“Come here,” Axel said.
What was he up to? Maybe pulling me aside to ensure I was okay? But the look on his face looked less reassuring and more … well, mischievous.
He drew me to the far corner of the living room, theoretically out of sight from Jennifer and Mathew, but still. Axel pulled me closer by the hand, then wrapped his arm around my waist, tugging my chest against his.
“What are you doing?” I pressed both palms against his shoulders, desperate for distance. My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to escape. Or reach out and touch Axel …
He tilted his head, genuinely surprised he had to explain. In one swift move, he pressed my back to the wall, and his palms bracketed my head, caging me in.
“Making it look real,” he whispered. “And showing him what he’s missing.”
Oh.
“This isn’t what I meant …”
“Relax, Sunshine.” The gentle smile tugging at his lips was meant to reassure me, I guess. But his knuckles drifting down my neck were all sorts of distracting.
“No, Axel,” I whispered. “I meant we should get our stories straight, maybe hold hands or something. Not … this.” I gestured frantically between us. “This is too much.”
“Trust me, hand-holding isn’t going to convince anyone.” His knuckles dipped lower, then trailed down my side.
“But I don’t want to make Mathewjealous,” I hissed, trying to duck under his arm. “That’s not who I am. I just wanted him to see I’ve moved on, that I’m happy?—”
“Same thing.” His voice was maddeningly calm.
“It’s not the same thing at all.” My voice came out as an angry whisper.
Axel’s expression softened slightly, but he didn’t move away. “You asked for my help, Dakota. Let me help you.”
“Not like this.” I shook my head, but even as I protested, I was acutely aware of how solid he felt, how his proximity was making my thoughts scatter. “I can’t do this to Mathew. It’s cruel.”
“And he wasn’t cruel to you?”
Er … not the point.
“He broke your heart,” Axel reminded me, his voice dropping lower. “Twice.”
“That’s not …” I started to argue, but then his fingers traced along my lips, and my words died in my throat.
Oh no.
My mouth opened involuntarily, and worse, much worse, I felt my resolve crumbling like a house of cards at his touch. Case in point, a sharp breath escaped as his heat penetrated my skin and shot straight to my core.
His fingers drifted down my neck, knuckles grazing my collarbone again, this time with maddening slowness.
“I guarantee you’ve never had a man like me, Sunshine,” he murmured, and despite every rational thought screaming at me to stop this, my body was betraying me completely.
“Axel …” I meant it as a warning, but it came out more like a breathless plea.
“Stop thinking so much,” he said, reading the war playing out on my face. “Just for once, stop being so damn noble. Pretend you’re bent over my desk,” he whispered against my ear. “Legs spread, arms bound behind you, like an offering.”
Holy crap. Dirty talk. He was trying to disarm me with dirty talk.
And you know what? It was working.
Heat exploded across my cheeks, but his boldness was contagious. Liberating.
I trailed my palm down his chest, feeling brazen for the first time in my life. “My legs would be spread, but you’d be the one making offerings.”
