Chapter 33
“New rule. No promising to beat people up at a party.” ~ Eli
Eli
Paisley steps away from me but I snatch her arm and bring her close. I’m not letting her get far away from me ever again. I can’t breathe when I’m away from her.
Her friends approach with their partners. I smile at them. The women wave, but the men appear pissed.
“We need to steal her away for a moment.” Sophia shackles Paisley’s wrist and drags her away.
Flynn, Lucas, Hudson, and Caleb are wearing matching scowls. Paisley may have forgiven me but apparently, they haven’t.
“Don’t make us hijack your plane again,” Caleb grumbles.
I sigh. “You didn’t exactly hijack the plane.”
He narrows his eyes. “But we could have.”
Lucas groans. “Can you stop discussing crimes you plan to commit in front of me?”
“Why are you such a law abiding person?” Hudson asks.
“I’m a cop, remember? ”
Hudson chuckles. “I can’t believe Chloe married a cop.”
Lucas waggles his eyebrows. “Trust me. Chloe enjoys me being a cop. Especially my handcuffs.”
“Ew.” Flynn feigns retching. “No. Chloe’s a sister to me. I don’t want to hear about whatever you get up to with her.”
Lucas shrugs. “Your loss. I could teach you a lot about handcuffs in the bedroom.”
Flynn smirks. “Dude, I don’t need handcuffs to satisfy my woman.”
Caleb groans. “I went to high school with your women. I don’t need to hear this shit.”
Lucas scratches his neck. “Didn’t you go to high school with Maya?”
Hudson claps his back. “Congrats on the baby, man. Nova is beyond excited our children are going to grow up together.”
I glance across the room and notice Paisley holding Iliana in her arms. The vision of her holding a little hazel-eyed baby with red hair hits me. I want that. I want her stomach swollen with my baby. I want to give her the family she never had growing up.
Flynn snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Eli.”
“What?”
He grins. “If you had told me Sophia and her friends would all find love, I never would have believed you.”
I glare at him. “What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with Paisley.”
He shakes his finger. “Pretend all you want that Paisley’s the normal one amongst the women but don’t forget she’s also the woman with the knowledge of chemistry.” I must appear confused because he explains. “Chemistry they use in their pranks such as exploding stink bombs.”
I shiver. At least the red dye didn’t stink up my office.
Paisley pushes her way through the men to me. “I need your help.”
Hudson waggles his eyebrows behind her back. “I bet she does,” he mutters.
I push Paisley behind me before confronting him. “You will treat Paisley with the respect she deserves or I’ll be the one breaking out the chemistry set. Understood?”
He smiles. “Just checking.”
I roll my eyes. “Are you done with your brotherly approval shit now?”
He shrugs. “I am. But I don’t speak for the rest of them.”
Paisley tugs me away. “We’ll speak to you later,” she calls over her shoulder.
She stops in the hallway. “Chemistry set?”
“Forget it. What do you need my help for?”
She lifts the bag I didn’t notice she was carrying. “Maya brought me an outfit to change into. Apparently, my jeans and t-shirt aren’t appropriate clothing for a party.”
I smirk. “And you need my help to change.”
She slaps my shoulder. “No, silly. I thought you needed saving.”
I step close and wrap my arms around her. “And you came to my rescue. ”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course, I did. I will always come to your rescue.”
I kiss her nose. “And I’ll always come to yours.”
“I don’t need a man to rescue me.”
“Don’t care. I’ll rescue you anyway.”
“I love you, Eli.”
Those words hit me in my chest and spread warmth throughout my body. I will never tire of her telling me she loves me. I don’t deserve her. Not after what I did. But I’m not letting her go. I will show her every single day for the rest of our lives that she made the right choice when she forgave me.
“And I love you, Lace.”
I dip my head toward hers but she pushes me away. I scowl.
She points to the doorway where her friends are not even bothering to hide their eavesdropping. They wave and give us thumbs ups.
“Your friends are crazy.”
“Our friends,” she corrects. “And you should be used to crazy. I’ve met your brothers.”
I groan. “And you encouraged them to be crazy.”
She shrugs. “It’s not my fault Miles thought he could eat ten funnel cakes without throwing up.”
I snort. “You didn’t encourage him?”
She widens her eyes and blinks. “He’s a grown man. I don’t know how I could ever influence his decision making.”
I lift a brow.
She shrugs. “He needed to pay for all those times he called me Paisley the Perpetual Know It All. ”
“You’ve got everyone fooled.”
She bats her eyelashes. “Fooled? I am who I am.”
“You act like some nerdy girl who’s in love with chemistry—”
“I do love chemistry. It’s not an act.”
I ignore her interruption. “But you’re not some innocent. You’re as devious as your friends.”
“Why do you think we’re such good friends?” She winks.
“People are arriving!” Sophia yells.
“You better make it a quickie,” Chloe adds.
I wrap an arm around Paisley’s shoulders and lead her away from the ballroom.
“Where are we going?” she asks when we pass the restrooms.
“To our room.”
“Our room?”
“I didn’t want to drive after the party, so I got us a suite.”
“Suite,” she mutters before narrowing her eyes on me. “And you assumed I’d stay in this suite with you.”
“Hoped, Lace. Hoped. You can’t blame a man for hoping.”
“You’re lucky I forgave you or I’d tell you what I think of a man hoping after breaking my heart.”
My stomach clenches as guilt fills me. I never should have jumped to conclusions. And I should have at least let her explain. Why didn’t I let her explain? Because I was a chicken shit.
I open the door to our suite and draw her inside. I set her bag on the couch before stalking toward her. She holds her ground. My Lace doesn’t shy away from anyone or anything. I couldn’t admire her more.
I palm her neck. “I am more sorry for hurting you than I can ever express.” I kiss her nose. “But you can’t bring up how I hurt you every single time we have a fight or disagreement. It’s no way to move forward together.”
She sighs. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s still raw.”
“Which is why you’re getting a pass today.”
Her eyebrows raise. “I’m getting a pass today? What about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow I’ll spank your ass.”
Her eyes flare but she purses her lips. “What if I don’t want you spanking me?”
I massage her neck. “Don’t lie, Lace. You want my hand on your naked ass. You want me to stare at the red imprint while I pound into you from behind. Preferably while you’re bent over the sofa with your skirt around your waist.”
Her breath hitches. “What if I’m not wearing a skirt?”
“All the better if you’re naked. I can play with those pretty titties while I sink as deep inside of you as I can. I’ll make you come as many times as I want.”
“As you want?” She tries to sound sassy but she can’t fool me. She’s rubbing her thighs together to relieve the tension building there. My girl loves dirty talk.
I wind my arm around her waist and pull her near until her breasts push against my chest and she can feel how hard I am for her.
“Is there something you want, Lace? ”
I begin tracing kisses along her jaw. She arches her back to give me better access to her neck and I draw a line with my tongue from her jaw down her neck to her shoulder where I nibble on her skin.
“W-w-we’re supposed to be at the party.”
I hide my grin at her stutter against her neck. “Why?”
“It’s your birthday party. You can’t miss it.”
I shrug. “I’ve missed fourteen birthday parties. What’s one more?”
She pushes me away. “You are not missing another birthday party. I won’t allow it.”
I chuckle. “You won’t allow it?”
“Nope. You’re not letting your dad rule your life anymore. Starting today.”
“Who’s going to enforce this rule?”
“I am. I’m not leaving you. I’m not running away. And you can’t push me away. We’re in this together.”
Something settles in me at her words. Those are the words I needed to hear. I love you sounds fantastic coming from her but announcing we’re in this together is what I need.
“If I agree, I want drunk sex with you tonight.”
She sighs. “I guess I can agree to your terms.”
I reach for her again – she didn’t say we couldn’t fool around a bit before the party – but her phone beeps with a message and she rushes for it.
Her eyes widen as she reads the text. “Chloe says your assistant and your brother are screaming at each other.”
I groan. “I swear my brothers ruin everything. ”
“Come on.” She nabs my hand. “Let’s go find out what’s wrong.”
I allow her to lead me out of the hotel suite. I’ll let her lead me wherever she wants to go. She wants to explore the nine circles of hell? I’ll buy some fire-resistant hiking boots.
Paisley is my person. I fucked it up before but I know better now. I’m hanging on tight.