Bossy Grump

“If they never got over it, maybe their marriage wasn’t about money. Maybe they loved each other,” she says quietly, tickling my neck with her nails.

“You give my parents too much credit, Paige,” I whisper. “The only things they ever loved were their own reflections and how much booze they could knock back in one night. Anyhow, they’re still causing drama, and I’m goddamn sick of it.”

“The letters? The boat?”

“I’m sure you know it was a replica of the yacht Parnell died on. The letters were all personal and would’ve upset Grandma regardless. I’m not having it. She can’t have another emergency. That’s what my dad’s gunning for.”

“But she’s gone to Hawaii, hasn’t she?”

“People talk. If that shit got put in a museum, she’d know about it, and it could destroy her.” I look down, my hands balled into fists, feeling a fury that’s only under control because I’ve got this beautiful woman’s hands stroking me. “Believe me, I’ll do anything to keep it from seeing the light of day. Especially that stupid model yacht. A murder-negligence case might be the one thing to sour Winthrope on a deal. We’ve come too far for that.”

She shifts her hand, twining her fingers through mine.

“But not just that, right? It’s about more than the deal.”

Guilty.

I don’t want to dwell on it, though. I’ll sound like one of those homesick grunts I made fun of back in the day, but something in my chest cavity flutters when she asks me that.

Is she asking what I think she’s asking?

I close any space between us, cup her face with my hand, and lean in for a kiss. My tongue chases hers like a lion.

She matches my pressure, my vigor, my need to drink her in.

Her delicate hands come to my face, lightly stroking both of my cheeks.

I break away with a gasp. “Enough nightmares for today. Ready to go home?”

She nods. “But, Ward, are you okay?”

I answer with another kiss that feels like a mortal sin. “I’m a whole lot better than I’d be if I had to go through this crap with anyone else.”

We walk back to the car, arm in arm, and once we’re inside, I cradle her to me. She gazes up, her emerald eyes in a dreamy haze that makes me smile.

I love how she looks at me.

Hell, I could swim in that bright-green wonderlust all day long.

“You two look intense. What happened?” Reese’s worried eyes peer back in the mirror.

Paige’s chin juts out like she’s about to say something.

I shake my head at her and hold her closer to me.

“We’re fine, Reese,” I say.

No part of me hides the way I’m clinging to Paige. When we get home, I want long, slow kisses, but I don’t want to kiss her in the car again.

It makes no sense. We only made out here a few days ago, but something’s changed.

Our next kiss has to be private, intimate, a sweltering secret only for us.

I can’t bear to share her with anyone else.

The Lincoln stops in front of my building a little while later.

“I’ve never seen you two so quiet. Hope everything’s okay with the company,” Reese says, peering over her shoulder at us as she puts the car into park.

I open the door and help Paige out.

“We’re fine, and Brandt Ideas has never been better.” My words are clipped. “Take the night off.”

The only thing wrong is having Paige too far away.

I wrap an arm around her waist, closing the distance between us. She’s tucked under my shoulder. We move in synchronized steps until we’re at the elevator.

Of course I stab the button to shut the door, shove her against the wall, and make her lips mine.

Of course I don’t tear myself away until we’re on my floor.

“Thanks for listening back there. I usually don’t talk about my past,” I say once we’re back in my place, closing the door behind us and bolting it.

“That was no way to grow up, Ward, and I’m sorry you had to endure it.”

“A lot of people lived a lot worse.” I glance away. “We didn’t grow up starving or being swapped around by sick pukes.”

She nods, teeth teasing her bottom lip and drawing my eye. “Maybe, but that doesn’t make what you went through easier. Everyone has problems.”

I grin. “Even a Wardhole?”

“I guess.” She gives an exaggerated sigh that turns into a grin.

“I have a problem right now.”

“What?” Her smile disappears and her eyes twinkle.

“You’re too far away.”

“C’mon. There are like two steps between us!” She takes another step into the living room, coming closer.

“Two steps too many.” I throw my arms around her from behind, pushing against her ass so she can feel how hard I am.

Her laughter rolls out of her like Christmas morning.

Turning her slowly, I pepper her head with kisses before I stop to stare into those big green eyes.