my words carefully. I didn’t want to give her another reason to run. “Far from it.”
Spinning around, she faced me. When her arms crossed, I tried not to focus too much on the extra sliver of thigh exposed by her dress lifting slightly. She better have on panties. “Why?”
“The label chose him for Bound when they decided they wanted Houston to focus on vocals. It was a rocky start that we never recovered from.” I’d given her the beginning and the end, but I purposely left out the middle. Now was not the time to tell Braxton about Emily.
“Like me.”
“Nothing like you,” I denied vehemently. “We want you, Braxton, and we’ve been trying to make you see that.”
“Have you?”
“Yes.”
“I see,” she snapped. I knew at that moment that I wasn’t getting to her. Not even close. “So if Calvin had convenient pussy for you to fuck whenever you liked, things would have been different with him?”
“We were dicks to him, Braxton. Just like we were dicks to you, but Calvin was no angel.”
“Neither am I.”
“Yeah, but he never had me convinced that I was falling for him, Braxton. You do.”
I didn’t realize my voice had risen until I noticed the attention we’d garnered.
I didn’t want to risk anyone looking too closely and recognizing us, so I grabbed Braxton’s elbow and led her through the rest of the exhibit so we could get the hell out of there. It seemed to take forever, and not once had she commented on what I’d said to her.
It was like it never happened.
“Let me go,” she quietly requested once we were on the street.
In an instant, I was in her face and trapping her against the wall of the museum.
I didn’t care about the fact that we were standing in the middle of a potential mob. My heart was racing for other reasons. “I tell you I’m falling in love with you, and your answer is to let you go?”
“My arm, Jericho. Let my arm go.”
“Oh.”
I released her elbow only to take her hand, earning an irritated look from her when she tried not to blush. As I threaded our fingers together, the black Suburban we had drive us here pulled up to the curb, so we climbed inside.
“Where to next?” I asked her once the back door closed behind me. At that exact moment, her stomach growled loud enough to scare a bear. I laughed to myself at her sheepish look as she attempted to avoid my eyes. “Dinner it is.”
While our driver was distracted, pulling us safely into traffic, I decided to settle a certain burning curiosity. Otherwise, I’d never get through dinner in one piece.
Placing my hand on her thigh, I watched her face as I slowly slipped it higher and higher. I wanted to give her time to stop me, but she never blinked, and she never spoke a word.
By the time my fingers reached the apex of her thigh, I knew what I would find, but I kept going anyway.
“Braxton…” Using my knuckle, I teased her wet pussy that she’d left bare, knowing I’d be curious. Her breathing started to quicken when I didn’t let up even after I’d gotten my answer.
“Yes?”
“Where are your panties, baby?”
As if she wasn’t on the verge of coming, she smiled at me like the cat that ate the canary. “I knew I was forgetting something.”
We’re on our way up, Rich texted our group chat.
He and Braxton had disappeared without saying shit, and each hour they were gone, I grew more and more pissed. Our security team wouldn’t be back on duty until tomorrow. Rich should have known better than to risk Braxton and himself. Before I could respond from my perch on the couch, he sent another text.
Rich: I think I figured out Braxton’s beef.
Loren: Which one?
I didn’t have to hear Loren’s voice to know it was dry as fuck. Right now, he was shut up in the spare bedroom where he’d been since realizing Braxton had left with Rich.
Rich: Shut up, Lo. For once. Just shut up.
Rich: When we fight, she feels responsible
So she shuts us out, I texted before he could finish his train of thought.
Rich: Yup.
Rich: We’re almost there. Don’t say shit unless you’re playing nice.
Loren: So you want us to pretend to like each other long enough to trick her into a relationship?
Loren’s objection to Rich’s plan genuinely surprised me. I thought he’d be all out for playing dirty. Instead, he was willing to jump through whatever hoops to