Page 40 of Prince Charming

Lessons came hard, males were untrustworthy.

All but one.

She drank the cocoa, sent a prayer to God for answers to all her problems and then climbed into bed.

Sleep came much, much later.

Thoughts ran rampant by picturing Tag dating women who weren’t her. She was driven half mad with jealousy for most of the night.

Her timing sucked.

One thing she knew, now Pandora’s box had sprung open, there was no way to put all her burgeoning feelings for a biker back inside.

Ignore them or embrace them?

That was a good question.

Because of Marianna’s shitty decision-making, she couldn’t trust herself to answer yet.

THIRTEEN

“The actions of a mad man.” - Tag

It’s universally understood: the more someone is off limits, the bigger the dick ache for them becomes.

Tag knew that shit firsthand as he watched Marianna try to contain her excitement, gazing at the display of cell phones.

Picking her up with a coffee earlier in his Raptor, he’d told her they were going into Denver to buy her a new phone. Of fucking course she protested, he’d keel over and die the day she agreed with him off the bat.

His aching balls made him animalistic to possess her. To touch parts of her body that made her melt for him.

Heat flooded his muscles.

The grueling workout this morning was a waste of time, because he was on goddamn fire for a woman who treated him like a brother.

He couldn’t do any of the filthy shit he had on his mind. So he did the next best thing for his urgent soul, and that was to take care of her in other ways.

With her knock-out body, all lithe limbs and promises. Her cold confidence and fuck-me eyes, she could have any drooling guy with a bat of her lashes.

He felt feral knowing he’d hinder anyone trying to get close to her.

He’d snap necks and break bones, do what he had to do to piss a symbolic circle around Marianna.Mine, hands off.

Touching the base of her spine, feeling how she softened for him. He dipped his mouth to the shell of her ear. “Did you decide on which one you like?”

Biting her lip, she turned her head. “They are all very expensive.”

Money wasn’t an issue. “Which one, Marianna?”

“I like the rose gold one.”

Addressing the hovering store assistant. “We’ll take that one. Load it up with the biggest data and storage, yeah?”

“Yes, Sir.” The kid snapped to attention, smelling a big commission. And Tag wasn’t finished yet. He’d seen her eyeing the iPads.

“We’ll take the best tablet you got too.”

She swung around. “Tag! No.”