Page 114 of Burn It Down

One final question looms in my mind. “Any word from your dad yet?”

“Surprisingly, no. It’s been business as usual today, but I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Maybe he’ll come around.” It’s one of those things you say even though you don’t believe it.

He huffs a laugh. “That’s unlikely. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“What about Martin?”

“I’ve spent a good portion of the morning combing through all the public records I can find from the sales, but everything seems legal and legit. His closing documents also didn’t have any obvious red flags, otherwise I would never have given those papers back to him.”

“Only time will tell, I guess.” I don’t mean for it to sound so ominous, but I recognize that it does.

“Also, I know this is more of an in-person conversation that we can continue later, but I want to sell the shop outright and move our location. I want to keep working with my dad even if we have to start over somewhere new, at least we’ll still have our name and our partnership. I’ve decided if he can learn to be okay with moving on, so can I.”

I hear Jake’s pen hit his desk as he lays it down and I can picture him steepling his fingers the way he does when he’s considering something.

“I support whatever decision you’re comfortable with.”

“I’ll need some help figuring out what steps to take next.”

“You know I’ll be there every step of the way.”

In the background, I hear his office phone buzz.

“Dylan, hang on a second.”

He must not cover the receiver because I hear his secretary tell him his dad is on his way to Jake’s office.

“Shit,” he mutters back on the phone with me. “Dyl, I gotta run.”

“Good luck. Stand your ground.”

“I love you,” he says and I feel every ounce of truth in that statement.

“I love you too.”

When Jake gets back to my dad’s after work, I’m on him as soon as he walks in the door. My dad stayed at the shop to work on hisproject car a little longer while Cassie reconciled the books since it’s the end of the pay period.

Which means Jake and I have the house to ourselves for a few minutes before we have to leave for Phoenix’s.

Jake barely has a chance to drop his work bag in my room before I tackle him to the bed, pulling at his tie and shoving his suit coat off his arms.

He laughs against my mouth. “Someone’s a little hungry.”

“Someone’s fuckingstarving.”

The heat in his eyes shines brightly as he watches me start on the buttons of his shirt. His hands reach for the hem of mine and he sucks a breath through his teeth when his hands land on my skin.

“How are you so smooth and hard at the same damn time? I swear, you’re like marble.”

“As long as you like it.” I pepper kisses along that fucking square jaw of his — that is thankfully smooth again — untucking his shirt and opening the last of the buttons before standing up and pushing it off his shoulders. As soon as it lands on the floor, I start on his pants. When he chuckles at my impatience to have him naked, I squeeze him through his slacks as punishment.

“Oh, do that again, baby.” He thrusts his hips forward, seeking the pressure from my hand and I oblige because denying Jake only hurts us both.

I shove his pants and boxers to the floor when he frantically starts pulling at my own pants. I showered when I got home from the shop so I’m only in sweatpants, wanting something more comfortable than the stiff work pants I had on all day. The sweats easily slide down my legs, allowing my erection to spring free.

“I love when you make it easy for me,” Jake teases since I have no boxers on.

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