Dump and Chase (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 1)

Her eyes light up. “One of the unforgivable curses. How naughty of you.”

I run the wand down her chest. “Now I’m in control, and you can’t leave.”

She grabs me by my shirt and pulls me down so our lips touch. “You think I want to leave? Do you know how hard it’s gonna be to be around you and not touch you? And today, I have to watch you with puppies? That’s totally unfair. How am I supposed to resist that?”

I grin. “And I’m supposed to resist you walking around in those fuck-me purple heels?”

She kisses my jaw. “I’ll wear them tonight.”

“At dinner.”

Her eyes meet mine. “Dinner?”

“I want to take you out.”

“Okay, that sounds fun. Should I wear a dress?”

“Yes. The tighter, the better.”

Her eyes darken. “I’m sure I can find something.”

I grip her ass as I lay my wand on the bed. “I can’t wait.”

Shelli’s lips meet mine, and I can’t handle her. I’ve wanted to take her out for a while. We’ve just been busy. I don’t want to go out for business either. I want to sit across the table from her and just admire what I have. As our lips embrace, I know I need to take advantage of the time we have because she’ll get the part, and then I’ll be fighting for time to see her. I can’t waste the time we have. I have to seize it, because I need it.

I need her.

Chapter Thirty

Shelli

“I have no clue how I forgot about this dinner. Amelia is gonna kill me,” I say frantically as Aiden drives toward my aunt’s house. He’s dropping me off and heading back to his place. We’ve spent the last couple days together. We had the photo shoot, and it went amazing. The guys and the puppies were awesome. The only thing that might have been an issue was Fallon and my mom. They were whispering to each other and looking at us funny all day. A part of me thinks my mom is onto us, but that can’t be. Fallon promised not to tell. Even with the stress of my mom maybe knowing, the day was perfect. And today has been even better. We went shopping for his apartment and had a really nice lunch at my favorite sushi place. It’s been a great day. I hadn’t even realized it was the day Amelia got in until she texted me, asking what time I would be at her mom’s house.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s not like you’re late.” He holds my hand in his lap as he turns onto my aunt’s street.

I look over at him and smile. “Yeah, but I forgot, which kinda makes me one of those girls too engrossed in my boyfriend to remember when my cousin is coming into town.”

He shrugs. “I won’t tell if you don’t,” he says, and then he winks, sending a rumble through my guts.

“Deal.”

We leave tomorrow for New York. My audition is in the afternoon, so we’ll only get one day in the Big Apple. He apparently has a romantic little something in the works from what he tells me. I’m sorta crazy excited for it. I’m nervous, though. As much as I want to get this part, I hate the thought of not being with him. It totally blows, but he’s being so damn supportive, it’s hard not to be excited. He helped me choose my music and has been practicing with me a lot. Apparently the guitars on the wall aren’t just for show either. He can play them—and not just okay, but really well.

He blows me away.

“Are you going to get a ride home with your mom?”

“Yeah, or I’ll skip out early and get an Uber to your place.”

He nods. “Cool. Text me when you leave.”

“I will,” I say as he pulls up behind my mom’s truck. I lean over, kissing him quickly on the cheek. “See ya.”

“Bye, baby,” he says as I fling open the door and get out. When I go to shut it, though, my mom is standing up from her truck holding a cake stand with a cake on it in her hands. Everything stops. Did she see me kiss him?

Mom’s intuitive eyes go from me to the car before she bends a bit to see who’s inside. “Aiden Brooks, is that you?”

Aiden throws his door open and gets out. “Hey, Elli. How you doing?” he says nervously, and I swear I’m biting a hole in my lip.

“Good. What are y’all doing?”

“We went to lunch with Wes and Boon. We have that jacket drive next week, and she’s making me do stuff at the gala. You know Shelli. Such a stickler for details.”

God bless this man. I nod quickly. “Yeah, he had picked me up at the house, and I sort of forgot about this, so I just had him drop me off here.”