Page 91 of Hidden By His Side

Dizziness swamped her. She couldn’t breathe. Phantom hands pressed on her arms.

Ramiro’s hands remained on the sides of the chair as he hovered. “Take a breath, Summer. Good, now a deeper one.”

When her breathing slowed, and her hands eased their death grip on her legs, he crouched, letting the deck light illuminate them.

“Sorry. I’m sorry,” she whispered, her throat still too tight.

“You did nothing wrong.” His hands moved to hers, not squeezing, not linking, just rubbing over her skin in a gentle caress. “You said you wanted to work through this type of thing, but it killed me not to pull away. Was that too much? Should I have backed off sooner?”

She shook her head.

“Can I hold you?”

She let out another pathetic sound, then his arms wrapped around her, pulling her out of the chair and into his lap instead. She wrapped around him like she did earlier that day, but this was different. Not better, just different.

Her head rested on his shoulder.

“Have youever—”

His phone started going off in his pocket.

“Fucking hell,” Ramiro muttered. “I thought I’d put this on silent. How does Hayes do things like that?” He grunted as he nuzzled against her, looking at his phone over her shoulder. “He’s such a voyeur. All worked up over a little smoke. Let me tell him—fuck!” His hand tightened on her back, holding her closer as he dragged his phone to his opposite ear.

Summer’s hands rubbed over the tension in his shoulders as fear clawed at her from how hard he clung.

“Ash! I need you to head to the office. Hayes says someone set a fucking fire there.”

The office? Summer tried to pull away, but Ramiro wouldn’t let her, still clutching around her back.

“I’ll call Seb and have him meet us there. No way a fire starts out of nowhere. Yeah, I think so, too.” He sighed as he hung up.

“The cartel?” she asked, her hands still rubbing circles into his stiffened shoulders.

Ramiro relaxed a little, letting her pull away. “Probably. I didn’t expect them to do anything else.”

Her hands slid over the front of his shoulders and down his chest. “You’ll figure it out. Go on.” She gave a little push before standing and backing up. “Go to work. I’ll clean up here.”

Ramiro’s forehead wrinkled, and she smiled, reaching up to smooth a finger over the wrinkles. “I’m okay, Ram. And if you’re worried, you can spy on me all you want.” Her smile switched to a grin. “Should I walk around naked while you’re gone? Give you a thrill?”

“Don’t you dare,” he grumbled. “Hayes could be watching.”

Heat curled inside Summer. Not from Hayes watching, but from the idea that it would make Ramiro jealous.

He leaned forward, kissing her swiftly. “Let’s get inside and lock everything up before I leave.”

He called Seb while he checked on things, even stayed to finish cleaning the kitchen, then he hesitated at the door.

Summer stepped into him, giving him what she thought would be a quick kiss, but soon their lips were clinging as their tongues stroked each other. She panted by the time he lifted his head.

“I’ll take care of this, then it’s you and me again.”

She patted his chest. “I’ll miss you, husband.”

He stiffened, groaning as he kissed her again, even filthier this time. She clung to his arms when he rested his forehead against hers. “I liked that too much.”

“Just testing it out,” she murmured.

He sighed, finally pulling away. “Once this cartel shit is resolved, it’s time I shift things around. All I want is every moment I can get with you.”

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