Page 5 of Midnight Danger

His arm encircled my waist. “I’ll order pizza and we can eat it in bed together.” He pressed a kiss on the tip of my nose and went in search of his phone.

Xavier’s mood said he’d seen his dad today. Darkness entered his soul every time he had to deal with the demons of his family. My clothes still littered the floor, and I began collecting them to dress myself since I’d dealt with the burnt remains of our dinner. Two open bottles of beer had appeared on the kitchen counter, one already half empty.

It was these little things that made my heart beat faster. From the beginning, being with Xavier had been easy with none of the difficult stilted conversations. We’d opened up to each other in the darkness of The Midnight Rooms, with both of us sharing secrets with strangers that we’d never confessed in the light of day.

One sound I’d grown to despise over the past few weeks had been the ringtone of Xavier’s phone, because it normally heralded him disappearing.

“Yeah?” His deep baritone voice echoed into the living room. “What the fuck happened? Yeah, yeah, I’ll meet you there in thirty.”

Xavier padded in and I tried to hide my disappointment behind my hair that fell over my face. His world consisted of million-pound deals and constant organisation. Mine was a nine-to-five job with weekends off.

“I’ll save you some pizza,” I said, trying to tug my yoga pants back on.

He stared at me for several seconds, his T-shirt bunched in his right hand. “Why don’t you come with me? We can go for a ride on my bike and meet Jay? It shouldn’t take long.”

I hadn’t officially met either of his two friends. They’d been at meetings, and most of the women in my office referred to them as the hotties. When they turned up in their designer suits and sunglasses, they made everyone do a double-take.

I wandered over and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I thought you wanted us to remain a secret?”

“If it was up to me, I wouldn’t give a fuck who knew. I’ve already told you that you’re mine—that hasn’t changed.” His fingers combed my hair back. “You didn’t want our relationship to risk your job and I’m trying to respect that.”

“Ugh!” I buried my head into his strong chest. Why did everything have to be so damned complicated?

His T-shirt dropped to the floor and his hands cupped my face. “I’m trying to give you the space you need, baby. My life is complex and constantly under scrutiny. This is all I have that is real.”

“I know, and a partnership is opening in the company in a few months. It’s just that every time you walk into the office, and every heterosexual female with a libido undresses you, I want to claw their eyes out.” My eyes fluttered closed for a moment before I returned his gaze again. “Or claim you in front of all of them.”

“You know I wouldn’t object to that.” He walked me backward until my back hit the wall. His head descended and he scorched me with the intensity of his kiss, making my back arch and me to moan into his mouth.

He always set me on fire with his touch. Not because he was everything I’d ever fantasised about in the dark of night with my vibrator, but because whatever we’d found was a rare gift.

The doorbell rang and he lifted his head, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. The cocky grin on his face as he turned and sauntered to the door, dressed only in his low-riding jeans, said he knew what he did to me with those kisses.

The smell of melted cheese permeated into the apartment a few moments later. Xavier grabbed a slice and practically inhaled it as he searched for his boots.

I ripped into the cheesy goodness while dragging on my jeans and a pink woollen jumper to keep me warm on the back of his bike. He’d arrived a few weeks ago with a leather jacket for me to wear when we rode. It allowed Xavier to be anonymous since no one knew he drove a Harley.

“What’s the problem tonight?” I asked, pushing my foot into a boot.

“Security breach at one of the businesses.”

“Is that not a police matter?”

Xavier grinned down at me. “Nah. Jay will have the perpetrators identified before the police could get a statement recorded.”

“What does he need you for?”

“It requires two partners’ passwords to access the system.” He lifted another slice of pizza and held it between his teeth as he hunted for his keys.

Standing, I held my arms out. “Will I do?”

He removed the pizza from his mouth. A slow, sexy smile spread over his full lips. I wanted to look good to meet his friend, even though he’d seen me in the office several times. “Depends on what look you’re trying to achieve. If you’re aiming for sex kitten with theI’ve just been thoroughly fuckedlook, you’ve definitely managed that.”

Chewing the side of my mouth, I headed toward the bedroom. “I’ll quickly change…”

“No time, baby. Gotta go.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me against his chest. “You look great, and it makes me hard to think I was the one who thoroughly fucked you.”

“Zee…” I was going to object, but the twinkle in his eyes said he was teasing me. Instead, I grabbed one last slice of pizza. “Come on, since you’re late.”

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