Chapter 148

And he wished he was less her friend and more the ruthless bastard he was in every other area of his life. He could take that ring off her finger and smash it. He could spirit her off somewhere and maroon her there, until the next thing she begged for was his ring. He could marry her, get a few kids on her and indulge this fantasy of his in every possible way.

A bastard like that wouldn’t care how she’d feel some years down the road, when the enormity of how hugely she’d disappointed her father would kick in. He’d weather it, not giving a shit, because he’d have her. Having her would be the only thing that mattered—not how she felt about it. And not how the world would view it.

They would tut and smirk and no doubt get far nastier, if it suited them. No one would ever accept that their beloved Lady Alexia should fall so far, and end up linked forever to a bit of trash. He couldn’t help but wish he cared more about the end result and less about how he’d get them there. It would make everything so much easier.

But Tyler had learned a long time ago that there was no profit in wishing. The only thing that mattered in this world was what a man did.

So he kissed her, then he left her and went back to tend this empire he’d built. Because his business was the only thing that was real. And it was the only thing he would have left when she came to her senses.

He didn’t finish until the early morning.

He went into his office again, and woke her this time. As much because he thought he should take her home as for the simple pleasure of watching her blink at him, then smile the way she always did. As if waking up to see him before her was a gift. God help him, but he was going to miss that.

“Well?” Her voice was foggy as she pushed herself up to sitting position.

“Have you staved off disaster?”

“After a fashion.”

“I believe in you,” she said, still smiling.

Tyler couldn’t keep himself from leaning forward and capturing her mouth. And as usual, he didn’t know how to kiss her…appropriately. Because a simple taste of her was never enough.

It got raw, fast. He found his hands in her hair, and he was angling his mouth over hers for better depth. And he didn’t know what would have happened if she hadn’t pulled back, her eyes dilated and her breath all but gone.

“Are we alone here?” she asked.

Tyler muttered a few choice swearwords. Because they weren’t. “No. Half my staff could walk in at any moment.”

Lexi smiled again, and maybe he was only imagining that it was more muted than before. Something like sad. She reached over and ran her thumb over his mouth, for a change.

“I’m up for anything,” she told him. “It surprises me how true that is, in fact. But I think I’d rather not expose myself to your entire company.”

Tyler had a better idea. He stood, pulling her up with him. He grabbed her coat, tossed it to her and then took her hand in his.

“Where are we going?” she asked, laughing, after he hustled her into the lift, and then, when it took them all the way down to ground level, hurried her out the door into the cold early morning street.

“Am I going to take a car home?”

And he loved that she called his house home. Just like he loved that her being there made it feel more like a home than it ever had before. Because that was Lexi, really. Always his homecoming, no matter where she was or why. And no matter how soon she might leave him again. He intended to celebrate that in the most carnal way possible today, and as quickly as possible.

“You’re not taking a car home,” he said. Shortly.

“You thought a kiss like that was a good precursor for a brisk walk?” But she was laughing as he hurried her down the street, away from his office building.

“Pick up the pace,” he advised her, steering them toward the Rocks. And he could see she understood where they were going the minute they turned into the laneways. She laughed. And she was still laughing when he took her in through that same red door. And when he nodded and murmured something to the man at the desk.

But Tyler couldn’t wait to find an open room. He needed a taste to tide him over while he dealt with such practicalities.

He swept her into the first alcove they passed, hoping that the early hour meant that no one really saw the way he was kissing her. And maybe also not caring too much if they did.

He pressed her back against the wall, and she wound herself around him instantly. His hand moved of its own accord to get a good grip on the plump curve of her ass, and he loved the greedy little noise she made in return. Lust and encouragement. Need.

It was never enough. It was never, ever enough, no matter how he kissed her, no matter how tightly she pressed herself against him. And she was still laughing whenever he pulled away to catch his breath, but he wasn’t laughing at all. Tyler had forgotten entirely that he was meant to be her friend first, because she tasted like fire and rain at once.

Because she inflamed him and she soothed him, all at the same time, and it only made him want her more. And he had loved her so long now that each new layer was less a revelation and more a confirmation.

She was the love of his life. She always had been. She always will be, something in him said, like a dark prophecy. And at some point he realized that someone was standing there, much too close to their not-so-private alcove. He assumed it was a staff member, come to gently suggest they find a private room, so he pulled away from Lexi. Little as he wanted to stop kissing her.

He automatically twisted to block her, because the staff here might have been paid handsomely to maintain their discretion, but he didn’t particularly like anyone looking at his woman.

His friend, he corrected himself acidly.

But when he looked at the man standing there, it was instantly clear that he was no staff member.