“Tins.” Leo smiles, cutting me off as he pushes the ring onto his finger before tossing the box down onto the desk. “If you want to mark me, have at it.” He clears the space between us. “I’d tell you that you look sexy, but I already know you’ll get all flustered.”
“You think everything I do is sexy.” I laugh.
The man is always turned on when I’m around. He’s ready to pounce on me at any given second, and usually he does. There hasn’t been a day where he hasn’t woken me in the middle of the night to have his way with me. And that’s with us always having sex before bed.
“What about you?” He grabs my hand to check what kind of ring I have on. “Where did you get this?” He looks at the ring I put on earlier. I’d retrieved it out of the safe. It’s not a typical wedding ring. It’s an emerald in a princess cut with small diamonds all along the band.
“It was my grandma’s.”
“Grandma August?”
“Yes.” I can’t help but smile up at him.
“This the ring Andrew got her?”
“Yes,” I say again.
He really does pay attention when I ramble on when we lie in bed at night. Grandma August was my father’s mom. I adored her. The woman was always covered in fancy jewelry but it was her wedding ring that always caught my eye. I fell in love with it because it matched both of our eyes.
I never understood how my father could’ve possibly come from her. They were so different to me, but who knew how things were when my father was younger? Grandma had said with me she got a second chance, but she passed away when I was only nine. She left me the ring her husband gave her. I never met him. He was gone before I was born, but she always talked about him with such love.
“You’re right. It does match your eyes perfectly.” His hands slip down my body, and he gives my ass a squeeze. “I’m good with the ring, babe. Don’t get yourself worked up over my bullshit. My bullshit has already fucked us up enough.”
“I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” When I’d brought up the charity event and he said he’d come, I called for a tailor to come over.
He’s been a bit uneasy, but I pointed out we were going to this event for the New Arch Organization. I also pointed out that while this money was mine, it’s not like I’ve spent my life working for it or something. It’s been dropped in my lap with a lot of freaking strings. Without him, I actually wouldn’t even have access to a penny of it. I’m not sure if my words helped, but he let the suit thing go. I hate the idea that money will always get in our way.
“This dress is what’s going to make me uncomfortable.” He presses his hard cock against my stomach, making me gasp. Instantly heat lights up my body. I’m already ready for him too. He’s flipped some switch inside of me that’s always needy for him and his affections. I’m starved for it.
“Maybe I can take care of that for you before we—”
“Tins,” Mindy calls. “The car is here.”
“I’ll be collecting on that later,” he promises, making me wish the night was already over. I’m not too excited about sharing Leo with the rest of the world. I know how some of the women that go to these events can be. They’re going to want to eat Leo alive. Look at him. It’s part of the reason I wanted the ring on his finger.
As sweet as Leo has been to me and how he is always wanting more, I still have these small doubts about what we really are. I know I shouldn’t let them creep in, but I always worry that he might find someone he truly loves one day. Then what?
I’ll be broken-hearted once again, but this time I don’t think I’ll recover.
CHAPTER 19
LEO
The charity gala is everything about Tinsley’s life that I hated before I married her. It’s plastic, fake, and suffocating. I tug on the collar of my tux and crane my neck to catch a glimpse of Tinsley. She said she had to use the bathroom. I should’ve gone with her. There’s not a single person here I recognize, but it’d be more weird if I did know someone attending this event. Dock workers don’t usually have a tux hanging in the back of their closet behind the sweats and sneakers.
I drain my glass and then regret it immediately because now I don’t have something to occupy my hands. At this point, I’d welcome a sighting of Edwards, her lawyer, because he would be a familiar face, and I wouldn’t be inwardly panicking at the sight of Howard Sterling approaching.