“That’s exactly how it works. And, we can’t skip this part!” I gestured wildly with my wineglass.Oops.A few drops spilled onto the hardwoods, inciting a glower from Axel. The man looked like I’d just personally murdered his entire family. Over three drops of wine. His eye twitched, and I swear I could hear his soul leaving his body. God forbid anyone disrespect his precious Brazilian rosewood or whatever tree died for these floors. I squatted down and slurped it up with my finger. Was it just me, or was he watching my finger with an inappropriate amount of intensity as it trailed along my tongue?
“You know I have paper towels, right?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” I said, maintaining eye contact as I licked my finger clean.
“You’re doing that on purpose.”
“Doing what?” I asked innocently. “Being environmentally conscious? Reduce, reuse, recycle.”
“That’s not what recycling means.”
“I’m recycling the wine. Through my mouth. Very eco-friendly.”
He shifted in his seat. His eyes darkened, tracking a drop of wine I’d missed at the corner of my mouth. For a moment, we just stared at each other, the air between us crackling with something dangerous. Something that made me want to spill more wine just to see what he’d do about it.
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, you being mean to me for YEARS is a massive plot hole in our story.”
“You were mean right back to me.”
“Yeah, that’s what happens when someone’s a complete dick to you for no reason.”
His lips thinned. “Like I said. Forbidden. Off-limits.”
“Bullshit.” I gestured again, this time without spilling crimson. “You’re mean to me specifically. I’ve seen you with other people. You’re charming, funny, somewhat likable. Your special brand of jackassery is reserved just for me. And I deserve to know why.”
Something flickered across his face. His Adam’s apple bobbed, fingers twitching at his sides. For just a second, I saw something raw there. Something vulnerable. But instead of answering, he just cleared his throat. “Next subject. Why did we start dating now?”
Oh, hell no.“You can’t have it both ways. You can’t tell me we have to know everything about each other and then shut down the most important part of our story.”
“We’ll navigate around it.” His voice was clipped.
“Like that time in college, when you navigated making a fake dating profile for me?”
“That was helpful. I set your age preference to sixty-plus to help you find someone mature,” he quipped.
“My bio said I collected ceramic frogs and believed the moon landing was fake.”
“You got twelve matches. Thirteen if you count the guy who wanted to start a conspiracy podcast with you.”
“That’s not the point, Axel. And let’s stay on topic.”
“Fine. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about our timeline. We reconnected when Jace was in the hospital. That’s true; there are witnesses. We helped him get back home. Also true. But instead of our usual verbal sparring match and you being an absolute?—”
“Choose your next words very carefully, Pierce.”
“Pain in my ass, we actually talked. Reconnected. Something sparked.”
“And we kept it secret because …?” I snapped my fingers, nearly spilling my wine again. “Oh! I know. Because I figured your nice-guy routine had a shelf life and you’d go back to being a complete jackass.”
His glare was soooooo satisfying.
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes and plopped back down on the couch, this time closer to his end than before. Close enough that I could see the way his muscles tensed when I settled next to him. “I made the decision to keep it private.”
“Why you and not me?”
“Because I’m a strong, independent woman running my own business. I carefully curate my image, and dating Chicago’s biggest playboy wasn’t exactly on-brand for me.” I took another sip.Nailed it.
His tightened face told me he was less than thrilled with my assessment. “Adorable. Now let’s talk about the important shit. Goals, dreams, life plans. Do we want kids? Where will we live?”
