And then he kisses me. His hands in my hair, a kiss that speaks a million different ways of I love you.
I pull back and run my finger along his jaw. “Well. That should be enough to see me through this weekend without you.”
He stiffens. The playfulness drops away in an instant. “We’ve got all night.” His grip tightens on my waist. “I’m going to make sure you feel me when you sit on that leather chair on the jet. You’ll still be full of me when you walk into the party. You’ll be thinking about every filthy thing I’m going to do to you when you’re home.”
“Perhaps I should leave you alone more often,” I tease.
His jaw tenses. He shakes his head. “I’d prefer it if you never left me, city girl,” he sighs, pressing his forehead against mine.
And my heart melts.
Because underneath everything, there’s a man who is terrified of losing the people he loves. Who has had people leave him. And that’s left a wound that I want to help him heal.
I cup his face with both hands. “I’m coming back, Hunter. I’m always coming back. I promise you. Ride or die, remember?”
He closes his eyes and breathes me in. “You better, firefly.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
HUNTER
I cuddle Lola tighter,knowing she leaves for New York in a few hours. She’s going to be safe.
Yet, I selfishly like our little bubble here. The ranch. The routine. Her toothbrush next to mine. Her laugh echoing down the hallway. The way Wyatt says her name before he says mine when he wakes up.
Every second she’s away, I’ll be working with my brothers to get to the bottom of who’s been feeding the Greeks information. Colten is meeting Romeo today to help him with reviewing some footage. If anyone can spot a face and put a name to it in this town, it’s Colt.
Lola sighs in my arms and turns to face me. I take her left hand and press my lips just above her wedding ring.
“Are you going to wear these to the party?” I ask. Already kicking myself for the question. It’s my own insecurities eating at me.
I’m holding off on passing judgment on her parents until I meet them. I’m not holding out hope they’ll be happy shemarried me. I know how it works. What I look like. Who I am. A tattooed rancher with a murder charge doesn’t exactly fit the son-in-law blueprint for a New York fashion dynasty.
But I love her. And that should be enough. I’ll make damn sure it is enough. Because I hope that’s what I am for her, good enough.
She chews on her lip, looking down at the rings. “I—I don’t think so. My parents think me being here is just a rebellious outburst, like I’m still a teenager. It’s just not worth the headache today when I’m there on my own.”
I swallow and try to push down the feeling that she wants to keep me hidden. A dirty secret tucked away in Arizona, while she puts on the old mask for one more night.
I don’t argue. I get it. Or at least, I’ll try to.
Her phone pings on the nightstand. Again. It’s been going off every ten minutes for the last two hours. A steady drip of notifications that’s been drilling into my skull.
She groans, leans over, and snatches it off the charger. Then she snuggles back against my chest and opens it up.
I try not to look. I really do. But curiosity gets the better of me.
Man after man. Charlie. Lincoln. Trey. A fucking list of them, stacked like a waiting room. The one at the top is asking if she’s looking for a date to the party.
My blood boils. I’ve found my trigger point.
I glance down at my wife, who scrolls past every single one like they’re spam. Like they mean nothing. And maybe to her they don’t. But I never saw her life in New York. I know she never had real boyfriends. I know nobody else had her heart. Yet these suited assholes think they still have a shot. Like, word got out that Lola Jackson is coming home, and every trust-fund vulture in Manhattan is circling.
And I can’t go with her. Because I’m one wrong breath away from being back in a cell. Fuckin’ pathetic. How will she explain that to anyone there?
“Hunter… I can feel you getting more pissed off with each second,” she says flatly.
She locks her phone, tosses it onto the end of the bed, and turns back to face me. “Are you jealous, cowboy?” She smiles. And I know she’s only playin’, but this is something that cuts deeper.