“We’ll finish this later,” Brax says before he straightens his body and pulls his forehead away from mine. “And that’s a promise.”
My knees somehow get weaker at the promise of things to come, and Brax tightens his arm around me as if he knows the effect his words will have on me.
“You’re going to be my dessert.”
I can only stare up at him. The need that fills me is too much to allow me the ability to form any coherent words.
“It’s getting cold,” Betty says, not giving us any more time alone.
“Tiramisu is cold,” Brax calls out to her.
“The coffee,” she says back.
“You ready for this?” he asks.
“I’m ready for anything,” I tell him, but I leave out the part about being able to face anything as long as he’s with me. I’ve never felt the type of safety I feel when he’s near me, and it’s almost unnerving the power he has over me.
“Here we go,” he says as he takes my hand and heads toward the back door.
Somehow, I polish off the plate of tiramisu and the entire cup of coffee. I think a part of me figured as long as there was something in my mouth, I wouldn’t think about being dessert later or having to answer any questions.
I am wrong on both counts.
“How did you two meet?” his grandmother asks.
“She was at the bar,” Brax tells her, his hand covering mine, stroking his thumb across my skin.
“A drinker, eh?” Betty asks as she eyes me.
I shake my head. “No. I can’t.”
“You can’t?” she asks, the confusion clearly written all over her face.
“A medical condition. I can have a drink, but anything more is a problem.”
“No. She was there to meet someone,” Brax tells her, skating right over the issue with me sleepwalking when I have a little too much, especially if it is hard liquor.
“A friend?” Betty asks again.
“Blind date, but they didn’t show,” I say with a shrug. Thank God they didn’t too, or I wouldn’t behere right now. I very well could’ve been dead at this point because of Lucas.
“Their loss is my gain,” Brax tells his grandmother.
“And the weather was shit, so she stayed in the apartment above Inked,” Tate tells her grandmother. “And he stayed too.”
A smile forms on Betty’s lips. “And this man…the one who got you into trouble with Malakai?”
Brax squeezes my hand and thankfully speaks before I have a chance to. “He’s her ex from years ago.”
“Men,” Betty mutters. “Always a pain in the ass.”
No truer words.
Betty continues, “Well, it’s perfect timing that you found my grandson when you did. It’s like you two were put together for a reason. Malakai isn’t a man to mess with, but luckily for you, Tino and he have a relationship.”
“The world works in mysterious ways,” I say to her, peering over at Brax, who’s staring back at me.
“At least it’s your ex,” Gigi says, wading into the conversation. She tips her head toward her husband. “This one pulled me into some shit in his personal life that almost left me dead.”
