Astoria leaned forward, handing the book to me. I didn’t miss the wince that passed over her. My brows furrowed as I leaned back in my chair. “Is your shoulder still bothering you?”
Astoria’s eyes glazed over, but she clenched her jaw, suppressing her emotions just as we had always been taught to. Shaking her head once at me, she rolled her shoulders back. “No. It’s fine.”
“Asto—” I began, but a knock on my office door cut me off.
Astoria turned over her shoulder. “Come in.”
I rolled my eyes at my little sister. Even if I reprimanded her, it wouldn’t matter. Astoria was on another level of being independent, and sometimes it worried me. I set the marriagecontract upside down on the desk, leaning back in my chair nonchalantly.
The wooden door swung open lightly, and Acelynn’s smiling face peered in. She was in a black leather top that laced up the front with a pair of matching pants. The corset style accentuated her breasts, and if my sister wasn’t sitting just a few feet away from me, I would have dragged Acelynn into this room and taken my time untying that top with my teeth. A deep blush began to crawl across her skin as she stood under my stare.
Clearing her throat, she turned her attention toward Astoria. “Josie wanted to know if you had ordered any more cocktail napkins? We are out of them behind the bar, and she couldn’t find them in the dry storage room.”
“No,” my sister groaned out. “Give me five minutes, and I will come figure out what we are going to do.”
“Okay,” Acelynn said, turning to head out of the room.
I eyed how the leather pants hugged her perfect ass before she retreated from my sight. Astoria stood, hand coming out to smack me across the back of the head.
“Ow! What the fuck, Astoria?” I yelled out, my hand reaching up to feel where her metal ring clipped my skull. There was already a bump beginning to form, and I glared toward her.
“Stop eye-fucking my friend,” Astoria attempted to whisper-yell at me, but failed miserably.
I shrugged nonchalantly at the suggestion. She would find out soon enough that I was doing much more than eye-fucking her so-called friend. If I had my way, after we got back to the bar yesterday, I would have spent hours getting to know every inch of her skin. Acelynn was the sweetest drug I had ever taken, and if I didn’t have responsibilities, I would still be buried between her legs—an addict seeking my fix.
Astoria’s jaw dropped, eyes wide with the sudden realization. “YOU DIDN’T!”
I flinched at the volume of her high-pitched voice. Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. I chuckled lightly. “I don’t know what you are talking about, baby sis.”
“You slept with Acelynn!” She pointed an accusing finger toward where the girl had just been before standing upright and slamming her hands down on my desk, sending random papers flying across the space.
Rolling my eyes at her dramatics, I stood to match her stance. Astoria waved a finger at me. “I swear on everything that you love, Kaius Mordred, if you run her off, I will cut it off.” Her glance downward had me gulping at the suggestion. “Then we won’t have an employment issue.”
The door swung open again, this time revealing a very amused Nolan. Stepping into the room, he shoved the door shut with his foot. “I hope you know that every single person in this bar just heard that.”
“Fucking hell, Astoria,” I groaned, running one hand over my temples. That meant Acelynn heard her tantrum, and I am sure she was standing behind the bar, mortified. I would make it up to her later.
Astoria shot me another glare. “I’m serious, Kaius. Don’t mess this up.”
“I hadn’t planned on it,” I snapped at her.
Astoria’s eyes softened at that, and I opened my mouth to apologize to her, but she cut me off with a small smile.
“You actually like her, don’t you?” Astoria’s voice was gentle as she spoke.
I nodded once, not really knowing how to articulate the way Acelynn made me feel. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. One second, I wanted to rip into her for that smart mouth of hers, and the next, I couldn’t imagine my life without her. Every thought since she had flown into the roundtable was consumed with her. Her pretty hazel eyes. The little sounds shemade when I kissed that spot on her collarbone. And that damn brilliant smile. I could stare for hours and never tire of it. Astoria whipped around to Nolan. “Have you ever seen him like this?”
Nolan shook his head. “Don’t drag me into this, Tor.”
“Nolan,” she shouted, and I could practically see the pouty lip she was shooting at him.
Nolan sighed, throwing his head back like he was praying to whatever force was out there to give him the strength to resist my sister.
“No, I haven’t seen him like this.” Nolan flashed me a sympathetic smile. I shot him a dark look, causing him to throw his hands up in surrender and begin to back up toward the door. “I’m just telling her the truth. You have been different since Acelynn arrived, and it’s refreshing to see you not so grumpy all the time.”
“I wasn’t grumpy,” I protested, settling back down in my seat and casting my eyes downward to the club’s books again. “Don’t you two have some cocktail napkins to handle?”
The two of them shuffled out of the room, but before the door shut, Astoria poked her head back in with a bright smile plastered across her face. “I really am happy for you, Kaius. If anyone deserves to find someone, it’s you.”
