Their murmured voices carried over to him, but he couldn’t make out their words. A groove dug into his forehead when he saw Darcy kneel down and whisper something in Devon’s ear. There was a flash of movement, as if she’d slipped something into the boy’s hand, but they were too far away for Reed to see what had exchanged hands.
A second later, Devon sprinted toward him.
Darcy stayed put, and Reed’s bewilderment grew. He flashed her a questioning look, but all he got in return was a tiny shrug and what looked like a very mischievous smile.
His pulse sped up, even though he knew better than to think…to think what? Darcy’s presence made no sense to him. She was supposed to hate him, damn it. So why was she standing twenty feet away smiling at him?
Devon skidded to a stop at Reed’s feet, clutching a little green golf pencil and a folded piece of white paper in his small hand. “Here,” the boy announced, thrusting out his arm. “This is for you.”
Reed held his breath as he accepted the paper. He was also embarrassed to discover that his fingers were trembling wildly as he slowly unfolded the note.
When he saw what was written on it, his nerves vanished and his breath came shuddering out on a laugh.
In her feminine handwriting, Darcy had written three words that made his heart soar.
I love you.
Below that, she’d drawn two boxes, one for yes, one for no.
She’d checked yes.
And circled it half a dozen times.
“What does it say?” Devon demanded, standing on his tiptoes and craning his head to try and take a peek.
Reed laughed as he scanned the rest of the note, which posed a question.
Do you love me?
Two boxes. Yes or no.
As his pulse drummed between his ears, he refolded the note and tucked it along with the pencil in his pocket, then glanced at Devon. “Wait here a second, my man. I’ve gotta go kiss your teacher.”
“Ewwwwww!”
The boy’s horrified wail followed Reed all the way to Darcy, who patiently waited for him to approach.
When he reached her, she cocked her head, a move that caused her hair to cascade over her shoulder. “I spoke to AJ.”
He sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Don’t be mad at him. He was just being a good friend. To both of us.”
Reed thought about how AJ had dragged him off the couch yesterday and sobered him up, and his heart squeezed at the memory. “He’s a damn good friend,” he said hoarsely.
There was a beat of silence.
“I didn’t see you check off a box,” she murmured, her blue eyes searching his face.
“That’s because I didn’t have to.”
Her brows knitted in confusion.
Reed smiled. “I don’t need to tell you how I feel on a piece of paper, baby. I’m not too scared to say the words out loud.”
Her breath caught.
Reed stepped closer and swept his fingers along the delicate edge of her jaw, his voice coming out hoarse. “I love you.”
Darcy’s entire face lit up. “You do?”
“So fucking much,” he said solemnly.
The smile she rewarded him with was so damn radiant he wished he’d brought his sunglasses. “Thank God,” she blurted out.
Chuckling, Reed touched her cheek. “What, you were afraid I wouldn’t say it back?”
“Terrified,” she confessed. “Especially after…”
Regret clamped around his throat. “I’m so sorry for the other night, Darce. I was a total jerk. But I need you to know that nothing happened with that girl. I walked away from her the second you were gone.” He swallowed. “I just needed you to believe that I was over you. It was the only way for me to…”
A soft smile tugged on her lips as he voiced the familiar phrase, but this time she wasted no time finishing it for him. “For you to protect your heart. I get it, Reed. AJ told me you heard me and Skyler talking.” She shook her head. “And I think we need to have a little talk about eavesdropping.”
“I know,” he groaned, lowering his gaze to avoid her reprimanding look. “I shouldn’t have—”
“If you’re going to eavesdrop,” she interrupted primly, “as least eavesdrop on the whole conversation.”
His head jerked up. “What?”
“If you’d stayed for five seconds more, you would have heard me telling Skyler that yes, you were my boyfriend, and that I was madly, passionately, ridiculously in love with you.”
His heartbeat accelerated. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Aw, hell. I can’t even eavesdrop properly. I really am a dumbass, huh?”
Her melodic laughter wrapped around him like a warm blanket. “Yep, you are. But I forgive you.” She paused. “Do you forgive me for being such a jerk about the whole fling thing and laying down all those rules?”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” he said simply. “You wanted passion, I gave you passion. But you also happened to get something else out of the deal.” He traced the seam of her lips with his finger. “You got love, babe. Lots and lots of love.”
“Aww, I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me, Reedford.”
His lips twitched. “One of these days you’re going to have to accept that Reedford isn’t my full name.”
“Oh, shut it. You love it when I call you that.”
God help him, but he couldn’t deny it. “Fine,” he said, pretending to cave. “I guess I can live with it.”
She beamed at him. “Good. Now will you kiss me already?”
Ha. Like he could ever say no to this woman.
Reed’s mouth came down on hers, their lips meeting in a kiss that went from sweet and gentle to hot and passionate in a single heartbeat. But just as his tongue filled her mouth, an outraged cry broke through the haze of lust.
“Ewwwwww! I am so telling my mom about this!”
Reed wrenched his mouth away from Darcy and turned to scowl at the kid who’d appeared at their side. “Don’t you dare,” he warned the boy. “Otherwise, I’ll tell her all about the way you blackmailed me into buying you a second ice cream cone last weekend.”
Devon blinked. “Got it. I saw nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, kid.”
Darcy choked out a laugh. “So…what do you boys have planned for the rest of the day?”
“We were going to get pizza next,” Devon informed her. “Wanna come?”
She hesitated. “I don’t want to intrude. I mean, this is guy time…”
Devon grinned widely. “Naah, you won’t intrude. You can be one of the guys. C’mon, let’s go.”
As the boy bounded toward the parking lot, Reed took Darcy’s hand and tugged her close. “You can be one of the guys…for now,” he amended. “But afterward? You turn back into a woman. My woman.”
She shivered when his lips brushed her earlobe, and he couldn’t help taking a teasing bite. “Hmmm. Out of curiosity, what does being your woman entail exactly?”
He flashed a wicked smile. “It means that when I get you home, you’ll be underneath me. Or on top of me. Or any other position that allows my cock to sink into that sexy body of yours.” His tone echoed with challenge. “Got a problem with that?”
Darcy answered in a breathless tone. “Not. At. All.”
Epilogue
She was at the bar, sandwiched between a twenty-something guy in a red trucker hat and a pair of giggling, tipsy women. The martini she’d ordered was half-empty. She’d been sitting on this stool for more than ten minutes, wearing a dress so short her ass was nearly hanging out of it, yet nobody had come over to hit on her, which didn’t do much for her ego.
Darcy pursed her lips, then took another sip, her gaze wandering around the shadowy main floor of the Krib. A hip-hop track with the filthiest lyrics she’d ever heard served as the backdrop for a sea of grinding dancers and couples tucked away pawing at each other.
>
And she was all alone like a chump.
“’Scuse me.”
Or not.
A muscular male form wedged in between her and Trucker Hat, resting one defined forearm on the counter. A hint of spicy cologne wafted toward her as the man leaned in close.
“Hi.”
Darcy appraised him for a moment before responding. “Hi.”
Blue eyes smoldered at her. “Can I buy you a drink?”
She gestured to her glass. “Already have one.”
“Hmmm.” He slanted his head, pausing in thought.
From the corner of her eye, Darcy noticed the two women at her side watching the interaction with visible curiosity.
“All right…how about I fuck you instead?”
Loud, dual gasps sounded from Darcy’s right. A deeply impressed look came from Trucker Hat on the left.
“I don’t even know your name,” she said slowly.
“I’m Reed.” He extended a hand, one eyebrow cocked.
After a moment, she shook his hand, shivering when his thumb stroked the inside of her palm. “I’m Darcy.”
Reed’s mouth quirked in a rogue smile. “Do you want me to fuck you, Darcy?”
The women beside her were damn near holding their breaths. Darcy decided to make them squirm for a few seconds, just for the heck of it.
Then she met Reed’s magnetic eyes and said, “Yes. I would.”
Hand still gripping hers, he helped her off the stool. The customers at the counter watched them with wide eyes, and Darcy had to fight a wave of laughter. She and Reed had played a lot of naughty games in the six months they’d been together, but this was one of her favorites. Making jaws drop was a lot more fun than she’d thought it would be.
As they drifted away from the bar, Trucker Hat’s amazed voice tickled Darcy’s back. “Holy crap—I can’t believe that worked!”
“Some chicks are just that easy,” one of the women said haughtily.
The laugh she’d been holding flew out. “Did you hear that? Apparently I’m easy,” Darcy murmured into Reed’s ear.
He grinned. “Just the way I like you, baby.”
The music pounded, vibrating in her blood as she and Reed headed for the exit. He’d slung his arm around her, his large hand splaying at the small of her back, firm and possessive. When they stepped outside into the frigid February air, Darcy instantly shivered. She hadn’t brought a coat, and her dress was so flimsy she may as well have been naked. Fortunately, Reed’s Camaro was parked at the curb, and it was warm and toasty when she slid into the passenger seat.
“So,” her bad boy said as he settled behind the wheel. “Choose your poison.”
Licking her lips, she reached across the center console and palmed the bulge in his pants. “I choose this one.”
He snorted. “That’s a given, babe. But you know how it is—location, location, location. So what’ll it be? Hotel? Your place? Mine? The car?”
She flashed a coy smile. “You pick. I’m easy, remember?”
An almost reverent expression filled his handsome face. It was how he always looked at her, especially when he was about to say a particular sequence of words.
“God, I love you.”
Yep, those were the words. They never failed to make her heart soar, and she would never, ever get tired of hearing them.
“Love you too, Reedford.” She smacked a loud kiss on his cheek before giving his groin a hearty squeeze. “I have an idea. Why don’t we start with the hotel, and then see if we can check the rest of the locations off the list before the night is over?”
His grin went downright wicked. “Challenge accepted.”
Then he started the engine and spent the whole night proving to her that there was no challenge Reed Miller couldn’t meet.
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About the Author
A RITA-award-nominated, best-selling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a BA in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!
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