in the coop for the night, Briar looked up and saw me. Like always when she caught me watching her—which was often—she rolled her eyes before grinning. She came over, and when she bent to pick up her tea, I grabbed her ass.
“Not in front of the chicks.” She turned her ass away from me, but the front of her was just as good. “I think they like me. Do chicks imprint on people?”
“The only things I know about chickens are what you’ve told me and that they taste delicious with BBQ sauce or—”
My teasing words were cut off when she covered my mouth with her hand. “Don’t talk about food chickens in front of pet chickens.”
They were the same thing, but I wasn’t going to upset her by saying so.
I tilted my head toward the coffee table on the deck. “Your phone is going crazy.”
“What is it?”
“I didn’t look.” At her disbelieving expression, I pointed out, “I only care about what you do and you’re not currently on your phone.”
“True.” She handed me the tea that reeked of dead flowers, but that I’d stocked up on because she loved it and I loved her. Picking up her phone, guilt crossed her features and she gnawed on her lip.
“Aria?” I guessed.
“Yeah. Crap, a bunch of missed calls and te…” Her word trailed off and her eyes got huge. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Though I was pretty sure I knew.
“Aria says we were on TMZ’s website a couple days ago. That can’t be right.” Her thumbs flew across the screen as she typed rapidly. “Oh my God, we are.” She turned her screen quickly, giving me a brief glimpse of a picture of us. “Listen. ‘Alexander Thornton, the notoriously private millionaire mogul and owner of Thorn Tech, stepped into the spotlight to celebrate the launch of Local Hops. Sources say he was essential to the development of the app that matches local restaurants to craft breweries. He was accompanied by a mystery woman who made plaid look high fashion. Little is known about this beauty, but partygoers say the PDA was at a PD-HIGH. We get the feeling the app wasn’t the only thing that launched.’”
I watched as she scrolled, likely to reread it again. “How did they know who you are? I couldn’t even find a lousy tagged photo of you.”
“Someone tipped them off.”
“Who?”
“Me.”
When she finally spoke, it wasn’t to freak out or yell about kicking shins—her go-to threat. “Why?”
“So you can be positive I’m done. It’d be impossible to get away with anything now that my face is out there.”
“I already knew that.”
“Logically, yeah. But now your brain can’t use any hint of doubt to tie you in knots.”
Her shoulders slumped and her expression softened. “You always know what to say.”
“It’s why I’m your favorite.” When she stared back down at the screen, I asked, “Are you okay?”
It took her a moment before she answered. “I like this picture. You look hot, and I’m smiling.” With the sun setting behind her, Briar looked like an angel. But when she lifted her face my way, there was nothing saintly about her wicked smirk or her filthy words. “I was smiling because I was lucky enough to be next to you all night, and then we were going home so I could be under you, too.”
If she kept it up, I was going to fuck her on every piece of patio furniture. I didn’t give a damn if the chickens could see.
“I know you’re mega rich, but are you actually a millionaire?”
“No.”
She gave a little sigh.
“I’m a billionaire.”
“Oh. Cool. Cool, cool, cool.”
“Briar—”
She shrugged and forced nonchalance. “I can offer you twenty percent off from the home décor store, so that’s basically the same.”
“Good, you can use it to pick out stuff for the house since you’re moving in.”
Thankfully, she wasn’t the one holding the tea she drank one degree below molten because she would’ve spilled it and burned herself. Or thrown it in my face and burned me. I wasn’t sure which because her expression was blank.
“Say something, flower.”
“I’m moving in?”
I gestured to the coop. “The chicks need their mother close.”
“You want me to move in?”
“More than anything.”
Almost anything. Not more than I wanted her to have my last name and have my baby growing in her. But her moving in was the first step.
I set down her cup and was about to close the distance between us so I could make her talk to me.
Before I could take a step, she turned