Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,395

how easy it feels to carry on a conversation with him.

We talk for an hour straight about the Epicurean Elite as he offers up tips to get the website going.

“That’s some amazing advice. Thank you. I plan on implementing it as soon as I can get the darn thing off the ground. The next step is opening it up to an investor. I’ll need all the capital I can get. No offense to The Pelican, but it will take fifty years to earn half of what I need. And that says a lot about the price tag of my new endeavor, considering the decent tips I make.”

“I’ll back it.”

“If you backed it, I’d back out. This is a Collins-free fun zone. And speaking of which”—the waitress hauls away our empty plates, and I’m still warm with the memory of inhaling my favorite meal—“this whole date thing is a one-off.” A stray smile bounces on my lips.

“If you say so.” Axel glowers at me a moment with those diamond eyes, that stubbled face that I’m half-tempted to slap just so I could feel it. He pours me the last of the wine, and I gladly take the glass to my lips.

He sheds a smile as I drink as if he has the upper hand, and those cryptic hypersexual words of Raven’s come back to me—if you want to maintain the power position, strike first blood. Land that boy on his back and make him your bitch.

“So where to?” He drops a few hundred-dollar bills over the center of the table—so smug, so very overly confident that he’s driving this train.

“To your place, of course.” His eyes widen with disbelief as I bleed a black smile. I’m about to land Axel Collins on his back and make him my female genital licking dog for the night. “It’s time for dessert.”

Axel takes up my hand and whisks me to the exit as if swiftly guiding us out of a burning building.

The Jepson Towers is an alarmingly posh architectural wonder, nothing gaudy, simple marble floors and counters, the elevators sheathed in mirrors, and for the first time I see us there, standing hand in hand, looking every bit like a couple, and there’s a familiarity about it that startles me.

Axel doesn’t dare say a word. He’s frozen stiff as a statue right up until we board the elevator. It zooms us to the top so fast it’s as if all of his anxiety about me changing my mind had boosted its efforts. We step out into the quiet hush of the carpeted hall. A giant set of ficus plants tower next to a set of heavily carved doors, dark mahogany with a Spanish flare. Axel lets us in and secures the door shut behind us, bolting it twice in hopes to at least slow me down once I decide to hit the exit.

“It’s stunning,” I say, my breath bated at the sight. Axel’s penthouse is cavernous, dark wood floors, high ceilings, impeccably furnished with a plush gray sectional large enough to easily accommodate fifty people. A large screen television floats against the wall, but my eyes dart to the kitchen. It’s an open floor plan, so the holy trinity—kitchen, dining room, and living room—are all more or less conjoined. I don’t waste a moment before traipsing over and examining the high-end appliances, the impeccable marble countertop that looks new as the day they laid it. That double oven has me drooling, and is that a steamer? It’s safe to say Axel is outgunned in his very own home. From what I remember, his specialty was burning waffles in the toaster oven.

“Do you approve?” He gives my hand a squeeze, and it’s only then I note he’s still holding it.

“I more than approve. I take it you don’t spend much time in here, though. It’s a waste if you ask me.” I scowl over at the appliances as if they’ve just personally offended me.

Axel leans in with the side of his face pressed to my neck as he makes his way to my ear. “They’ve been waiting for you.”

The scent of his cologne sets my senses on fire, and my eyes close initially as I tilt my head back. The world spins in a blissful way I haven’t felt in oh so long, and for a brief moment I never want to open my eyes again. I never want this feeling to end. His arms find their way around my waist as he spins me