Page 37 of Axel

“And your sister?”

“She’s asleep. I’ll have to come up with some story to tell her.”

“Tell her you fell in love with your hot boss.” I risk a tease. “I’m a very convincing story.”

She scoffs, “My sister knows I’m allergic to love.”

I arch a brow at that, setting her suitcase in my trunk, thankful she doesn’t own much because it wouldn’t fit.

On the drive back over the bridge, Ruby’s silent again, so I play Tchaikovsky. When I pull into the reserved parking space by my row house, I inform her, “Your car won’t fit with mine, so you’ll have to walk and drive with me.”

“I’m not your prisoner,” she fumes. “I’ll park on the street.”

“It’ll get towed,” I snarl back. “It’s a street of Land Rovers and luxury. Your car doesn’t belong here.”

She looks away. She looks … hurt?

“What did I say?”

“Everything.”

Her eyes blink like she’s fighting tears.

Fuck. FUUCCKK!

I finally have Ruby trapped. I finally have a chance to make her mine, and it sure as hell won’t happen if she keeps hating me.

The game is over. This is real.

“Ruby, I’m sor?—”

“Next dictate from the dickhead, please,” she interrupts, opening her car door. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

I get out and grab her bag before reminding her of my gate code and programming her thumbprint into the pad that controls my security. It automatically unlocks my front door.

“Meow!” Sparky comes prancing our way. She traps us by the front door, weaving between our legs.

“I got her a box.” I point to it in the kitchen. “She’s made her nest there.”

“No, she sleeps in my room or yours.” Ruby picks her up. “We have to be here when she needs us.”

Closing her eyes, she nuzzles Sparky, but her soft body nuzzles mine. We’re standing closer than ever, and I can feel Ruby’s warmth. Inhale her lilac perfume. Admire the sexy constellation of tiny, faded freckles on her nose. Witness how breathtaking she is when she’s loving and…

What just happened to my chest?

A heart attack?

No. No, it’s fucking butterflies.

I love this sight. I love feeling like this damn cat issuddenly our baby, and I might have a chance at domesticating this woman.

“Then come to the vet with me tomorrow,” I gently insist, trying not to sound like an asshole. “We need to know what to do.”

She nods, cradling Sparky, when my phone rings.

I take it out of my pocket and seeTWOon the screen. It’s Nash, and I answer, depositing Ruby’s suitcase in her bedroom upstairs before I disappear into mine with fury spreading through my bones at the news…

Nash is being followed. He has Vale Monroe in the van with him, and he’s trying to lose the tail. He knows what to do.

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