13. Axel
13
AXEL
“You’re extra grumpy today,” Leeann says, sliding a coffee in front of me at the front desk.
“I’m fine,” I grumble, taking a sip of the black nectar. But even its bold, smoky flavor isn’t enough to shake me out of this funk. I don’t have any clients today because I’d purposely left today open on my schedule. I’d hoped to be celebrating all day long with Kelsey. Preferably naked and in my bed.
But she’s on a fucking plane to Hawaii.
“I know about her.” Leeann’s gentle tone causes my head to snap. “You really care about her, don’t you?”
I don’t even question how she figured it out. “She was always going to leave.”
“Doesn’t make it any easier.” Leeann sits on the edge of the desk, sipping on her own brew. “Maybe you should take the day off.”
“No. I need to be here.”
“Actually, you’ve done such a great job with your marketing lately that you’ll be living in the shop every day until Christmas. So, no. You don’t actually need to be here today.”
I’m tempted to take a ride, but I know I’ll just end up at the library restaurant. Or at the airport. Doesn’t matter that her flight is scheduled to take off any minute. I’d head that way, hoping she decided to turn around.
It’s pathetic.
“I could pull Keigh out of school early? You two could have a dude’s day.”
The offer tempts me, but before I can give it any real thought, the bells jingle overhead. I look up and nearly fumble my coffee in my lap. By some miracle, Leeann catches the to-go cup before I burn my balls right off.
“I’ll be in the back if you need anything,” Leeann says in a low voice, patting me on the shoulder after setting my cup far back on the desk.
Kelsey Mathers stands just on the inside of the door, two suitcases and a laptop bag piled around her. She’s wearing the same blush pink tank top she had on the day I gave her the sunflower tattoo. The ink stain is barely noticeable, but it’s still there.
“Your flight get delayed?” I ask, forcing myself to stay put behind the desk. If she’s here to say goodbye, I don’t want to hear it.
“I think it’s taking off right now, actually.”
My pulse doubles, then triples. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but fuck I hope this means what I think it means. “Did they kick you off the plane because someone was reading one of your books and caused on incident?”
“Geesh, it was one burned pizza,” Kelsey says, a smile slowly spreading across her lips. That sparkle returning to her previously vacant eyes.
“You here to get another tattoo?” I ask, one corner of my mouth lifting in a smile. “I happen to have today open for walk-ins.”
“I’ll be getting more tattoos,” she says, swaying those hips as she approaches the front counter and walks around it. “But not today.”
“What’s today?”
“Today is the first day I embrace being the main character in my own story,” she says, stepping up to me, placing herself right between my open legs. My hands automatically reach for the back of her thighs. “Today is the first day I stop running.”
“Running from what, exactly?”
She climbs into my lap, her hands threading my hair at the back of my neck. Blood begins to rush south as her strawberry scent surrounds me, and I know it won’t be long before my undeniable attraction is out there for anyone to see. “From love.”
“You’re staying?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
She combs a hand over my stubble-covered cheek and peers into my eyes. I swear I see forever in that amber gaze. “Forever, Axel. In case it’s not clear, I’m in love with you.”
“But what about your superstition?”
“Turns out you just might be my muse.”
“Is that so?”
“I already have a dozen new book ideas. If you don’t believe me, I can show you my notebook.” She presses her lips to mine, and the world fucking stops. My princess is done running. She’s done denying what this is between us. She’s staying.
“I love you, Princess.”
“There’s just one thing,” she says.
“What’s that?”
“I might need a place to stay since my lease is up. Know somewhere that’ll take a crazy romance novelist who likes to write in the nude?”
“I know exactly where you belong.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” I slide my hand up her shirt and cup her tit. Soon enough, that pesky lace bra will be on my floor and this woman in my bed. “With me.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” she asks, her eyelashes fluttering flirtatiously as she rocks her hips against the bulge in my jeans. “Take me home, Axel.”