Page 78 of No Longer Safe

I went on to explain what happened with Axel and then Alexei and Axel being his trainer and best friend. Her eyes grew large as every detail was unearthed.

“You’re lying!”

I laughed. I was so glad I wasn’t. It didn’t feel like anything serious but it also didn’t feel like anything temporary either. It was nice. Euphoric almost.

“I’m not.”

She sat back in her chair and blinked. “Ace told him to leave you alone. A few times actually because he was worried that Alexei would hurt you. I tried to tell you about how you should give Alexei a chance. I guess all it took was you seeing it with your own eyes.”

I rolled my lips. “More like I had no more restraint left to keep him at arm’s length.”

“Ace worked me down bit by bit too. I didn’t wanna give him a chance either. I mean, they’re like too good to be true, right?”

The next daythere wasanotherengagement party. I was fully convinced it was so rich people could remind each other over and over again just how rich they were to each other. But this time Carina’s mother was in attendance. I don’t know what changed. I don’t know if my words impacted her or if she was simply tired of not being there for her daughter. Whatever it was, I was just happy to see her. She’d gotten in late the night before and we hadn’t had the time to catch up. Emeline was quick as a whip this morning. She whisked Mrs. Phipps off for a full day of pampering. She was getting a full makeover and shopping spree. I knew Mrs. Phipps didn’t appreciate the efforts of being bought but she practically glowed across the dance floor. Single, older men flocked to her. She was the life of the party. I wasn’t surprised, now that she’d been taken care of all day, she was where Carina got all of her good looks from. She looked refreshed and not overworked. This life would be good for her. Maybe she would marry again—someone much richer and more passionate than before.

Even though I was ecstatic to have Carina’s mother in attendance and experiencing all the finer things in life, I was too entirely focused on the hard launch that was about to happen. There was no lead-up to it. There was no communication. We hadn’t even discussed going public or being together in public. We’d gone on a few dates, that I wasn’t sure were really dates, and he’d made me cum more times than I could count. But being public with his family? There hadn't been anything that prepared me for it.

Alexei and I hadn’t talked since he left my room the night before and seeing him across the room with his white button-down rolled-up over his muscular arms almost had me to my knees. He was in the middle of what looked to be a very important conversation but every so often he would flick his gaze to me and smirk. I knew it was coming. I could feel it.

I could hardly breathe as I waited for Alexei to make his move. Carina and Ace were too busy frolicking around and showing face to even notice me shaking in my sky-high heels. I should have known better. I probably did it to myself with this little number I chose to wear. It was a light pink romper that barely covered my ass. I’d triple-checked with Carina before I walked out of the room with it on. She whistled and fist-pumped the sky. She told me I was only allowed to wear this and nothing else. She was the best hype girl. I’d even snapped a pic and sent it to Lu just to get a second, unbiased opinion, and she said the same. This outfit was made for me and my beautiful legs. I knew the moment I stepped onto the sky deck of this incredibly expensive restaurant that Alexei’s eyes were bugging out of his head. He’d seen me in sweats and jeans and nothing over the top. I was determined to be casual with him and to take it slow if I needed to. I couldn’t woo the man. If I did, dangerous things would happen and I wasn’t ready for that.

I brushed my hair over my shoulder as I sipped my water. I’d been extra careful lately to not go hard-on the alcohol with Alexei around. He already made it hard to think, I didn’t need anything helping that along.

“You look decadent,” A whisper of a kiss brushed over the back of my neck and my entire body erupted in goosebumps. “Good enough to eat. Do you want to slip to the bathroom and sit on my face?”

If I clenched my legs together like I desperately needed to, it would only fuel the fire. I leaned my head back against his chest and whispered back, “I would have to get naked to do that, this is a one-piece.”

“Damn, and it looks so good on you too,” His lips ghosted back over my neck and I could have turned into a puddle right there in front of everyone. “I would hate to ban it.”

I shrugged against his chest as his hand found my hip. His fingers dug into me and it took all of my strength not to drag him down the hall and out of this place. “What are we doing?”

“What kind of question is that?” His fingers gripped me harder before he twirled me around. “I’m showing the world who my girl is.”

“Oh?” I looked up at him and his eyes gazed down at my mouth. His eyes were dark with hunger and I found myself not caring who saw.

His lips claimed mine too quickly before he pulled back and yanked me to the dance floor. Carina and Ace were too wrapped up in their bliss to notice anything else. I could have sworn the grannies said something from the sidelines but I was too busy listening to Alexei whisper naughty things in my ear to really notice anything else.

All of a sudden reasons why this wouldn’t work slammed into my head. Maybe launching in front of his family wasn’t the best thing. We hadn’t talked about futures or me even staying in NewYork. Lu talked me up about publishing but I didn’t even know if that was something I could do—something I could accomplish. “I haven’t even been to your house.”

He leaned down and ran his nose up the side of my neck as he spun me around the dance floor. “I plan to rectify that soon. Maybe dinner at my place tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “What if I don’t stay in New York?”

He pulled back and his brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“What if I find that I want to live closer to my parents or maybe travel?” It was like I couldn’t stop. I could think of tons of reasons why this wouldn’t or couldn’t work.

“I’ll go with you.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed. “What?”

He was completely serious. “This makes no sense.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. I’ve been thinking that since the moment I saw you.”

“Stripper glitter and all?”

His lips curled. “Cheap perfume too.”

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