“She does if the offering party misrepresented himself.”
“You spent my money, then cockblocked me.” It’s a shitty card to deal, but I won’t let her convince me I’m in the wrong. I know without a doubt I am. “Hold up your end of the bargain. One day and one night on my terms.”
If my cock weren’t already hard, her withering glare would have the bugger at full staff.
“Cockblocked?” She arches a brow. “You said I get to decide whether our bargain includes sex. Well, I’m saying no.”
Her arms tight around my neck and her fingers playing with the hair at my nape say differently.
“You knew who I was,” she accuses again. “You must’ve been laughing to yourself when you were video-calling me from your office and private bathroom. You must’ve laughed even more hysterically when I told you about Ty, that all the girls were wild for him, and that he has the normal name in the family, while I was stuck with Ever.”
Her voice starts off strong, then slides into this unsure, soft tone that slices my heart in two.
“Never. I’d never laugh at you. And I love your name. I could say it all day long in a rainbow of emotions. Happiness. Anticipation. Worry. Tenderness. Longing. But I wouldn’t say it to mock you unless you and I were joking around. And I most definitely would not say your name in anger unless you put yourself in harm’s way or were harming yourself. Do you understand?”
Her bottom lip trembles. She looks away from me. I grasp her chin and tug until we are eye to eye. I would never treat her poorly, but I did when I withheld the truth from her. I had the advantage and put her at a disadvantage when I didn’t give her the truth from the beginning. Still, I have to have my say. It’s important that she understands the reason I had to have the upper hand.
“I didn’t give you my full name, because I wanted the chance for us to get to know one another without my past with your brother biasing your opinion of me. I didn’t want to tell you I’m Crimson’s owner, because for once in my life, a woman looked at me without seeing dollar signs in her eyes or eye-fucking me. It’s not arrogance, but I know what I look like, and women can be forward and aggressive as fuck.”
I let go of her chin, slide my hand under her hair, and cup her nape. “You see me, sweetness.”
And I see her. Ever is dealing with grief, loneliness, and the conflicting urge to be her own person, separate from her brother and his crew and her friends, but she’s afraid. It must be a nice problem to have. Ever belongs and is welcomed by her family and friends. I’d give up Crimson and money to be in her predicament.
“Keep calling me out when I’m being a jerk.” I want to do better and be a better person for Ever.
Ever is the moral compass I desperately need to set my life back on course. Good versus evil. Hero versus villain. Me running from what happened the night Carlos lost his life, rather than running toward finding the truth of who wanted me dead and getting justice for Carlos.
Ever bites down on her bottom lip but doesn’t tell me to fuck off or take my hand off her neck. Her brows furrow. “My brother doesn’t like you.”
An emotion I thought had died with Jules’s betrayal surfaces. I want to please Ever by making her worries disappear.
“I’ll change his mind.” I pepper kisses on her cheek, her neck, and along her shoulder where her shirt doesn’t cover.
Why do I feel so much, so fast, for a woman who could ruin me with her connection to my sister and her brother? I’ve sworn to myself I’d never date any of Gwen’s friends, and here I am with one in my arms.
“He’s stubborn.” Her worry lines deepen.
I cradle her ass with one arm—she’s tiny—and tuck her hair behind her ear with my free hand. “You’re worth it.”
She tightens her hold on me. “You don’t understand. He and his crew hate the Bliss brothers, and you’re one of them. He’ll hurt you.”
“Let him. You’re mine, sweetness, and no one, I mean no one, will come between us. You are mine to protect.”
Her eyes widen. “You can’t make that promise.”
“I just did.”
“Take it back.”
“Not on your life.” I fist her hair in my hand and keep her gaze on me with firm but gentle pressure from my hold. “You are mine.”
Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears. I skate the pad of my thumb across the crest of her cheek. We’re alike, me and my Ever After.
We’re both trying to fill the emptiness in our lives left over from losing those we loved and cared about.
Bringing her head to rest on my shoulder with my palm, I glance heavenward. Thank you, Carlos, for sending Ever my way.
24
