Page 75 of Brooke
“I’ve reached my mush quotient.” Madison pointed at her. “Nice dress, by the way. If he doesn’t gulp when he sees you, call an Uber and leave his ass.”
“I agree,” Kyle said, putting his hand on her shoulder gently, almost like an older brother. “But I want you to know that you can always tell us things. Even when they’re hard. Always.”
Brooke nodded as her heart turned over in her chest.
“Yeah,” Thea whispered softly, her heart in her eyes.
“Even if you think we’ll have other feelings about it,” Kyle finished. “Like me really wanting to kill Adam now.”
The assurance she saw in his gaze had her spontaneously kissing his cheek. “Deal, and thanks. Now hand me that makeup remover. I need to scrub?—”
“The Master Bolt of Zeus from your face?” Sawyer sputtered out a laugh when everyone looked at him. “There were other lightning bolt references before J.K. Rowling, you know.”
“Okay, everyone—nothing more to see here.” Dean shooed everyone out except for Thea and himself.
“You’ve missed a spot, Brooke.” He gestured to the right side of his brow. “I can still see the line.”
She dabbed more makeup remover and went to work. “Thanks, Dean.”
“I still want to know more about Ivar,” Thea commented, her face aglow with eagerness.
Dean chortled and put his arm around Thea. “Sometimes, little sister, it’s best to leave a little mystery.”
From joker to a good guy. That was Dean for you. He blew her a kiss as he led Thea out of the bathroom. Relief poured into her.
She’d told her friends about Axel, but she still hadn’t uttered the one secret still inside of her.
She was completely falling in love with him and didn’t want it to ever end.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Making love surrounded by swirls of fabrics had to be the best experience in the whole world.
Brooke turned onto her side so she could see a smiling Axel. “We might have found my ultimate fantasy,” she confessed.
“Fabrics and me, eh?” He stroked the hair back from her face, looking mouthwateringly sexy with nothing covering him but a silky white blanket.
“On the floor in your office, where I love working with you,” she added, leaning in to kiss him softly on the mouth, wishing she was bold enough to put that item in her day planner. “I adore having a true French lunch.”
His rumble of a laugh only made her inner happy fountain rise higher. “Food and making love at lunch are a national pastime, another thing to admire about this country. I am glad we can be productive and passionate. I worried in the beginning about keeping my hands off you while we were working. You are always tempting, my Brooke.”
She ran a fingertip down the middle of his chest. “As are you, my Axel. But we also both love work, so we’re in tune that way. Plus, I can justify our personal time over lunch because it’s not for work. Those lines are clear in my mind.”
“Mine as well.” He sat up, looking very much like a satiated Viking god with his slightly rumpled blond hair. “I believe our time is up, though.”
“Bummer! Because it’s going to be a late night with the roommates tonight.” She rubbed her stomach. “I’m nervous for Madison tonight. Not that I don’t think she’ll rock it. But she’s picked three Michelin-starred chefs to critique the new menu, along with Nanine.”
“You aren’t nervous because you will see her and your father together again for the first time since you discovered their relationship?” Axel asked, rising and beginning to dress.
She sighed and joined him. “Maybe a little. Keeping their secret has been easier with them being gone. It helps that my dad’s been picking up some bottles for their new business, so he’s been in touch with Dean by text. Dean and Jacqueline are even talking about hiring him as a consultant, which really makes me happy. It all does, really.”
“That might be,” Axel asked, shrugging on another cable-knit sweater and jeans. “But you are seeing Nanine and your father differently, I think.”
Pulling on the rest of her clothes, she thought about his comment. “You know I am, but I still love hearing how you see things. So tell me what you think.”
“Let us start with Nanine.” He gathered up the fabric samples on the floor and began arranging them by color. “She is not only the mother you have chosen anymore. She is a woman and your father’s lover.”
