“No wonder you turned out the way you did,” she teased.
“What’s your excuse?”
“My mom died, so it was just Addison and me.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Where does your dad fit into all this?”
“He worked a lot, but after my mom died, he stepped up. Big time.” That elicited a sweet smile from her. “I love him a lot, but he’s even more protective than Addison.”
She typed out a text before setting her phone in the cupholder.
“Did you tell Addison you’re with me?” he asked.
“God, no.”
“You really know how to stroke a guy’s ego.”
“Addison and Hawk would be up in my business,” she pushed back. “This was a one-off. It’snothappening again.”
“We already had a one-off. This is becoming a habit.”
“More like an addiction,” she murmured.
“The best kind.”
As he approached his condo building, he said, “I just moved in a few months ago.”
“Nice building.”
The modern structure loomed ten stories high. Instead of pulling up front, he drove around the side of the building, toward underground parking.
“Whoa, where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m parking.”
“But this is my vehicle.”
“Right.” He pulled in, punched in a code, and the gate rose. He drove to his vacant motorcycle spot, next to his Porsche and his ALPHA SUV. “I’m making us breakfast, then you can take off.”
She opened her mouth to protest, then, to his surprise, closed it.
He pulled the backpack off the back seat. “Need this?”
“How’d you know?”
“Know what?” he asked as he shouldered her bag.
They walked to the bank of elevators. He tapped the call button, the door opened. Once inside, he held a keycard to the scanner, then pressed P.
“How’d you know I’d need my backpack?” she asked.
As soon as the doors closed, he snaked his arm around her, pressed her up against the side of the cab.
“Because you like me, Britain.” Then, he kissed her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Their electric connection energized him, awakening his sleep-deprived brain. Hit after hit of adrenaline had him tightening his hold on her.
She didn’t need to tell him how she felt. He could feel it in her kiss, the intensity of how her body pressed into his, how she stroked the back of his neck, beneath his hair.
