‘Agreed.’
‘And I get seal of approval. Not you.’
She baulks. ‘I’m the one going on the date.’
‘And I’m the one running protection. It ain’t up for debate.’
She bites the corner of her mouth, and the way it dents, soft and pink… my fist tightens around the bottle.
‘Stone?’ I growl out.
‘Okay.’
I blow out a breath. ‘Then I’m in. A trial run, and we’ll?—’
I’m cut off by her arms around my neck, her triumphant shout in my ear. My entire body tenses, arms unmoving. I forget every reason I should’ve said no. I forget the danger, the risk, the certainty of blood if one of her punters crosses the line.
All I can think about is how much I want her, and how that want is the most dangerous thing of all.
‘You won’t regret it,’ she says, flying from me to Theo, and I watch them hug with ease. Swig my beer and accept my fate. That whatever comes next – success, failure, chaos – I’ll be where I always am. By her side. Protecting her.
Even if it kills me, craving her in the goddamn process.
9
TAYLOR
‘Tell me what you see going on over there?’
Sadie leans in, the paper umbrella in her drink bobbing dangerously close to my left eye. She’s staring past the firepit at the couples on the far side, gaze narrowing on one pair in particular. No. No-no-no. It’s not?—
‘You see what I see, right?’ she presses, brows nudging north.
‘You mean Granny Anna getting up close and personal with Sterling?’
‘I think technically,he’sthe one trying to get up close and personal,’ she murmurs. ‘Granny Anna looks more like a deer caught in the headlights. Should I go rescue her?’
‘And spoil her fun?’
‘You think she’s havingfun?’
I smile as I acknowledge all the signs that tell me she is. ‘She’s twirling her hair. Facing away, but her body’s leaning in, eyes boomeranging back every five seconds. She doesn’t look like a woman in need of rescuing.’
Sadie tucks her chin in. ‘I’m not so sure.’
I laugh at her scrunched-up face, the firelight exaggerating every furrowed line. ‘Are you so out of practice you can’t spot flirting any more?’
‘This is Granny Anna we’re talking about,’ she insists. ‘She hasn’t looked at a man in… what, almost a decade?’
‘You don’t know that. For all we know, she might have a secret sex life that puts the rest of us to shame.’
Sadie splutters into her drink, almost losing her eye to the mini-brolly while she’s at it. ‘Yeah, right.’
‘Just because she’s Theo’s mum and a widow doesn’t mean she doesn’t have needs like the rest of us.’
She makes a face. ‘Okay, TMI. It’s almost as bad as thinking of you getting it on.’
‘Says the woman flaunting it in our faces last night,’ I say, instantly deflecting as my head eagerly travels down that road, straight to Axel, and this morning, and last night… and the talk we’ve yet to have.
