Page 52 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
She wanted to argue but, apparently, she wanted his kiss more. Trixie tilted her face up to him.
“Oh, wow.” His hand dropped from her face and he took a step back. Trixie’s brows touched in confusion. “Yeah, this is embarrassing. I didn’t mean you?—”
Catching onto his joke, Trixie jumped him. In the bay room, in full view of Gary and Jeff, Trixie leaped onto his body and wrapped her arms and legs around him. He caught her with ease, trying to keep the smile off his face. She leaned down, grazing his lips with hers. “Better only ever mean me.”
He finally let his smile show. “Just you, only you.”
She met his smile and then kissed him. Jeff and Gary must have taken the hint because they were gone by the time Cayden and she broke apart. Either that or they stood there making out a hell of a lot longer than she realized.
Trixie rested her head against his forehead. “That was mean.”
“I had you going for just a second.”
She glared. “One second. I’ll admit toonesecond.”
He kissed her again. Something deepened in his voice, laced with emotion. “Just you, Trix. Only you.”
She gripped him tighter. “This week has been really tiring, and I want nothing more than for you to take me upstairs and have your way with me. Wait!” she laughed when he started walking them that way. She pointed over her shoulder to thedoor leading to her personal collection. “That way. I have something to show you.”
Cayden raised an eyebrow. “You don’t let anyone beyond that door.”
“Consider yourself a special guest,” she purred into his ear.
“Only guest?”
She shrugged. “Joey and Jeff have access, but they respect my privacy enough not to go back. But you’d be the first person I’ve ever invited back.”
Interest sparked in his eyes. “Color me intrigued. Let’s go.”
Trixie jumped down off of him and took his hand. When L and S had revamped their security, they had also upgraded her retinal scanner and added a motion sensor. She used her right eye to unlock the scanner and punched in the code to turn off the sensor.
The door opened into a narrow, cylindrical hall. She kept her vault at sixty-eight degrees, always, and used special filters to keep the air clean. There was a metallic scent in the air that always got her blood pumping.
She realized she was nervous as she led Cayden down the hall. She’d never shown anyone her personal collection. Three she’d inherited from herabuelo,but the other four were her babies. The cars up in the showroom were unique or fancy, but hers were priceless.
Cayden stopped as the first vehicle came into view. “Holy shit,” he breathed. “Is that a Yenko?”
Trixie’s smile was smug. “1969 Yenko Camaro Coupe.”
Cayden walked forward like a man possessed. He circled the shiny black car fully, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide, before he realized it wasn’t alone in her vault. “I think I died and went to Heaven. That’s a 1963 GTV!”
He journeyed to the baby blue Lamborghini. He reached out to touch it but then pulled back. “Damn, my hands aren’t clean.”
Trixie found that amusing, since his hands had just been on her ass. Apparently, they were clean enough to touch her, but not the collectible. She rolled her eyes, storing that knowledge away for future use.
“That’s an El Camino! And a Mustang Boss!” Cayden started hyperventilating. He rounded on her. “Am I alive? I mean, I didn’t inhale too much paint or maybe a jack malfunctioned?”
Trixie laughed before approaching him. “These are my babies.” She pointed to the El Camino, the GTV, and the Porsche 916. “I inherited those fromAbuelo. The Boss was my first restoration. I completed it when I was sixteen.Papáhelped find me all the parts, but he insisted I was the one who did the work. I think he was trying to keep me distracted from what was going on with AJ.” She pointed to the Yenko, the droptop Ferrari, and the RX7. “I’ve completed all of these since.”
She could feel his heart thumping hard in his chest. His eyes kept jumping from car to car like he was afraid they’d vanish before he got a chance to fully look. “These are amazing. I can’t believe these have been here this whole time. I stole the wrong damn car to win our bet.”
Trixie slapped him hard on the chest. “You gave up that life, remember.” He nodded, though the want in his eyes didn’t lessen any. She forced his face down towards her. It took a moment for his mismatched eyes to leave the cars long enough to meet hers. “I am showing you these for a couple of reasons, but the most important is to show that I trust you, Cayden Russo. I didn’t like the distance between us this week. I know it was my doing and I want to make sure you know that I do trust you.”
That snapped his attention fully to her. “It was never a question of trust, baby. I know you trust me, and I hope that I never break that faith.” He reached down for her hands. “Your brother’s situation is upsetting. I know that, and I get it. I feltso helpless, seeing your pain but not being able to do anything about it.” He kissed the back of her hand. “You weren’t the only one responsible for the distance between us this week.”
She grinned shyly. “You know… I’ve always kind of had this fantasy…”
His eyes lit up. “Oh, yeah?”
