She shook her head, dazed. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t be too grateful, love. Don’t forget what an asshole he had been all these years, too.”
Bree’s eyes twinkled. “Well, now that you’ve mentioned it...” An idea came to her. “Watch me wreck his world instead.”
Ariadne became nervous at the look on Bree’s face. “Bree—-” But the younger girl had already charged into the stage. From the sidelines, she watched Dylan stiffen in shock at the sight of Bree.
Ariadne gasped at what followed after. Everyone gasped with her, too, not a soul in the house believing that a woman had the temerity to slap Dylan – and he wasn’t doing anything about it.
SHIT!
This was hell. This was the worst scenario for Bree to see him in, and when he saw the pain in her gaze, he was frozen with terror at what she would think. If she left him because of this—-
Slap.
His face snapped to the side at the strength of her blow. Dylan was stunned and then desperate when she cried out, “You lied to me again! I will never forgive you for this. Never!”
The devastation on Dylan’s face almost made her stop with the playacting, but she managed to keep herself from succumbing.
Shock had paralyzed his bones, but he recovered the moment he realized Bree was running away again – and maybe this time she would never ever come back.
“Let me explain, dammit, Bree – stop, dammit!” He ran after her, nearly throwing women out of his way in an effort to catch up to Bree. He was not going to fucking lose her over this! He was not going to lose her in any way, not while he was still fucking living.
She disappeared around the corner and he followed her, quickening his steps.
“Gotcha!”
Bree threw herself in his arms.
One glance at the impish look on her face, the love blazing from her eyes, and Dylan slowly shook his head. “Everything...it was all a fucking act?”
Scared that he would get mad at her, she kissed him instead of answering, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Dylan kissed her back immediately, his tongue sweeping inside, and his hands were just as thorough as he re-acquainted himself with the precious curves that he had missed so damn much.
When he lifted his head, she released her breath, partly because she hadn’t really been able to breathe with his dazzling kiss and also because Bree had been initially scared breathless he wouldn’t forgive her for her prank.
Again, he read her face easily and he said quietly, “You can play a thousand pranks on me and it won’t matter. It won’t make any difference – what I did to you, what I want to do to make it up to you, how much I fucking love you...”
With a sob, she pulled his head down for another kiss, crying and laughing. “I love you, babe.”
He shuddered at the words, knowing that it was her way of showing how hard she was trying to fully trust him again.
“I missed making love to you,” he whispered.
“Then let’s,” she whispered back, giggling.
“Let’s go up and get a room—-”
She pulled him back to her, this time twisting them around so his back would hit the wall and she landed in front of him. “No, let’s do it here.”
Looking down at her, Dylan thought it was high time to do a little teasing of his own. After pointedly looking around them – the hallway, connecting the hotel’s west wing to the east and which was empty...for now – he said easily, “Okay.”
Her eyes widened.
His hands went to his belt and he unbuckled it.
“Wait,” she yelped.
“What are you waiting for, babe?”
“No, wait—-”
He started unbuttoning his shirt.
“Dylan, wait!” The familiar sound of Bree’s squeak of embarrassment upon discovering a shocked chambermaid at the other end of the hallway had Dylan laughing.
Taking pity on her, he lifted her up in his arms and she promptly hid her face against his chest. She moaned softly when she realized that he had stopped in front of the reception area and was booking a room for them, and she moaned another time when the sounds of camera phones clicking started.
“We’re going to be on the front page tomorrow.”
He hefted her up, a voiceless command for Bree to look at him.
A sexy, to-die for smirk curved his lips as Dylan said, “That’s exactly what I want, babe. By tomorrow, I want every fucking guy in your school to know that you’re mine.” And without taking his gaze off her, he announced cheerfully over his shoulders, “We’re taking the penthouse suite. And if there are some paps here—-”
“There are,” several men and women answered just as cheerfully.
“—-well, feel free to hang around. I’m going to make love to my beautiful girlfriend all night long.”
Bree wailed loudly, “Dylan!”
The End