That devilish little boy look crossed his handsome face as he fought not to smile while nodding for me to continue.
“As I was saying, you might be bossy and a control freak, but you also seem like a damn fine man.”
The little boy-look deepened, and he blushed. I would’ve commented on it, but something told me it wouldn’t be taken how it was intended, not with him appearing so vulnerable.
“Thanks, vato.”
I leaned down to kiss him as his chin lifted, but then he moved back, his brow pinched. “Wait, how old are you?”
I laughed and dodged his question. “Older than you, I’m sure.”
“Okay, well, that’s not an answer.”
“I’m thirty-four.”
“Damn, and here I could’ve had me a sugar daddy for a husband.”
“How old are you?”
Those beautiful, full lips twitched with mirth. “We skipped some steps, didn’t we, vato? We went from ‘Hello’ to ‘I do’ without passing go.”
“We did. Guess we’ll have to keep playing, so we can revisit those steps?” I asked hopefully. He nodded and smiled but didn’t tell me how old he was.
I huffed a laugh. “You didn’t answer the question, Papi. Are you even old enough to be playing on the steps?”
“I think I’ve proven I’m old enough to play, or do you need a reminder?”
I growled at him playfully and said, “As for me being your sugar daddy, you gotta let a sugar daddy pay for things. And you don’t like that. Plus, with the way you treat me, it would be more like a sugar boy instead of a sugar daddy. Youstilldidn’t answer the question, by the way.”
“You know, you protest being treated like my boy, but you started it by calling me Papi. And I’m twenty-three. I’ll be twenty-four in a few months.”
“So, Marcos was right when he called you my young stud.”
Hayden squeezed me to him and took my mouth, plundering it like a pirate looking for treasure. I’d never been a possessive person, and I’d never been attracted to people who were. I preferred being free to pursue my interests as the wind took me but damn me if his growly, possessive, caveman act wasn’t hot as hell.
“You belong to me. Remember?”
I said, “Hmm. That reminds me. There was something I needed to remember. Now, what was it? Oh, I have it. I need to remember to be careful what I say so as not to let my husband have an inch because he’ll take the whole damn mile.”
“Jumping the gun there, aren’t you? We dodged that colossal mistake.”
I pulled out of his arms and walked away, smirking at him over my shoulder. “But did we?”
The way his face went from shock to elation made me giddy. A giddy, thirty-four-year-old bodyguard. Who ever heard of such?
19
HAYDEN
Ifelt the smile stretch my face as the shock faded into happiness. A week ago, I would have laughed in their face if someone said I would be married and actually kind of happy about it. Not that we knew for sure we were really and truly married.
The gold band circling my ring finger grabbed my attention. My thumb ghosted over it. The weight of it scared the crap out of me, but it also gave me hope, the likes of which I’d not had since before she walked away from me.
Declan was right when he said this would end. We were too fucking similar, but standing here, staring at the ring I didn’t remember him putting on my finger, I decided to enjoy it while I could. I’d deal with the fallout when he wizened up and walked away.
I pulled clothes from my duffel and changed before he came out of the closet. I hadn’t brought much with me, and neither had the guys. Living on a ship at sea taught you to prioritize and pack small. Declan had brought an actual suitcase, but it wasn’t ginormous or anything. Just more than I would have brought for a Friday to Sunday trip.
When he came out of the bathroom, I nearly swallowed my tongue. He looked fucking delicious. He always did. GQ hot the night I picked him up, then the cowboy showed up to play last night, and today, he was something else entirely, and it pushed all my buttons.
