I’m trying to pay attention to him. To this gorgeous steakhouse that should really be the backdrop to a perfect date. But all I can think about is the look on Axel’s face when I told him who I was going out with tonight. The way his eyes had gone hard and the muscle in his jaw started to jump.
For a beat, I’d thought he was going to tell me not to go.
Some self-sabotaging part of me might have even wanted him to. But then he’d given me a stiff nod and stepped back, telling me to have fun before heading into his room for the rest of the afternoon.
I got ready.
Started questioning what I was doing.
Realized I had no business going out with Drake or anyone else and was about to text to cancel when Axel finally emerged. I don’t even know what he wanted, because then he noticed some stain on his shirt and whipped the thing off.
And God, my mouth is actually watering, not from anything in this incredibly nice restaurant, but from the memory of Axel’s bare chest. The way his muscles shifted and flexed as he tossed the shirt in the laundry.
One look at Axel in his low-riding athletic pants had sealed my fate for the evening. I needed to get out of that apartment, or I was going to do something I would regret.
Like jump him.
“I know that look. Dessert cart, right?” Drake asks, peering around the restaurant and drawing my attention back to the now.
“Oh, right… yes.” I nod, heat pushing into my cheeks.
Bad, Nora. Bad.
“Don’t worry, you can get one if you like. My treat.” Drake reaches across the small table for my hand. He leans in for more eye contact, and it takes everything I have not to pull back.
“Nora, I like you. I’ve been thinking about you a lot since we met.” He strokes a finger under my wrist. Ick. “I feel like we have a connection.”
I blink, and this time, I give in to the need to put some distance between us. Politely. I hope.
Considering this is the third actual date I’ve been on in my life, I’m no expert on romance. But I can say with one-hundred-percent certainty that whatever connection he’s feeling is one-sided.
This was such a mistake.
“There’s something I should probably have mentioned before.” I clear my throat, giving him an apologetic smile. “I’m moving to France in two months.”
His head cocks, brows arching high. “Really?”
“Yes. My old boss asked me to help her start her business over there.”
“Mmhmm.” He reaches for my hand again. “You’re not looking for a relationship, then.” Biting his lip, he gives me a look that makes me feel like I need a shower. “Just looking to have some fun over the next couple months. Baby, I’m so glad you thought of me.”
It’s at this moment I understand why the single women in all those shows have the friend that calls or texts midway through the date with some feigned emergency, in case a convenient escape is needed.
Caroline would have done it.
Heck, based on the way Axel reacted, I’m pretty sure he would have been happy to fake a flood or kitchen fire for me. As it is, I’m on my own.
“Umm, that’s not—”
There’s a small commotion behind me, and Drake’s eager expression shifts to confusion as he looks past me. “What the—”
And that’s when I feel it, the low charge skimming across the backs of my shoulders, the awareness.
The connection.
I turn just as Axel, ruddy-cheeked and wild-haired, arrives with Otto. “Oh, hey. Thought that was you in the window.”
In the window? My eyes narrow.
He knew we were here. I told him myself.
Drake jerks his hand back from mine just in time to avoid the SnugRide coming down on the table between us.
“Axel? What are you doing here?” I ask, standing to unzip Otto’s Sherpa bunting. His baby blues meet mine, and he gives an eager flex in greeting. His mitten comes off and I kiss his bare hand.
“Decided to pick up some… umm… sushi from the place around the corner. Let O here get a change of scenery.” He shrugs, meets my eyes, and quickly looks away.
Guilty.
My blood starts to heat.
Drake nods. “Yeah, I imagine. Being stuck at home with one of these isn’t quite on par with the club scene, huh? All those girls.”
“It’s better,” Axel says flatly.
Oblivious, Drake reaches over to give Otto’s hand a shake.
Within a blink, Axel snaps a baby wipe out of the travel pack and cleans off Otto’s hand.
Oh, man. I have to cough to cover my laugh. But Drake doesn’t seem to notice.
“Well, good to see you again, Erikson. I’d ask you to join us, but—”
“Love to.” Axel slides into my side of the booth, pushing me in with his thigh. And then slinging his arm behind me. “Thanks, man.”
Oh, I’m going to kill him.
Axel
I’m apologizing before we even leave the restaurant.
I apologize on the Uber ride home, in the elevator, and again in the hall. But it isn’t until we’re inside the apartment, Otto laid in his crib and the door to his room half closed, that she whirls on me and, in finger-jabbing fury, demands to know what the hell I was thinking.
And that’s the problem.
“I wasn’t.” It’s the truth. “I… Hell, I kept telling myself you could go out with anyone you wanted. That it was probably better if you did. But then, I was bundling Otto up, explaining to him it was easier to cruise by and make sure you looked comfortable instead of doing the background check.”
“Background what?” Her hands fly up. “Axel, are you out of your mind?”
I rake a hand through my hair, leaning back against my side of the hallway. I’m spun up. Adrenaline pumping hard through my veins.
“Yes! I’m out of my fucking mind thinking about you out with some fuckwit. Seeing the way Drake was looking at you tonight?” I growl, giving my head a hard shake. “Seeing him touch you. I snapped.”
Her breath is ragged. “Why?”
I give her a slow shake of my head. “You know why.”
Because it already feels like she’s mine.
Our eyes meet, and like that, the air around us changes like it’s picked up the charge that forever seems to be sparking between us.
Fuck!
I turn and stalk to the wall before turning back.
Nora’s shoulders slump, and all the fight seems to drain out of her.
“I didn’t want to go out with Drake.”
“Then why did you?”
She gives me a half-smile and my own words back to me, softly. A little sad. “You know why.”
I do. We both do.
I reach for her hand and pull her into my chest. We’ve gotten good at this, and she rests her head over my heart as my arms come around her back.
I don’t want to let her go. But above that, I don’t want to hold her back. I don’t want to complicate an already complicated situation even more.
“How about this. I’ll keep my shirt on from now on.”
From within the circle of my arms, she peers up at me with an assessing look. “There wasn’t any stain?”
I brush a hand over the thick, dark waves of her hair, closing my fingers around them rather than letting them go. “Grady told me to do it. I was stupidly seeking advice from a teammate on how not to kill your date.”