As ours.
A place Ash, in all his arrogant grandeur, had decided to claim as his own.
The brave, bold side of me wanted to set him straight. Let him in on exactly what had transpired there. The self-conscious side said no chance in hell.
I felt the eyes on me, and I glanced over to catch Sebastian’s burning gaze, swimming in mischief and simmering with sex, and my teeth latched onto my bottom lip in an attempt to snuff out my reaction, the embarrassment and heat that instantly smoldered on my cheeks.
Without a doubt, his mind was exactly where mine was, back in that night when he’d broken me.
Marked me.
Tainted me.
I’d thought it was the end, when in reality, we were just beginning.
A couple was snuggled up in our booth, the girl playing coy and the guy looking as if he was getting ready to dive in and devour her.
Apparently it was catching.
I glanced up at Ash who still had his arm locked round my neck. “Ah…no. I’m sorry, but I didn’t think you guys were coming. You’re going to have to make do with a table down front. Do you think you can handle that?”
Ash huffed out the fakest sigh. “Fine. But that means you have to slip us some free drinks.”
He winked.
“Ha. You wish, rich boy. Just for that, I’m going to announce to the bar an entire round is on you.”
“Rich boy?” Horror lashed across his face. “Now that’s just plain cold, Shea.”
A short burst of laughter rang from me.
I had never met a group of guys more mortified by their wealth. It was kind of endearing and sweet, and there was something about it that made me love the lot of them just a little more.
Love.
It was true.
I’d come to think of Sebastian’s unorthodox family as my own. Just as he’d come to fall in love with mine.
With the one.
My child.
Hearing Kallie call him Daddy was one of the most terrifying, marvelous things to ever fall from her sweet mouth. Like the first time she said Momma. So pure and full of undying trust.
Those simple, simple dreams were making a valiant attempt at becoming my reality.
Kallie kept testing it, tasting how it felt on her tongue, and Sebastian would be blatantly overcome by emotion every time she asserted it.
We were moving fast. As if we were caught in a tunnel of speeding light. Flashing forward. Velocity hurtling us toward the future.
It was exhilarating and wholly unnerving.
Because neither of us knew where we would land. So many unanswered questions remained, but there was no stopping the momentum that had us flying.
Again, I got swept away by the feeling my feet weren’t touching the ground. As if I were suspended just above it, drifting through the most sublime kind of dream.
Around my neck, Ash squeezed his arm a little tighter and leaned forward to look at Sebastian. “Tell your woman here we work hard for our money.”
Amusement played at Sebastian, warm eyes heating me up.
I bumped Ash with my hip. “Oh, I bet you work hard, all right.”
Ash feigned a shocked gasp. “Are you speaking in innuendoes, beautiful, innocent Shea? I believe our boy here has corrupted you. And now I am most definitely hard.”
He tossed me a playful smirk, one that looked a whole lot smug as he slanted it toward Sebastian.
A threat clouded Sebastian’s striking face, and I sucked in a breath.
God, looking so good should be criminal. I guess maybe it came with the territory.
“Hands off my girl, asshole, or you won’t have the capacity to work hard at anything.”
Laughter ricocheted around the room, Ash’s and mine.
Unwinding myself from Ash, I made a move toward Sebastian, grinning wildly, and I let him wind me up instead.
Wound.
Wound.
Wound.
With him, that’s where I remained.
Insides twisted and twined. Restless and edgy.
A strong, deliberate hand skated down my back, firm palm gripping my ass over my cut-off shorts.
Aroused.
Yes.