“Already?” she asks, pouting.
He kisses her cheek. “We’ll have lunch together soon.” He takes out his wallet, but I raise my hand.
“This is on me.”
He drops money on the table. “No, it isn’t. My treat.”
My jaw tics as I watch him leave, the cash on the table taunting me.
I’ve been well and truly owned by Guy Gibson, and I’m not used to it.
I need to get through to him, sooner rather than later.
As we walk hand in hand back to the apartment, Ella is quiet.
“You okay?” I ask.
She nods, focusing on her feet. “How badly did he threaten you?”
I look ahead. “Who?”
She snorts a laugh. “Come on. I know my dad. Let me guess …” She sighs and tips her head back, looking at the sky. “‘It’s a long road to my approval!’” She imitates him well, and I laugh.
“Got it in one.”
She tuts. “He’s unbearable.”
“He loves you.”
“I don’t want him to scare you off.”
We stop on the sidewalk and I face her. Her lipstick is almost gone from kissing me, and I run my thumb across her bottom lip.
“Not gonna happen,” I say, leaning down to kiss her again.
And who I’ve been for most of my life flies out the window.
I’m not a killer, or a broken man, or a man with blood on his hands. I’m just a man falling for a woman while wondering how much it’s going to hurt.
When the kiss ends, she’s smiling. “Tell me your secrets, Asher Flynn.”
I grin against her lips. “All of them?”
“Yep.” She kisses me softly.
I grip the backs of her thighs and lift her up, wrappingher legs around my waist. She squeaks happily and rests her hands on my shoulders as I gaze up at her.
“Only if you promise to keep them.”
She drags her fingertip across her chest in the shape of an X. “Cross my heart, hope to die.”
As I carry her inside the apartment building, she stays in my arms. I press the button for the elevator, and it arrives quickly.
“I was thinking,” I say as the doors open and she ducks her head as I step inside. “Why don’t we all have brunch?”
“All?”
“You, me, your dad, and Gable.”
