I push through the main door and head toward the vans parked out front. I’m done with today and everything it’s offered me.
All that matters is that Taylor is still in there baking. And I’m heading back to the baker’s house. I’ve given them enough footage of me for the day.
?????????
The bedroom door slams harder than I intend. Everything in this house is too fragile for the kind of energy vibrating under my skin right now.
I drag both hands through my hair and pace the length of the room—back and forth, back and forth. My jaw aches from clenching it. I flex my fingers, working out the tight fists that have left my knuckles bone-white.
I should feel victorious, but all I feel is wound tight and ready to snap. Something coils low in my chest, bracing for impact. I threatened a man who could bury me professionally, but he backed down from me.
My slacks and fitted button-up feel suffocating. I need to change into something that lets me breathe. Since I have no plans of leaving this room tonight, I grab a pair of loose pajama pants and head to the bathroom.
I brush my teeth a little too hard. The minty foam turns pink, and I swish with water until it runs clear.
Dropping onto the bed, I toss one arm over my face. I need to calm down and let everything from earlier go. It’s over. I handled it. Consequences be damned.
A sharp knock rattles the door, and my eyes fly open. I sit up, scrubbing my hands over my face.
How long have I been lying here?
Another series of knocks—faster this time.
“Alex,” Taylor calls through the door, breathless.
My pulse spikes so hard I feel the muscles in my neck twitch. I cross the room in three long strides and yank the door open.
She’s standing there flushed, curls wild around her shoulders, chest rising and falling like she sprinted the entire way up the stairs.
Her eyes are bright, and a little frantic, as she speaks.
“RaeAnn told me everything,” she says between breaths.
Her words hit me square in the chest. For half a second, I just look at her, unsure how she’s going to react. I hope she understands I was just looking out for her, but you never know.
I brace for anger. For distance. For her to tell me I was out of line and I shouldn’t have said anything. Nobody likes an asshole, but I did itforher. That has to mean something.
Without hesitation, she steps forward, fisting her hands in the front of my shirt as she closes the distance.
“Taylor—”
She cuts me off, rising onto her toes, hooking her arms around my neck and wrapping her legs around my waist with surprising confidence. I steady her automatically, hands gripping her hips to keep her from sliding.
Her mouth crashes into mine, and I stumble backward into the relative privacy of my bedroom, caught in a kiss that threatens every ounce of restraint I’ve been pretending to have.
Yeah. She’s definitely not mad.
Thank fuck.
CHAPTER 19: TAYLOR
The cool surface of the door presses into my back as Alex lifts me, his hips rolling against mine, dragging a soft, involuntary whimper from my throat.
His hands move quickly after that, one sliding beneath my jaw to tilt my face where he wants it.
Oh God. This is happening.
His mouth finds mine, warm and insistent, and I meet him without hesitation, matching his rhythm as the kiss deepens. Another quiet sound slips from me, swallowed by the heat of his mouth, by the way he doesn’t give me space to think.
