Andrea peeks up at me.
I flinch at the puffiness of her eyes, but continue. “Last weekend was incredible. Incredible and unexpected. I don’t want to lose that.”
Andrea sighs, fiddling with the tissue in her hand. Then she fixes me with a serious stare, her eyes searching mine. “You really hurt me, you know that? Cruelly.”
“I know. I can’t see how I will ever make up for what I said to you, but I promise I’ll try. I’ll try so damn hard.”
Andrea remains silent for a long moment. “You wrote me off in an instant, after years of working together. I’m not sure if I can come back from something like that.”
Panic squeezes my chest. Christ, an apology might not be enough. Might never be enough. “I wouldn’t blame you. I know what I did made no sense, but I’ve always had to rely on instinct. I could never rely on my mind to solve problems like others can. When you think you’ve solved an equation or made the correct change or dialed the correct phone number and it turns out you’re completely incorrect, you learn to disregard what your mind is telling you and ask yourself if it feels right.
“But sometimes, when you rely on your heart, and never trust what your head is telling you, you miss things you should already know. And that’s not just math. Even you, at the time, said I was acting irrationally, but I just refused to hear it. I’m not proud of it, but it’s the honest truth. I regret that my stupidity hurt you.”
“You’re not stupid, Axel,” she says softly but with conviction.
I shrug, because while she may believe it, that statement is something I’ve always struggled to believe myself.
“Look. I understand if you don’t want to be involved with me personally after what I did, but please return to the farm. Everyone needs you. They miss you—believe me. I’ll do everything I can to make up for this week.”
“Kiss me.”
Wait, what? “Come again?”
“Kiss me. I want to check something.”
As if I need further encouragement. I lean into the car, taking her face in my hands as I kiss her softly. And it’s right. It’s true. We fit. If I hadn’t already known that before, I know it now.
When I finally pull away from her, Andrea’s face is thoughtful, but cautious. She nods once decisively. “Here is what’s going to happen. I will return to the farm, because of course I will. Like you said, it needs me, and I do damn good work, thank you very much.
“As for you and I, I’ll admit that kiss makes me feel more than it probably should. And maybe I’m weak, maybe last weekend is still too fresh in my mind for me to know better, but I will consent to let you take me on one date. One. And if, at the end of said date, I enjoy myself, then you may take me on another one. If that one goes well also, we can go from there. But I swear, Axel, if you pull something stupid like Monday again, I’m finished. This is your one second chance.”
I grin, the smile stretching slowly across my face. “I like those odds.”
Epilogue
Andrea
One year later
“Axel, for the love of God, they’re going to be here any minute!” I yell toward the office.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I hear him grumble from inside. I resist the temptation to roll my eyes, instead pulling the door open and entering. Axel is at his desk, papers strewn across the surface, an irritated look on his face.
I know that face. It’s the one he makes whenever a number is giving him trouble.
“What are you doing?”
Axel’s mouth twists in disgust as he gives one final look at the papers before turning his attention to me. He freezes, eyes trailing slowly down my body. He licks his lips. I grin. That’s exactly the reaction I was going for.
“You weren’t wearing that five minutes ago.”
“No, I wasn’t wearing this an hour ago. You’ve just been in here that long.”
“Come here.”
“Axel, we don’t have—”
“Come. Here,” Axel growls, staring at the tight bodice of my pale pink sundress. His eyes flick down to my thighs, visible below the hem of my dress.
Everyone really will be here any minute, but my general rule of thumb is that it’s incredibly stupid not to take advantage of an aroused man. So I sway closer, yelping in surprise when his arm lashes out and pulls me into his lap.
My dress settles around us as I straddle him. He’s already hard. I sigh, my hips reflexively grinding against his length. Axel kisses me, nibbling on my lower lip. I open for him and his tongue slides inside my mouth, stroking against mine in a pantomime of another, more pleasurable kind of sliding. I moan, gripping his shoulders as I return his kiss.
Axel tears his mouth from mine and trails a line of kisses down my neck. “I like this dress,” he says softly, as if speaking to himself.
I chuckle, hands roaming over his chest. “I thought you would.”
“I like all your dresses.”
“This is true. You’re rather easy to please in that regard.”
“But by all means, do continue the effort. I won’t stop you.”
I roll my eyes, but then his fingers begin making their way under my skirt. I immediately run my fingers through his hair and pull his head back so he’s forced to look at me. If I let things go any further, he’ll be screwing me on this table and everyone will arrive to the sounds of my screams.
Not exactly a bad thing for me, but probably not really something Axel’s brothers want to hear in their childhood home.
“Now, now, Axel. We don’t have time for this.”
“There’s always time for this,” he says in affront. I just laugh.
“Axel. What on earth is so important in here that you can’t help me set up the tables outside?”
He sighs, leaning back against his chair as he accepts the fact that there will be no canoodling. “I just wanted to get some numbers to give to everyone. Figure out how well we’ve done this year. I thought it might make them happy to hear an update.”
And now I get it. I soften as I finally understand his frustration, why he’s been in here for so long. Today, on the one-year anniversary of the fire, we’re having a party to celebrate this year’s harvest and the new saplings, planted a year ago, and already growing fast thanks to Howard’s careful watch. Of course he’d want to tell his family how well we’ve recovered.
It took me—and all of his brothers—over a month to convince Axel to allow Howard to return to his old job. Axel claimed it was on a provisional basis, but the rest of us knew it was only a matter of time before he rehired Howard for good. And now that the two of them have a daily discussion on operational matters, there’s no more surprise cigarette buckets or flooding hoses in sight.
We’ve all come a long way in that past year. Of course Axel wants to tell his family how well we’ve recovered.
I stroke his hair back into place after the ravishment of my fingers. His eyes flutter closed at the soothing touch. “I can get that for you,” I finally say.
I look over my shoulder, scanning the papers on the desk for the document, pulling it toward me and then turning back to Axel.
“So what do you need exactly?” I say, still looking at the paper. When there’s no response, I glance up to find Axel staring at my chest, his hands still kneading my ass. No way has he heard my question. “Axel, for the love of God, I’m trying to help you! Can you at least pay attention?”
Axel jerks his gaze to mine, a slightly sheepish expression on his face. “Can you repeat that?”
“Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.”
“Andrea, for the love of God, your breasts are fucking distracting. Can you really blame a guy?”
“Oh, mocking me, I see. That’ll get you everywhere.”
“Sometimes I can’t help it,” he says. Axel’s mouth twists into one of his rare smiles. It lights up his whole face, making those hazel eyes sparkle in mischief, his white teeth gleaming in the sunlight. He even has a dimple—just one—that turns his smile decidedly wicked.
> Axel rarely smiles, but when he does, he’s breathtakingly gorgeous. And whenever I’m blessed enough to catch it, I can’t help thinking that maybe one day he’ll be happier, or at least more demonstratively so. I like to think that those smiles come more frequently now, a year after he took me on that fateful date.
Axel lived up to my very high expectations and then some. He took me on his one date the following day. He was so caring, so quick to ask if I needed anything. Sure, he was still his taciturn, grumpy self, but that didn’t stop him from making sure I enjoyed myself.
Frankly, it freaked me out how perfectly he planned that date. From the amazingly delicious dinner to the financial documentary at the theater after, which I know made no sense for him, everything went so smoothly. He even had a jacket for me when I got cold in the theater.
So I gave him another date. And another, and another. Before I knew it, a month had passed, then two, and suddenly, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Without Axel, the world’s biggest devil.
I’m actually happy. And I know he is, too, although he rarely shows it. But perhaps one day that beautiful smile will be as common as his grumpy frown, another one of his expressions I shouldn’t love but do so dearly.
One day. Now, though, I take every moment to witness that smile while I can. It goes as quickly as it arrives.
“All right, well, don’t quit your job to become a comedian,” I grumble after his grin disappears.
“Fine, fine,” he says. “Anyway, I want to know how much we made this year and how much more that was from last year.”
“Sure,” I say. My eyes scan the paper until I can find the figures he needs. “This year we’re on track to make two million, which means that it’s probably about a thirty percent increase over last year.”
Axel shakes his head a little, saying nothing. I know that expression enough to guess he feels stupid for my doing something in a minute that he struggled to do for an hour. My heart hurts at that expression, that wounded look that always creeps onto his face in moments like these before he quickly hides it.
“Well, that’s what I needed. Thanks,” he mumbles, not quite able to meet my eyes.
“Axel,” I say sharply, waiting until he looks at me before I continue, “It’s my job to do these calculations. I should be able to do them quickly. That you or anyone else can’t manage it as easily as I can says nothing about him except that his talents lie elsewhere. Don’t you ever feel less than me because you can’t crunch numbers like a fucking computer.
“You’re extraordinarily gifted in other ways. You should be proud of your abilities. Everything else is just something you have to manage, like everyone else. Everyone has something they struggle to handle. I never want to see you feel bad about yourself, okay? I won’t allow it.”
I barely get the words out before he’s kissing me. It’s a different kind of kiss. There’s an intensity to it I’ve never experienced before, like kissing me is absolutely essential to his very survival. It’s overwhelming and shocking, this kiss. I’m not sure I’ll ever quite experience another one like it again.
“I love you.”
I’m so distracted by the kiss that at first I don’t even register his words. “What?”
“I love you. I am in love with you. Hopelessly. For months all I’ve thought about and want to think about is you. Nothing else matters except your happiness, your desires, your plans for the future. Twelve months of dating and you still insist on living at your house. I hate it when you go home every day.
“I want you to stay here with me forever. I can’t imagine anything else in my life ever being so perfect, so right, than how I feel when I’m with you.”
“I’ve been with you for years,” I say shakily.
He scoffs. “We were never ‘together’ in any of those years, but I suppose in a way you’re right. If you had left before we were even together, I would have been as miserable then as when I fired you. I have no desire to hide my feelings from you any longer.
“What you just said to me, what you just gave me, no one has ever done before in my life. Not in so many words. Not overtly. You have never judged me or belittled me for my limitations. You’ve always acted as if they are the most natural thing in the world. I could never be with another woman, will never be with another woman. Not now, knowing what it’s like to receive such simple acceptance.”
Axel’s honesty, the sheer vulnerability required to utter those words, completely robs me of speech. No man has ever been so open with me. Never in a thousand lifetimes would I have expected I’d ever receive such a gift from a reticent man like Axel.
I must remain silent for a long time because Axel suddenly shifts under me slightly, his mouth twisting in what I may have once believed to be irritation but have learned is actually nervousness. “Say something.”
And the only words, the only natural response that could ever be said in reply to such an admission, are so obvious I need not think to utter them. “I love you too.”
Axel blinks, then the tension slowly seeps out of him. He exhales, as if he’s been holding his breath.
“I do love you,” I continue. “I’ve loved you for weeks, maybe even months. But I’ve cared for you for much longer, for years, for all the time we’ve worked together.
“Learning to love you has been the most unexpected and wonderful journey of my life. I never thought I would fall in love with my boss, and I suppose I always saw you more like a partner, but the fact that I have feels more natural than anything else I’ve ever done.
“I hope one day I can begin to repay the respect and trust you gave me all these years. You never questioned my abilities; you never doubted me when I gave you numbers or ideas or suggestions. You always took my advice with careful consideration. Well, except for that one time, of course. If I had ever worked for someone else, that would not have been the case. It only made me love you more.”
My confession must shock him as much as his stunned me because for a long moment we simply stare at each other. Then, an instant later, his face stretches into a smile which puts all the other smiles I’ve ever seen to shame. The utter joy in his face is so stark, so awed, that tears instantly spring to my eyes. My mouth stretches into an answering grin of my own.
I may be able to count the number of times he’s smiled on one hand, but this one, this smile in this moment? No other will ever come close.
The End!
Keep reading for a steeeeamy preview of Rascal, Griffin’s friends to lovers story.
My hand travels down her bare back until I reach the zipper that extends all the way to the hem of the dress. With one quick tug, it’s on the floor.
“Griffin!”
My mouth drops open, trying to drum up some kind of reply, but I’m too stunned to utter a word. She’s not wearing a bra, which isn’t surprising, considering the backless dress. But even her naked back fails to keep my attention when the perfect curves of her ass are lined with a black thong.
Black thongs are for maneaters. Temptresses. Sweet little Cassie, wearing a thong? Heaven help me.
Combine that with purple heels and the tiny red bows of her apron, and I’m a dead man. Absolutely wrecked.
“Say something,” Cassie says. She’s stopped rolling.
I reach out, hands sliding over that perfect ass to her waist. I tug her into me, annoyed that I’m still clothed and yet unwilling to make any effort to undress myself. “A thong, Cass? Do you want to give me a heart attack? You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I always wear them.”
“W-what?”
“I don’t like it when you can see the underwear line through my dress. And I … just like to wear them. They make me feel sexy.”
“Cassie … are you telling me you wear a thong every day?”
“Uh, yes?”
I bury my mouth in her hair, my breath ragged. Cassie’s head drops to the side as she moans softly, melting into me. I swoop down, kissing and nibbling
the soft expanse of her neck. Her moans grow louder, more insistent, as she thrusts back into me. I slide my hand between her legs, pushing her underwear aside to bury a finger inside her.
She freezes. “Griffin!”
I still. “Is this okay?” If she says no, obviously I’ll have to stop, but fuck, I so don’t want to. She’s so perfectly wet. It’s simultaneously everything and more than I have ever imagined. I want nothing more in this world than to explore the wet heat of her but won’t force her despite how much I ache to do it.
My heart pounds painfully in my chest. Don’t say no. Don’t say no. Don’t—
“Yes. Yes, it’s okay,” she finally moans, and there’s conviction in her voice.
I groan, spinning her around to face me. Like all aprons, Cassie’s is too narrow to fully cover her body; her full hips peek out from the tiny piece of cloth, her breasts barely covered by the scrap of fabric.
The sight sends me to my knees. Touching her isn’t enough. It will never be enough. I run a shaking hand up her calf, kneading softly, past the dip of her knee, up the soft expanse of her thigh. I stop, hovering just below the hem of her apron, our eyes finding each other.
“Cassie,” I growl, my voice an animalistic rasp. “I need to taste you. Let me taste you, darling.”
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Devil (King Brothers #2) Page 11
