When the elevator doors opened and we stepped into the apartment together, Jaxson stiffened.
“Are you going to yell at me?” He dragged his feet and stopped walking, even though I was trying to usher him toward the bedroom.
“What? Yell?” Apparently we were going to have to talk about this now. Had he been worrying about it all day? “I wanted to do a hell of a lot more than yell when I heard him talking to you in that bathroom, and especially when I couldn’t get in the door to be with you. I wasn’t mad about the fucking problem we’re facing, Jaxson. I want to be clear here. I was goddamned furious that you didn’t trust me enough to bring me in on this. It’s my career we’re talking about, too. I put fires out for a living. Why wouldn’t you come to me?”
He shuffled away, and I had a sense of déjà vu as he leaned against the wall beside the elevator and crossed his arms.
“Well? Why didn’t you tell me?” He hung his head and I wanted so badly to go to him. I clenched my hands into fists instead. “I need to know what you were fucking thinking.”
“I was… scared, okay?”
My stomach boiled with anger, and I stalked over to stand right in front of him. “Of what? Not that kid? If you’re ever scared, come to me.” I smacked my own chest hard enough that it stung, but I was so upset I barely felt it. “Don’t ever wait. That’s what bad people count on. They count on you isolating yourself. I know, I’ve used the tactic. They count on your silence to keep their play in motion.” I forced myself to relax my hands and then rested my fingertips on his stomach. He was so fucking beautiful I could barely stand it. The range of emotions that flashed across his face were mesmerizing. Eventually he closed his eyes as a twisted smile settled across his lips.
“I was scared that you’d be done with me even after what you said to me. Because what we’re doing is dangerous, and now someone knows.”
Smirking, I brushed a kiss to the tip of his nose, and his eyes flew open.
“You’re my belly boy. You’re about as dangerous as a chinchilla in a pink bow.”
He scowled and crossed his arms. “Jean-Paul told me I should request to go to a different office.”
Paralyzed, I couldn’t even breathe, and then all at once I was able to move again and grasped his shoulders. I knew I was holding him too tightly because of the little vee that settled between his brows, but I couldn’t make myself let go of him.
“Vane?”
“Do you want to go?” I demanded.
“No.”
I was able to drag in a real breath again while he stared at me like I’d gone off my rocker. “Let me take you out for a meal. I know it’s late. I’m too tired to cook, though, and I don’t want you eating crappy takeout. Let’s be ourselves, be relaxed, and… get to know each other. Because I don’t want you to go. We’ll make everything okay again tomorrow.”
“Is that smart?”
Sighing, I looked at the ceiling, but no answers dropped out of the sky. “If we’re doing this, Jean-Paul may have a point.”
“This?”
“You’re mine,” I growled, surprised by how strongly I felt those words. “You need me to say it? Fucking fine, I will. A relationship.”
He stared at me, and I glared right back at him as a strange heaviness seemed to linger in the air between us, making it difficult to keep meeting his gaze. I turned my attention to the floor between our shoes.
“Thank you. For today. For being there with me.”
“Don’t. I wanted to do that. I want you,” I mumbled. My face scalded.
He chuckled weakly. “I want you, too, but I think I also want… the other stuff.” He gestured lamely between us.
“So we’re good? I can’t have this talk again. You need to know you’re mine, and that’s it. No qualifications required. I’m going to fuck you and put my seed in your belly, and you’re going to love every second of me breeding you.” He smiled at me, and I could tell maybe he was going to say something sappy, so I stepped in and hugged him tight. “Come on, belly bitch. Let me feed you. There’s a lot within walking distance.”
He tilted his head back so I could kiss him, and his lips trembled against mine. While we softly explored each other’s mouths, every one of my bones melted—except one. By the time I pulled myself away from him, we were both panting.
“Fine. Wine me and dine me.”
“Great.” I grinned at him, excited. I hadn’t been on a date in… well, I wasn’t sure if I actually ever had been. I held out my hand for his and used my other one to hit the elevator call button. The ride downstairs passed in a blur because he slid close to me and I ate his lips like they were the food I’d missed out on at dinnertime. When the door opened at the ground floor, shouting from the front doors had me wincing. The glass ceiling and walls that extended the entrance away from the main building made the noise bounce around and sound louder than should have been possible. We stepped out, and it quickly became apparent that the racket was two security guards surrounding one man who was yelling. I immediately groaned, while Jaxson leaned forward toward the ruckus, brow furrowed. He was probably trying to figure out where he knew the fucker with the camera from as he turned and snapped a photograph of us.
“What do you want, Roberts?”
His smile was so oily, he could have sold the mineral rights and retired on it. “Only a moment of your time, Deputy Mayor! Seemed a shame to wait until you were back at city hall. Your bouncers wouldn’t let me talk to you.”
