Page 31 of Between Never and Forever
He huffed and puffed with that comment. “I— Dex, that was never my intention.”
“What wasn’t your intention?” I asked. He could flounder like a damn fish out of water for all I cared.
“Let’s not rehash the past. You said you will get engaged to Keelani? That… That could work well potentially. We can say you’ve both been keeping the relationship quiet for a while.” I heard his excitement, the way he stumbled when he asked if I was sure.
“Who is to say we haven’t?” I asked him with irritation. I didn’t care to enlighten him on all of the details of this fake engagement. He could wonder if we were real or fake for all I cared.
“Oh, is that so?” He laughed nervously over the line but I could tell he was also thinking he’d struck a gold mine. He didn’t realize I would probably end up being the ruin of him.
People didn’t seem to understand that when they signed a deal with the HEAT empire was that they didn’t only get one Hardy brother, they got all of us.
Dom was the big brother to all of us and tried to set an example. Declan had been in the public eye for so long that he knew how to maintain an image, and Dimitri was easygoing, handling problems before they even occurred. but he had a temper just as bad as mine and was secretive about a lot of shit.
I was a middle child, in between Declan and Dimitri. I’d accepted that it meant I was unhinged. I felt every single thing more because I related to each of them, and I felt every slight deeper than all of them too.
Something was off about her contract with him and about the record label in general. That wasn’t my problem, but he had better not disrespect the HEAT name by not disclosing every single thing he could. And, if I was being honest with myself, I was interested in what the hell he had on Kee that ever made her leave me.
“I’d like her contract sent over to my legal team.” I held Kee’s eyes as they grew into saucers while she shook her head vigorously.
“I’m sorry, her contract with the casino?”
“No. The one she has with Trinity. I’m sure she’ll voluntarily give it to me as I’m now her fiancé, but you sending it to my legal team will be beneficial. I don’t want any secrets between us when you’re working with my fiancée. Do you?”
So, maybe I wouldn’t wait for her to share, considering she looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“Oh, well, that’s confidential—”
Did he think I was an idiot? “My future wife is either going to share with me or you are. If she shares it with me and I find something I don’t like, Mitchell, the problems you encounter will be much worse. You understand?”
Somehow, he’d snuffed out her drive to be independent and had practically brainwashed her into thinking this was what she wanted. It’s why even when I started to consider whether or not this would be a bad idea, I’d doubled down when she’d mentioned changing her brand. Something was amiss, and I was keen on figuring out what. Not to save her. Not even to help her. To get closure for myself.
I clicked off the phone before her manager could rattle off any more bullshit to me and handed it back to her. “Now…call your fiancé.”
“Ethan?” she squeaked. “What the hell for?”
I put my hands in my pockets and rocked back on my loafers as I looked her up and down. “I’m not fucking you while you’re engaged to someone else. Call him and end it.” Then I spun around and walked to my kitchen. I grabbed a glass of water as I waited for her to blow up.
It was coming.
I’d seen her face redden, watched as her breath came faster, how her hands clenched at her sides. Then she stormed up to me in the kitchen and poked my shoulder hard as she glared up at me. “You’re not fucking me either way.” She said it defiantly enough that my cock jumped at the challenge. “You need to realize you’re not going to control this whole situation, Dex. I am. This is my life. And I’m going to do what I want.”
I took a deep breath, not because I was angry but because Kee scolding me was something I missed getting turned on by. I had to go slow here. I had to be strategic on how I was going to get her out of my system. My body wanted a moment to remind her of something though, and I took the opportunity.
I set the glass of water down and turned to stand chest-to-chest with her. I pushed up against her so she’d step back and then back again, until she hit the counter. My hands went to either side of her, and I leaned on them so I was close to her ear when I said, “Do me a favor, then. Let me touch you while you’re on the phone with him.”
“I’m sorry… What?”
I spun her toward the counter and moved close, caging her against the granite. “If I don’t affect you, prove it. Wouldn’t you rather show me once and for all you don’t want to fuck around during our engagement?” I already had a hold of her maxi dress and was lifting it slowly.
“This isn’t a good idea,” Keelani said. But she was panting. Her ass wiggled against my length, giving her away. I pulled the flimsy fabric higher so I could stare at her smooth upper thighs.
“It’s only a short call, Kee. Dial the number, and let’s just see how you handle me.” I nudged my cock against her then, let her feel what she’d missed over the years. I peered over her shoulder to catch her biting that pout of hers as I asked quietly, “Scared you can’t?”
She flicked her gaze down to my mouth and dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. “I’m not scared of anything with you, Dex. We don’t have anything between us anymore.”
“Interesting.” My hand gripped the back of her thigh and then massaged it as she gasped. “I seem to remember you promising me forever when you whispered you loved me.”
“I was a kid. Like you said, it was a childhood crush.”
