Page 37 of Charmed and Alarmed

I swallow. “My dad is going to shit a brick.”

A low rumble comes from Holden’s chest as he sets the scissors on the counter. “He will. I’m expecting an emergency room visit. Possibly two. That being said, Bram wants you to be happy.” His hands slip between my thighs and part them gently, moving to stand in the space in between as his hands lift to cradle my face. “And I intend to make you very, very happy, princess.”

Apparently sensing I’m beyond words, Holden closes the distance between us, kissing me. It feels like a wave is washing over me, crushing me under the weight of all the feelings for this man I’ve been doing my best not to face head-on. I can’t do that anymore, though. He’s… he’s Holden. He gets me in a way I don’t think—no, in a wayI knownobody ever has before, and, what’s more, is that I get him.

I see him.

“Holden,” I whisper when we break apart, panting, my hands fisting his shirt. “I’m really, really happy.”

He draws his thumb over my cheek, his expression unguarded and adoring. “Me too, Len.”

With a joyful little laugh, I lean forward, kissing him again as my eyes burn with tears that are—for the first time in months—not from sorrow. I’m not filled with anger or regret anymore. I’m not yearning for a future that will never be, I’m excited for one that’s unfolding right in front of me.

I feel his cock hardening, but as I begin to rock against him, eager, Holden pulls back again. “Don’t you want to see it?”

Oh, right. My hair.

Laughing, I allow him to help me to my feet, and we walk hand in hand to the bathroom. He hits the lights, and I falter, staring at myself in the mirror. The woman standing there looks like a stranger. Her dark hair hangs in damp waves around her face, which is flushed with life, her eyes sparkling. She looks so happy.

Holden meets my gaze in the mirror. “What do you think?”

I nod, my chest so full it feels like it could burst. “I love it. Thank you for doing that for me.”

In the reflection, I watch as Holden reaches out, guiding my face to look at him directly. He leans forward, brushing his lips over mine as he tells me, his voice a low, rough promise. “I would do anything for you.”

15

HOLDEN

“So, as you can see, in Q1 we performed significantly better than expected. Breaking ground on the addition earlier will definitely help mitigate some of the tax burden—” I zone out, tapping my pen on the edge of the conference room table as Jeremy from accounting walks Bram and I through a series of very serious, important looking numbers that I’m positive I should be paying attention to.

My partner is sitting at the table across from me, listening to all this with a grave expression, his pen poised above a yellow legal pad on the table. Already, the page is filled with brief scribbles, notes for things that have occurred to him or that he needs to do.

Mine, on the other hand, is empty.

The reason for my negligence is sitting just upstairs, dressed in a black shift dress that makes her skin glow, her newly short hair hanging around her face in waves. She brought an overnight bag to my house last night. We picked up takeout on the way and ate it standing at the kitchen counter, talking about our days and making plans for how we’d spend the weekend after we got Honor’s engagement party out of the way.

Then, I took her upstairs and fucked her into the mattress hard enough to be sure she would be feeling it all day today. For good measure, I repeated the act this morning.

Keeping this a secret has officially gotten old, and yet, I know coming clean isn’t something we can do yet. Or, more specifically, something I can’t do yet. Leni might be aware of the history I have with her parents, but she’s oblivious tothe incidentwhich occurred only months ago in this very building wherein I watched her father fuck his girlfriend. Before, it didn’t feel important to disclose. We weren’t in a relationship, and I was trying not to overcomplicate things.

Now, I feel like a liar.

I want this to work, and while my experience with relationships is admittedly lacking, I can recognize a major pitfall when I see one. If I’d known this—Leni—was coming, if I’d had even an inkling of what she would mean to me, I wouldn’t have been in that position to begin with. Bram’s feelings for Sophie would have been his problem, and there’s no way in hell I would have gotten involved.

Now, I’m in the position that going public with our relationship, telling her family, would almost certainly lead tothe incidentbeing revealed. I don’t want her to find out that way. I need to tell her myself, but I have no idea how to begin informing my brand-new girlfriend that I watched Bram fuck Sophie only a week before she became the center of my universe.

“Holden?” I start, blinking over at Bram, who is frowning at me.

“Sorry.” I shake myself, sitting up straighter in my chair. “Need to grab some coffee. What were you saying?”

Bram stares. “We’re done.” He gestures to the front of the conference room, where Jeremy is closing up his laptop and preparing to leave.

Jesus, I’m a mess.

“Are you alright?” asks Bram as our employee slips out of the room, flipping his notepad closed as he gets to his feet, still frowning.

Just my feelings for your twenty-two-year-old daughter, Bram. Nothing to worry about.

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