us moved. “That is if you don’t mind.”
“Who the hell are you?” The question came out rude and suspicious, but most of Smoke’s did when he was faced with people he didn’t know. That’s how our first interaction went.
“Sorry,” wire-rimmed glasses said. “I’m August Grant.” He extended his hand, holding it out.
Smoke waited several seconds, his gaze shooting down to the offered handshake, then back at August’s friendly smile before he shook it. When Smoke released his hand, August seemed to relax.
“Excellent. So…do you mind?”
“Yes!” We both said at the same time, and the man blinked, nodding once before he returned to his seat.
Smoke waited until the man sat, his jaw clenching, his head turning as Paris approached, calling after him, and he grabbed my hand, pulling me off the dancefloor and up the stairs, away from the crowd, from the noise and activity of everyone that seemed to want something from him.
I looked once over my shoulder, spotting Mateo asleep on Maria’s lap, catching a wink and a wave of approval from her as Smoke led me up the stairs and into the forgotten offices on the second floor.
“Where are we going?” I asked, taking two steps at a time to keep up with him.
He tightened his hold on my hand, but didn’t speak, not until we were down the hallway and through the last office door at the end.
There was a single desk in the room and boxes of glasses and table linens lined along the wall. Smoke locked the door, pulling me against his chest, one arm around my waist before he hoisted me onto the desk.
“Five minutes. Five fucking minutes, bella. That’s all I’ve wanted with you all damn night and there has been something in my way the whole time.” He grabbed my face, looking over my features, lips pressed together like he wanted to devour me and wasn’t sure how to start the meal. “I realized five minutes…five million wouldn’t be enough.”
“When did you…”
He didn’t wait, covering my mouth, stealing my breath as he kissed me.
It was all mouth—his thick, fat bottom lip over mine, his tongue inside as he held my face still, as he directed me, commanded me with the slow movement of his mouth over mine, and I got dizzy just from the heat of his taste and the weight of his body as he leaned over me, pressing me back against the desk.
“Smo…Smoke…” I managed, nibbling his lips, wanting more, pushing him against me, my leg against his calf when he moved his hips against mine. “Dios, I missed you…”
“Move in with me.”
I blinked, pushing against his chest when his words registered. “I’m…what?”
Smoke shook his head, gaze shooting over my face like he’d forgotten the contours of my features and was trying to recommit them to memory. “I sound like an asshole, but I don’t care. You and the kid, you mean…everything to me. I want you with me, all the time. In my place, where I can protect you.”
It wasn’t a grand declaration of love.
But for Smoke, it was close to it.
“But you said…”
“I was stupid, bella. We both were.” He frowned, his mouth tensing, and a small line formed between his eyebrows. “They shot Dino and he knew how to take care of himself. They knew how important he was to me.” He moved his fingers to my neck, watching the trail of his nails against my skin when he touched my collarbone, and I held my breath waiting for what he’d say next. “But you…Mateo…”
“We’re just…”
“You’re everything…to me.”
“Smoke, you can’t say things like that when you don’t…” I shook my head, pushing against his chest, but he wouldn’t budge.
He watched me then, the tension in his features growing tighter, the clench in his jaw flexing. “I don’t say things I don’t mean, Maggie. I’m an honest man.”
“I know that.”
“And when I say you mean everything, I mean…that I love you.” Smoke settled against me, his hands on either side of my head. “You and the kid…you belong to me in a way no one else can. You own me like no one else ever will.”
“Smoke…ah…” My throat burned and shook my voice, the tightness in my sinuses leaving me unable to do more than pull him in for a soft kiss.
“Move in with me,” he said again, this time little more than a whisper.
“Yeah,” I said, taking the kiss he offered. “Okay…”
Smoke’s smile was slow, sweet, and his eyes were lit with something blazing. The lick of