“...it doesn’t?” I ask, my brows pulling together.
I hear the happy sigh breezing out of him as he takes my face in his hands and delivers a kiss that stops my heart.
“I’m ready for the worst, woman. Lay it the fuck on me. Because I’ve had you at your best, and I’ve already seen good reason why I shouldn’t bat an eye.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Ever since we got back together—for real—you’ve given me a sweetness I never knew I needed,” he says.
Is that a challenge? I bite back a smile and gaze into his eyes that seem like they were pulled straight from the Pacific foaming below us.
“But all my whining about how bad my feet hurt on the way up here—”
“Gave us this beautiful sunset and a chance to feast on my gorgeous bride,” he finishes, digging his fingers into my heel. “Besides, I’ll have you back to feeling like you’re walking on air, won’t I?”
My smile deepens.
“When I dragged myself home and collapsed after my last class before we left for this trip, I promised to make you dinner and I was out like a kitten.”
“Beauty sleep, Snow White. You napped with your head in my lap like a feline, all right, and then I woke you up with a damn good tikka masala.”
“I mean...I’ll give you that. But, Ward, I’ve gotta say, forever is a long freaking time...” I pause, fully aware I’m making his life difficult right now with these silly questions. “Do you really think we can keep this up without going back to hating each other?”
“I hope we do get pissed. Just for a little while. Truth be told,” he growls, lowering his face to nip at my ear. “I was jacking off half the night and getting very little sleep the first few months we worked together, Paige. And I couldn’t just slam you against the nearest wall, spread your legs, and have the hottest make-up sex of my life then.”
Yowza. What do I even say to that?
A frantic pulse between my legs tells me to shut up and just kiss him.
“Fair point, hubby. But what about the coffee? You know I’m going to spike it with a sugar lick sooner or later—”
“And you’ve already given me a damn sweet tooth. I might just learn to swallow your cinnamon latte shit without gagging if I spend the next year doing this.”
No words.
No sassy comebacks.
No doubt whatsoever about how much he loves me.
When this perfect grump brings his lips to mine again, I’m swept away with the Fiji breeze that makes this the best moment ever on our honeymoon—at least until we’re back in our luxe room at nightfall.
Then Ward Brandt takes me places I never knew existed in the dark with roaming lips and fevered touches.
And even when we jet back to Chicago, I know I’m never going home to anything resembling my old hot mess of a life.
The sky has shifted, and my stars will always have Orion’s shine.
Thanks for reading Bossy Grump! More bad Chicago bossholes are coming soon.
Wondering what true love looks like for Ward and Paige long after the fakery ends?
Then read on for a preview of another grumpalicious billionaire as Magnus Heron meets Sabrina Bristol in Office Grump.
Office Grump Preview
Happy Friday (Brina)
I know the moment I open my eyes that it’s going to be a day.
It’s Friday the Thirteenth, the worst day ever invented in the history of time.
A date belonging to screeching black cats, tumbling salt shakers, and broken clocks.
Not a day where good things happen to hardworking girls who wake up on the wrong side of their beds—and the achy crick in my neck tells me today’s black magic already started on my pillow last night.
Awesome.
Somehow, I manage to crawl out of bed and get showered and dressed, without losing any limbs. But as I hop out of my bedroom in a brand-new outfit, still zipping my knee-high boot while trying to check my phone for the time, I realize what else feels off besides my poor neck.
I’m flipping late.
Apparently, the alarms on my phone love this infamous day just as much as I do.
“Ohhh, Brina, big date tonight? You look amazing! But you’re late.” Paige holds out my purse and a paper coffee cup with an easygoing smile.
“Where would I be without you?” I mutter, unsure whether I’m rolling my eyes at her for going all Captain Obvious