“And you like it here?”
“It’s my second home,” I answered. It’s where Faith was.
“I can’t see why you would leave Sweden to come to this rainy place, personally, but okay.” He grinned.
“What?” I asked.
“I like America. So much drama.”
I swore and drove us home while Axel bitched about the traffic.
“Honey, we’re home,” Axel called out as we walked in from the garage.
“Oh good!” Faith answered, her feet bare as she walked toward us.
The need to strip those little shorts off her hit me just as hard as it did every other day.
“Hey, baby,” she said, winding her arms around my neck and kissing me softly. “Bad day?”
“Dramatic!” Axel answered and headed for the guest room.
She gave me a wtf look, and I shrugged. “All hockey stuff. New owner is a dick. Gage shouted out his retirement. Expansion bid went through for Charleston.” I kissed her again just because I could.
“You think they’ll protect you?” she asked, her fingers gentle at the back of my neck.
“No clue. Paulson’s clamoring for salaries, and I’m inching up there. My contract is up at the end of the year, and I don’t know what I’ll do if they don’t keep my offer competitive.”
Her eyes softened. “Okay. We’ll deal with that if it happens.”
“And I saw your brother.”
She blinked. “You didn’t…”
“No, but I should have. It’s wrong not to tell him.”
She let go of me and nodded. “I know. I tried to talk to him, but Pepper says he’s practically living at the rink with Sawyer when he’s not rehabbing his knee.” Her hands twisted. “We said we’d tell him together.”
“And we will, but it’s got to be sooner rather than later. First, I can’t stand the idea of lying to him. He needs to know that this is real, that we’re real, and I’m not just out to bag his little sister.”
“Well, that’s flattering,” she tossed over her shoulder as she headed back to our offices.
“It’s true,” I said as I followed. I felt like I was always following her lately.
“And the second? I mean, you did say first.” She soared through the office door and then turned to lean back against my desk.
Fuck, I wanted to lean her back on that and slide deep inside—
“Lukas, up here,” she called, motioning to her eyes. “Down there later. Work first. Play second.” Her grin was contagious.
“Right. Second, he was thinking of setting you up with Sawyer.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Sawyer? Eww. He’s like my brother.” She made a gagging face.
“Yeah, and I’m glad for that, but mostly I’m just worried that your brother doesn’t know you’re not free for a set-up. You’re in a relationship. A very real, very deep, very emotional relationship that doesn’t take kindly to attempted set-ups with your roommate.”
She tried to hide her smile as she pushed off the desk and walked toward me. “And I’m very sorry. I promise, we’ll tackle him to the ground and tell him. I honestly don’t think he’s going to care.”
“Trust me,” I said as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “He’s going to care. He’s going to be pissed.”
“Let him be pissed.” She kissed my chin. “Eric doesn’t control who I see.”
“Right, but that’s not going to keep him from cutting off our friendship or punching me in the face.” I gave in and brushed a kiss across her lips.
“He won’t punch you. He’s not a caveman.”
“You’d be surprised.” I kissed her again, taking it deeper and twining our tongues. Fuck, we just kept getting better at that. We weren’t fizzling out—we were burning brighter.
“I can make you feel better,” she said teasingly.
“Yes, please,” I answered, my thumb going to the snap on her shorts.
“Ha! Not what I had in mind,” she danced backward out of my arms.
“Okay,” I flat-out pouted.
“Nordstrom called. They want to talk to you about Adrenaline.” Her smile was mega-watt bright.
“Really?” Hope hit me in the chest like a sledgehammer. We were only a couple of months away from the launch and picking up steam.
“Really!” She held out a phone number written on a message pad. “Actually, I have this in an email, but it didn’t seem quite as fun as showing you something written. After all, ‘here, look at this email,’ doesn’t pack a reveal punch.”
I crossed the distance and cupped her face, kissing her deeply. This was what it was like to be happy, to have everything you’ve wanted and worked for coming to fruition. I had a kickass career, an empire ready to launch, and the woman I was wildly in love with.
And hell yes I loved her. I told her all the time in Swedish but knew she wasn’t ready for the added pressure of those words. So just like I’d been doing for the last year, I was content to wait for her to be ready.
We had time.
The doorbell rang, and I smacked her on the ass. “I bet that’s the new gym equipment I ordered. I’ll get it.”
“Isn’t that my job?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.
“My job is to take care of you,” I said and headed for the front door.
I blinked at what the security screen showed. It was Langley, and she didn’t look like she was here for fun. Axel must have really pissed her off.
I swung the door open with a grin. “What on earth could be so important that it would bring you to my doorstep less than an hour after I saw you at the rink? Has Axel gotten under your skin?”
Her lips pursed and she shook her head. “What? No. It has nothing to do with Axel.”
“Okay…” I tilted my head. “Did you want to come in? Are you a vampire? Do you need an invitation?”
“Is Faith here?” she asked quietly.
“Of course. That’s her car.” I nodded toward the driveway. “Plus, she works here.”
“Plus you’re seeing each other. I’m not blind. You guys are the worst kept secret since Eric and Pepper. Close the door.”
“What’s going on, Langley?” Worry settled in my gut, but I did as she asked, stepping onto my front porch and shutting the front door behind me.
“Does Eric know about you?”
“No. Fuck. Is that why you’re here? Did someone tell him?” Damn it. This was why I’d wanted to head straight to his house when we first got back.
“Not that I know of, but you’re going to want to tell him soon. Really soon.”
I’d never seen Langley nervous, which made me downright anxious. “Talk, Langley. What the fuck is going on?”
She looked me dead in the eye. “Lukas, we have a major problem, and I don’t know how long I can keep it quiet.”
Then my stomach hit the floor as she blew my world apa
rt.
Chapter 14
Faith
“These numbers are all wrong.” Lukas’s brow furrowed as he scanned the estimated costs per piece in Adrenaline on the computer in his office. “Nordstrom won’t bite if they’re in this range.”
I tilted my head at the sharpness in his tone, noting the tension in his shoulders.
He’d been prickly for a few days now, and I had no clue why.
“Let me double check,” I said, walking around his desk and re-reading the information I’d pulled up for him not ten minutes ago. A quick scan confirmed they were the correct numbers. Numbers I’d busted my ass—pulling every card I knew possible—to get this low. “These are the first projected estimates,” I said, taking a few steps back as he remained seated behind his desk, his eyes glued to the screen. “If you’re not happy with the initial numbers, we’ll need to discuss places to cut costs to lower—”
“I don’t want to cut corners,” he interrupted, and I swallowed hard.
He’d always been firm in his aspirations since the time I was hired, but he’d never, not once, spoken to me with the underlying bite that he did now.
My chest ached, but I sucked in a slow, much-needed breath.
Right now, I wasn’t the woman he’d made come over a dozen times in the last week. I was his personal assistant, and he was clearly unhappy.
“I didn’t mean cut corners, Lukas,” I said, keeping my tone soft, even. “But if you don’t want these prices,” I continued, pointing at the screen. “Then we’ll have to make adjustments. I understand that you want Adrenaline to be affordable, but you also have to be smart. Making a profit is essential to your goal of remaining in the States with a working visa if anything should happen.” The expansion team, unpredictable injuries…he needed this plan-B.
He turned slightly in his chair, his hands gripping the armrests. “You think I’m not being smart?”
I gaped at him before shaking my head. “No, that’s not what I said.”
He arched a brow. “Isn’t it?” He huffed. “Everywhere I turn there are people waiting for me to fail. Begging me to fail. No matter how hard I try. It’s…exhausting.” He stood up so fast his chair rolled back several feet, nearly hitting the bookcase behind him.