Chapter Thirty-Five
Bella
New York
Drew called me at eight thirty in the morning.
Which had somehow become normal.
“How are you?” he asked, and there was a smile in his voice.
Holding my phone, I padded through my kitchen, barefoot, hair still damp from the shower. “Good.”
He hummed softly. “You sound like you just woke up.”
“I did,” I said.
“I don’t mind that version of you.”
I paused mid-step. “Which version?”
“The one who’s warm and a little slow,” he said easily.
Slow? His choice of compliment wouldn’t win him any awards, but I smiled anyway. “Thanks?”
He continued, “You before your armor.” Then, after a beat, he added, “The you who occasionally wakes up drooling on my shoulder.”
I stopped walking entirely. “I would never.”
His laugh was low and unrestrained. “You absolutely would.”
I said firmly. “That’s slander.”
“Or an affectionate observation,” he corrected. “And for the record, I don’t mind. Even if you snore.”
“Well, aren’t you rage-baity this morning,” I joked.
He chuckled. “I woke up thinking about you,” he replied. “That always makes me spicy.”
Okay so I could forgive him. I leaned my hip against the counter, staring at nothing. “I like you spicy.”
There was a beat of quiet. “I want to see you,” he said then. Simple. Unforced.
My stomach did a ridiculous little somersault that I blamed on my lack of breakfast. I wanted to see him too. What I wasn’t yet ready to do was openly declare it. “You saw me two days ago,” I pointed out, because logic was my last line of defense.
“Two days without you is too long.”
My cheeks warmed. “I have work,” I said, softer now.
“So do I,” he replied. “But I choose you.”
My heart flew into overdrive. I swallowed hard and told it to calm down. It didn’t listen. “Do you want to come here?” I asked breathlessly.
“Normally my answer would be yes without hesitation, but I want you to meet some friends of mine.”
Friends? Of course he has friends. My throat tightened at the reminder of how new we were to this.
“They’re excited to meet you.”
“Are they?” I asked carefully.
“And it’s important that they do.”
“Because?”
“Because you’re important to me,” he said. No pause. No hedging.
“When?” I asked.
“Are you able to get your work done by two?”
I closed my eyes. In the past, schedules and adhering to them were what had kept me sane. Drew wasn’t asking me in words if he was a priority, but my response to his request would tell us both something.
Were we casual? Or more? Where did meeting his friends rank in my priorities? “Yes.” He’d said I was important to him and that allowed me to admit to myself that he was also important to me.
His voice deepened. “I’ll send a car for you.”
“I can—”
“Bella, I know you’re capable, but with me you don’t have to be. You’ve been holding everyone else up for so long, you’re not sure you can trust someone to be there if you stumble. But I’m right here. And if you trust me to, I’ll catch you every time.”
I let his words wash over me. Love and trust were not always intertwined.
I loved my father and my siblings, but Drew was right—I didn’t trust any of them to handle a crisis if one arose.
A part of me believed if I didn’t hold things together, no one would .
. . and everything would fall apart . . . our company, our family . . . me.
Drew represented an alternative. He wasn’t demanding that I give up my power.
He didn’t need me to save him. He was strong on his own, strong enough to allow me to lean on him.
He was offering me a safe place where I could relax and breathe.
For once, I wanted to believe someone might actually be there when I stumbled.
“Okay,” I whispered.
Promptly at two, a call from my doorman announced my ride had arrived. A black SUV with tinted windows met me. Two men stood beside it, looking more like bodyguards than drivers.
Hang on, why would I need protection? Does Drew know something I don’t?
One of the men stepped forward and nodded politely. “Ms. Holliston.”
“Yes,” I said cautiously.
“Please come with us,” he added. So formal. I got into the SUV and sent Drew a text thanking him for his very serious-looking drivers.
He answered: They’re the best.
I added: What aren’t you telling me?
Drew: What do you mean?
Bella: Who are you introducing me to?
Drew: You’re too smart for surprises. You’re right, my friends are very careful about who comes into their circle, so they sent their own people to pick you up.
Bella: But you don’t want to tell me who these friends of yours are?
Drew: Where would be the fun in that?
For someone like me, someone who made it their business to always be one step ahead of everyone around me, it was unsettling to be walking into a situation blind. Unsettling, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Not for the first time, Drew was pushing me out of my comfort zone and asking me to trust him.
I wanted to. I also wanted to be the kind of person who didn’t have to try so hard to.
For most of the drive to the small airfield, I sat with my hands clenched on my lap, but I didn’t ask Drew more questions.
Drew was standing at the bottom of the steps of a private jet, coat open, sunglasses on, the wind tugging at his hair.
One of the drivers opened my car door and Drew’s expression transformed.
A smile lit his face, and he removed his glasses as he walked toward me.
I basked in the warmth of his gaze. Slow. Deliberate. Possessive.
I wore a light coat over a simple navy dress, knee-length, fitted but not tight, hair down and smooth.
I hadn’t overdone it. But I also hadn’t underdone it.
Drew’s mouth curved slightly. “Perfect,” he said.
Heat bloomed low in my belly. I stepped toward him. He lifted a hand and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear like it was nothing, then bent and kissed me briefly on the lips before gliding down to nuzzle my neck. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?” I parroted because with him so close it was impossible to think.
“How do you taste better every time I kiss you?”
That one stumped me, so I grabbed him by the collar and kissed him deeper, longer, and until we were both a little too turned on for how public the setting was. “Where are we going?” I asked huskily, half hoping the trip was off and we’d head back to my place.
He dug his hand into the back of my hair, tipping my head back, like a man who wanted to feast, but was fighting his need to. “Boston,” he said.
I blinked. “Your place?”
He shook his head. “Dinner with friends first.”
“Right,” I repeated playfully.
He kissed the tip of my nose. “Then you can have me. All night. All week. Whatever you want.”
I swallowed hard, and I must have looked as unsteady as I felt because he chuckled, then guided me up the stairs into the jet. We were seated by the time I’d gathered my composure enough to say, “I do have to go back tomorrow. I have responsibilities.”
We settled into seats side by side and buckled in. Before answering, he wove his fingers through mine, brought my hand to his lips and kissed my fingertips. “Then let’s make the most of today.”
I nodded.
Just nodded.
Once we were up in the air, he asked, “How was lunch with your friends?”
I blinked. “How did you know I had lunch with them?”
Drew’s mouth curved. “Wednesday.”
I stared at him, then scoffed. “You’ve been paying attention.”
He didn’t deny it. He just said, “Do they approve of me?”
My lips parted in surprise.
“You care?” I asked.
Drew’s gaze stayed steady. “Yes, but mostly because you do.”
I swallowed, suddenly too aware of the quiet hum of the plane, the expensive leather seat beneath me, the way Drew’s presence filled the space like heat.
“Jax knows you, well as least as much as any of us knew you in Firebrook Valley. Sloane only knows what I’ve told her. ” I searched for the right words.
“All good?” he offered.
I laughed softly. “Mostly.”
Drew smiled, but there was a seriousness in his eyes.
“Friends are important. They say a lot about a person. I haven’t allowed myself the luxury of many over the years, but the ones I’m going to introduce you to today are becoming family.
By reputation, they might be intimidating, but once you get to know them, they’re . . . genuine.”
“I look forward to meeting them.”
His brow lifted. “I’m surprised you aren’t pumping me for information about them.”
My pulse jumped as I realized I was equally surprised. “If you like them, I’m sure I will as well.”
His smile turned to a grin. “Bella, I think you trust me.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed.
No reason to deny something so obviously true.
The rest of the flight passed quickly. We chatted, snacked, shared entertaining snippets of our day. After landing, we were met by several dark SUVs driven by even more bodyguard style drivers.
We piled into the back of the second one, and Drew’s hand settled on my knee. Casual. Reassuring.
I looked up at him, and my curiosity could no longer be held in check. “Are your friends . . . politicians?”
Drew’s mouth curved. “No.”
“Criminals?” I asked, half joking.
His eyes flashed with amusement. “Let’s not label people.”
My eyes widened and I looked back at the small caravan of SUVs escorting us. “I’m a rule follower and prefer to stay on the right side of the law.”
Drew’s hand brushed slowly over my knee. “So, if I made up more rules, you’d follow them?” he murmured.
I scoffed. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
He laughed and raised his hands in mock surrender. “Nothing illegal going on here. My friends simply prefer to be careful.”
We pulled through a gated entrance.
Past a stone wall.
Past two more guards.
And then the house came into view. An estate. Boldly modern. A little too much shine for my taste, but I recognized the home from somewhere.
I stared, my mouth slightly open. “Drew . . .”
He looked at me. “What?”
I shook my head.
Our SUV rolled to a stop.