worried about?”
“I don’t know. I guess about what people are going to say about our ages or that you used to be my handler. My uncle could get brought up and I just worry this could be bad for you too.”
I watch her pace around the room, feeling the anger coiling tighter and tighter inside me. I understand why she is worried if her uncle decided to get nasty. Thankfully, I’ve been able to keep him away and keep BNE’s focus on him. Ocean doesn’t need to worry about any of this. I would never let a scandal touch her.
“Does my age bother you?”
She looks appalled I would ask. “No. It never has.”
Well, that’s fucking good because I can’t change it any more than she can. “It doesn’t bother me either, Ocean. I don’t care what others say because they don’t know us, they don’t know you.”
Her eyes start to shine with tears and it pulls at my heart. I don’t want her crying about stupid shit.
“Why were you at the doctor's office today?”
She stops to face me and her cheeks turn pink again. “I. I’ve just not been feeling the best on the pills I’m taking. I wanted to talk to the doctor.”
“What did he say?”
“He said it might just be my body getting used to them,” she mumbles and won’t meet my eyes.
“Did he give you anything else?” I need to know, so I can figure out how best to get rid of it. My worst fear is that she got an implant.
Ocean shakes her head no. “I’m just going to see if it gets better.”
I can’t even hide the triumph that lights up my face. It might be a challenge to get her on board with my plans, but I plan to give it my all. I won’t stop until the world knows, when my ring is on her finger and my baby is in her belly. The urgency to lock her down blazes up my spine.
“The Gold Disc Music Awards are in two weeks. We’ll attend together and a week later, we’ll make the announcement that we’re together and the relationship is serious,” I tell her, my fingers running over my tie before loosening it. “Kyle has been updated on protocol for your security to keep an eye out for your uncle. And I already have someone undercover in Vegas looking for the bookie who came after you before. That will never happen again. I will never let anything your uncle does or says affect our life together.”
Hey mouth opens in the most delicious looking ‘o’ shape. Her eyes shimmer with tears and a hint of rage. “So that's just it then? I don’t get a say in any of this?”
“You can say thank you, Ezra.” I smirk and undo my vest, folding it neatly and placing it on the chaise lounge by her bed. I stalk over to her, watching the way her breaths get deeper, her lips purse, her nipples harden beneath the fabric of my t-shirt, calling for my attention. “There isn’t anything I can’t do for you, including protect you and your name. I have a plan for everything, and a contingency plan for backup just in case. I won’t keep hiding the fact that I’m so fucking in love with you I’m desperate to do anything I need to in order to keep you.”
“What if it’s too much and you decide I’m not worth it in the end?”
I pull back as if she struck me across the face. I knew it would take time to heal her broken heart, to prove I’m all in. It kills me that we make progress and then her fear comes firing back. I take a breath in and calm my frustration. I’m playing the long game. She will be mine. The thought of her being with any other man shreds my insides and I see red. Blood red. Because I would bleed him out slowly and quietly, making him disappear forever.
“You are everything.”
Her head tilts back and a glint of frustration lingers on her features. “Why me, Ezra? I’m not even your type, aren’t you more into gorgeous redheads?”
Confusion rolls through me. “My type is you.”
Ocean gives me an angry look and moves farther out of my reach. “When you first started, you had a revolving door of women throwing themselves at you. At our first meeting at the hotel, you came down with a gorgeous redhead. You left with her too.”
My brow lifts, trying to remember three almost four years ago when I first met her. I remember the hotel and seeing herthe first time was like a sledgehammer to my chest. She was beautiful, sweet, and scared. She blushed anytime I looked at her and I have no idea how I managed to keep my concentration on her uncle. All I could think about was protecting her. Saving her. After that, I took on the role of her protector, fixing everything for her and giving her what she wanted. I didn’t realize until later that I was memorized by her.
Sure, I was used to women showing me attention. In my early twenties and college, it wasn’t unheard of to hook up with one or two women a week. I dated a few of them randomly for a month or so, but nothing felt right. Once I met Ocean, I found myself less and less looking for a woman to take home, becoming less and less interested in a casual hookup. It wasn’t until I was using my hand in the shower and Ocean’s name ripped from my chest that it really hit me what was happening and who I really wanted.
“From the moment I realized you were the one I wanted, I haven’t been with anyone else. No one has held my attention. I remember that day, because it was the day my real purpose in life started. Her name is Joey. She was a college friend of mine’s girlfriend. She had spent the day drinking with some of her girlfriends. I told her after my meeting I would get her an Uber so she waited. On our way out, she almost tripped on her heels so I held onto her, trying to save her dignity by not getting kicked out of a prestigious hotel. I put her in an Uber and sent her to his house.”
She leans against her vanity table and I cage her in, my arms on both sides of her body. “Were you jealous, princess?”
Ocean is quiet for some time, lost in her thoughts. I rest my forehead against hers and run my thumb along her chin and down her neck to the collar of her t-shirt. My fingers hook inside and I gently pull her forward, her lips a breath away from mine. I crowd her space and hear her inhale when she feels my rapidlyhardening cock against her stomach. “Did you hate seeing me with someone else?”
“Yes.” Her lips move against mine, gently. Not yet a kiss. My heart roars with pleasure at her admission.
“How do you feel about me, Ocean? Am I a dirty little secret or do you still love me like you claimed all those years ago in that hotel room. I’ve been moving heaven and earth to be with you, to find my way back to you. Do you still feel the same way? Or do you want me to walk away now?”
