Page 91 of Wild Ride

Sophie shook her head and glared at Dex like he was the bad influence here. That was all Ashley! “Let’s go again, and fewer references to Dex’s bad behavior or the reason why we’re all here.”

“Yes, Ashley,” Dex said seriously. “You need to pretend I’m here doing good all by myself, not because I was mandated by my Rebels overlords. Plus we need to mention the Empty the Shelters event. Sell it!”

Another head shake from Sophie and then they tried again.

This time, Bandit got a little rambunctious and buried his nose in Ashley’s crotch. “Lucky devil,” Dex muttered.

“Cut, cut!”

When everyone but Sophie had stopped laughing (because she hadn’t started in the first place), they took another shot at it. This time they managed a few minutes of footage, both with and without Ashley, that could be edited into something decent, according to one of Sophie’s henchmen—sorry, photogs.

“Hmm, that went well,” Dex said as Ashley grabbed Bandit’s leash. “You’re a natural.”

“I had a good scene partner.”

They were standing close and, even with the entire Rebels PR unit looking on, it felt like they were the only two people in the room.

“Thanks for doing this. And for standing up for Bandit.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, gratified when she shivered under his touch. Christ, he could spend all day enjoying that reaction.

He was completely in his Ashley Adams era.

“He needs someone to have his back.” She peeked up at him. “We all need that.”

Too fucking right. “You make me feel good.”

“I do?”

He might be seeing this all wrong, but her fighting for Bandit felt like she was fighting for him.

“Just glad you’re here. That I know you. That this happened.” He shuffled closer so no one could listen in. “Not because you’re gorgeous, though you are. Not because I want to fuck you constantly, though I do. But because you’re an awesome human being who makes me feel like a decent human being.”

“Oh, Dex. You’re an awesome human being, too. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” Her sincerity floored him, but then everything about her always did.

He was crazy about this woman.

“Mom!”

They both turned to see Willa standing behind Sophie, waving away. With her was a man who Dex assumed was her dad. The asshole ex. Dex was supposed to be the adult here, so he wouldn’t thump him even if he had once made this beautiful woman cry by telling her he wasn’t attracted to her anymore.

But that was in the past, and this guy’s loss was Dex’s gain.

Dex waved at Willa while Ashley went to meet them. Approaching Sophie, Dex tried not to stare at the sight of this familial unit he didn’t belong to.

“What do you think? Get what you needed?”

“Yes, I think so. Though …” Sophie pulled him aside. “If we post that video of you and Ashley, people might get ideas.”

He bristled. “Meaning?”

“That there’s something going on between you.” She looked at him seriously. As much as he wanted to yell, “yes, we’re together,” he couldn’t because (a) they weren’t in an official way (b) Ashley didn’t want anyone to know and (c) he was under strict orders not to let his dick get him into trouble again. Sophie would not approve, Fitz would go ballistic, and adios to his shot at a contract renewal.

“We’re just friends and I’m a flirting machine, you know that.”

Sophie looked relieved. “It’s just that people can get mean and not everyone has the capacity to handle that. She didn’t even want to be on camera, so any spotlight might hurt her.”

This was true. He didn’t want anyone saying mean things about Ashley, not after the ordeal she went through with her ex.

“You have some footage of me with the dog. Maybe just use that?”

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