Page 63 of By His Side

I held up an imaginary notepad and used an imaginary pen to make a note. “Not fussy about flowers. Got it. Dark or milk chocolate?”

“Milk chocolate.”

“Good choice.” I was smiling now. “You should have thought about the possibility of this happening when you set out to seduce me.”

“I should have done.” All the fight had gone out of Felix, his stare that of a man who knew when he was beaten, and all it had taken were three simple words. I could have saved myself an awful lot of trouble if I’d said it back at the café. Preferably before we met the woman who wanted to lynch Felix.

“Now what?” he finally asked.

“Now…” I jerked my head toward his bag. “You unpack and we order a takeaway. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. It’s been one hell of a day.”

“I made a pie. It’s steak.”

“I saw. It’ll keep till tomorrow.”

When Felix grabbed his bag and went obediently up the stairs, it was all I could do not to punch the air. He hadn’t said it back, but that was okay. I hadn’t expected him to. His attempt at noble self-sacrifice, no matter how misplaced it had been, was evidence enough that he felt the same. You didn’t do that unless you loved someone.

Chapter Twenty-five

Felix

Darien checked his watch again, and I wished I had something to say that would make him less twitchy. But, truth be told, I was equally nervous. I was just doing a better job of hiding it than he was. It seemed years of practice in prison of not letting my emotions show on the outside were finally proving fruitful.

“It’s not too late to call and postpone,” I pointed out. I didn’t say cancel because if Darien and I were going to be a thing—and it seemed we were, Darien shooting down my attempt at sacrificing my happiness for the greater good with three simple words—then I couldn’t put off meeting his brother forever.

Darien rearranged the plates on the table for the umpteenth time. He’d cautiously suggested that I might want to make something snacky, that Hayden would appreciate the gesture. I’d run with it andgone completely overboard, conjuring up mini quiches, mini scotch eggs, vol au vents with three different fillings because I hadn’t been able to decide which to go for, and something which I’d forgotten the name of, but that Darien as official taster had assured me tasted delicious. Darien was apparently expecting the photographer forHouse & Homemagazine to drop round if his constant desire to show them off to best effect was any indication. I placed my hand over his and stilled his movements. “It will be fine.”

“Will it?”

“Yes. Because if it goes badly, it doesn’t matter. He’s not going to drive me away, and I’m presuming it won’t make you dump me?” I waited for his nod. “Well, there you go, then. Besides…” I sat back in my chair and looked as relaxed as I could. “I dealt with far worse people in prison. Unless he’s going to come at me with a shiv, I can handle it.”

“Hayden’s not really a shiv type of guy. It’d be more likely to be a ridiculously expensive Japanese kitchen knife. And you’re lucky because he wouldn’t want to get blood on it or risk blunting it.”

I laughed and tugged Darien down for a kiss, the novelty of being able to do that whenever I wanted unlikely to wear off anytime soon. Or possibly ever. While I had a grip on him, I pulled him onto my lap. At least there, he couldn’t keep messing with the plates. Darien sighed. “Seriously, though… Hayden will be a dick because… Well, because it’s Hayden and he usually makes a terrible first impression. You have to get to know him to see the softer side of him. He has one, honest. Ask Levi.”

“Well, I presumed he wouldn’t be marrying him if Hayden was permanently a dick. I’ll look forward to getting to know your brother better and seeing him let his guard down.” We both knew there was a possibility of my background rendering that impossible, but it didn’t need saying.

Darien trailed his fingers over my cheek with a softness in his eyes that was addictive. “I thought you were scary when I first met you.”

I turned my head into his palm, dropping a kiss on the soft skin I found there. “No, you didn’t. You thought I was hot.”

Darien’s lips twitched. “I thought you were hot. Then when you flipped out, I thought you were scary and hot.”

“You pressed the wrong button.”

Darien’s hand slid between my legs, his palm curling around my cock. “What about this button?”

I closed my thighs, trapping his hand so he couldn’t remove it even if he wanted to. “That’s definitely the right button. You have to rub it, though, rather than press it.”

“Yeah? And what happens if I do?” Darien’s lips were close enough to mine that we shared the same air.

“Things get messy.”

“Sounds…” He never got to finish his statement, a knock on the door making Darien jump to his feet. “Fuck!” He readjusted himself in his jeans, his cheeks flushed.

“Later,” I promised.

“Later,” he agreed as he went to answer the door.

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