Page 37 of It Hurts Me

Axel smirked then took a drink.

When Theo had said he never took other women to dinner, I hadn’t been sure if it was just a line to make me feel special, but judging by the way his brother reacted to our date, it was the complete truth.

“I apologize for my husband,” Scarlett said. “He just likes to start shit.”

Axel moved his hand to her thigh, way up her dress in the middle of the restaurant, and leaned into her. “Come on, baby. You know you like it.” He pressed a kiss to her neck and then another, to the point where she had to push him off.

“We don’t get out much,” she said. “If you can’t tell.”

“Why?” I asked.

“We’ve got two babies at home,” Axel said. “They’re with the nanny tonight. We’ll have dinner, go back to a nice hotel and fuck, and then?—”

“Axel,” she snapped. “Stop talking.”

“Please,” Theo said.

Axel smirked and took another drink of his scotch.

Theo rose from his chair. “Let’s go, sweetheart. Before we catch the live show.”

I rose from the chair and looked at Axel and Scarlett. “It was lovely to meet you both. Enjoy your dinner…and your fuck-a-thon afterward.”

Scarlett released a chuckle.

Axel was about to take a drink, but he set down the glass as he released a laugh. “I like her, Theo.”

Theo ignored him as his hand moved to my lower back, and he guided me out of the restaurant. He didn’t talk about his brother and sister-in-law as we headed back to his Range Rover. The drive was spent in silence, and his hand didn’t move to my thigh like it normally did. He seemed annoyed by the unexpected guests at our dinner table, even though they seemed nice enough to me.

We entered his bedroom minutes later, the primary suite the same size as most apartments. It even had its own dining table behind the sitting area, the ceiling ten feet high, curtains drawn closed over all the windows.

He went straight to the bar like always and made two drinks without asking what I wanted. Then he walked into the room that had the four-poster bed, probably to change into his signature sweatpants and nothing else but a bare chest.

I sat on the couch and looked at the glass he’d left for me. I’d been nervous every time I’d come over here, but I was a lot less nervous tonight.

He came out a moment later, black sweatpants on his narrow waist, dark ink visible on his tanned skin. Every time he stepped into the room, he brought a presence so profound it filled the room with smoke—because he was the fire. He sat on the couch, leaving an open space between us because he never crossed the boundary I never had to put up.

“I liked them.”

“Really?” he asked. “Because I don’t. Well, I like Scarlett. That piece of shit…not so much.”

“What did he do?”

He grabbed his glass and shook the ice inside. “Just being a dick.”

My eyebrow cocked. “Were we at the same table?”

“Trust me.” He took a big drink and set the glass on the coffee table. “I don’t want to talk about them anymore.” He sat forward with his elbows on his thighs, his flattened palms gently sliding back and forth. His muscular back was like the trunk of a mighty oak. After a stare at his drink, he turned to look at me.

I was paralyzed by that stare, the darkness of his eyes and their shadowed depth. He touched me without crossing the divide between us. He made me hot without drawing close. Made my lips ache without being kissed.

For the first time, I forgot I was married.

I had a connection with this man. It had started off slowly, with the roots puncturing the soil, but every time I saw him, those roots dug deeper, reaching far down, away from the surface.

He hadn’t blinked since his gaze locked on mine. “If you aren’t ready, then leave. Because if you stay…” He gave a slight shake of his head and never finished the sentence. His stare hardened, hinting at the inferno that was about to erupt from his chest.

Bumps formed on my arms as if a draft had entered the room. A tightness formed in my stomach. The trepidation was still there, but the excitement had built so much over the last few weeks that it triumphed over everything else I felt. It gave me a jolt of confidence that I rarely felt. “Get over here.”