as the cashier rang him up.
“Yeah. They’re close to even.”
“You like it a lot then. How’d you end up in the FBI anyway?” Brax piled almost all of the bottles in my arms, then paid in cash.
I gave a friendly nod to the cashier who ignored me and stared longingly at Brax. Fair enough, he was absolutely gorgeous and the creative type anyone in the art world would give anything to be with. I was lucky to have him.
“I went straight to Quantico as soon as I could out of school. I’ve always been a stickler for the rules, and the more I learned about law enforcement in the US, the more I wanted to be… behind the scenes.” I carried the bottles to the car and dumped them in the backseat, then turned back to Brax. “And you know I like to be protective.”
“Mm.” He bit his bottom lip and looked me over. “You’re good at it.”
“I am when there’s something for me to take care of.” I closed the car door and stepped closer to him.
His breath hitched but he kept looking up at me, and I slid my hand behind his neck. With a firm grip, I held him in place and kissed him sweetly on the mouth. He whimpered softly and kissed me back as his knees trembled and he seemed like he was about to melt at my feet.
I gave him some mercy and tried to slip away but he lunged for me, pushed me back against the car, and kissed me again. I moaned, enjoying the feeling of his desire, and grabbed a handful of his ass as we made out against my car. My cock stirred with excitement, and Brax moaned into my kiss as he felt it push against his leg.
He pulled back and searched my eyes for something, like he was trying to solve a puzzle. “You know, I’m not usually into PDA…”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No.” He put his small hands on my chest and fiddled with my shirt. “Just saying… There are a lot of things different about me when I’m with you.”
I bit my tongue. There was so much different about me when I was with him, too. Like how my whole body lit up whenever he looked at me, the tingling in my chest wouldn’t quit, and how I wanted to spend every single moment with him.
My lips twitched like they were threatening to say any of it to him —way too much, way too fast— so I pinched them tight and nodded. Brax cocked his head, clearly a little confused by my cold response, but he simply kissed me briefly, slid off my body, and motioned to the car.
“Next stop, snacks?” He sounded so hopeful it made me smile.
I chuckled, spun my keys around my finger, and told myself to calm down and keep it cool. This was just casual. Right?
19
Brax
“You absolutely need to learn how to stay still,” I hissed.
Ry grumbled but didn’t stop scratching his nose. We were in my studio, finally—it had taken me a month of near-constant begging and Ryland had finally agreed to pose for me. We’d been seeing each other a couple of times a week and I’d never felt so good. Nor had I ever been so unable to paint anything except portraits. My hands just wouldn’t do anything else.
I figured I just had to get it out of my system. Get some Ryland portraits done, and then my muse would be back for my usual abstracts and landscapes. The stuff my fans on my social pages were asking for more of. The work the gallery owners wanted to hang. The style I was known for… Not these romantic portraits of handsome older men. Er, man. Singular. The one person I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I shaded in the ear while he kept twitching his nose, very annoyingly, and admitted to myself our arrangement was good but I was catching feelings. I wanted more. I’d always lusted over Ry—who wouldn’t?—but my feelings went beyond lust now that I’d seen so much of him. He had the biggest heart of any man I’d ever known. And that was saying a lot, given the brothers I lived with.
“This isn’t so bad, right?” I sharpened my pencil and watched him.
He darted his eyes to catch my gaze. “Am I allowed to talk? Isn’t talking moving?”
“You’re not exactly holding still while you’re being silent anyway.”
“Hey, I’m doing my best. And no, it’s not