Bloom

That’s enough to turn him in my direction.

“You’re awake?” he asks with a grin. “I thought you’d sleep straight through until morning.”

Stepping closer to him, I study his face. “Are you all right?”

A curt nod is the only reply I get.

I could pry for more, but whatever brought him to this spot isn’t something he wants to share right now.

He pins his gaze to my bare shoulder as the blanket starts to slide down my body. “It’s early, but do you want to join me in my shower?”

Silently, I give the lightweight blanket a shove revealing myself to him.

He stalks toward me with his arms outstretched. “Bed first. Shower after.”

He heaves me up and over his shoulder in one fluid movement.

When I scream in glee, he rewards me with a light tap of his palm on my ass.

“Save those sounds for when I’m inside of you.” He growls as he carries me over the threshold and into his bedroom.

Chapter 39

Athena

I twist the locket around my neck in a circle as I take in the massive delivery that I just signed for.

How is this my life?

My business has reached new heights the past few weeks, and my heart is soaring just as high in my chest.

I’m in love with Liam Wolf.

I don’t need to ask anyone what love feels like anymore because I’m experiencing it firsthand.

I pop open the locket and stare at the pictures of the man and the woman.

The missing pieces of my past don’t matter as much anymore. I didn’t know what my future looked like until now, so the past was what I clung to.

A rap on the shop door turns me right around.

I glance down at my phone.

It’s not even seven a.m. yet. I know it can’t be Liam. He took a call just as we were about to leave my apartment.

He joked with a man named Keats about a missed lunch. I heard him agree to meet him for breakfast today. He asked if I wanted to go with him, but I needed to get here to meet the deliveryman and start on today’s orders.

I inch my way closer to the door until I see my brother peering in.

I toss him a wave and a smile.

He throws me back a big grin before he points at the door handle.

I rush over to unlock it.

“Why the hell do you come to work at the crack of dawn?” Jeremy gathers me into his arms. “I was passing by and saw the lights were on.”

“You were passing by?” I ask with a heavy dose of skepticism lacing my tone.