“What?” she asks, turning to face me.
I do the same and look down at her. “I can cover it up.” I sigh. “Not gonna lie, I’d hate to do it, but they shouldn’t have done that to your building.”
She tilts her head to the side, looking up at me. “If you could erase any of your tattoos, would you?”
I frown but answer without hesitation. “No.”
She looks over at the back of the building and smiles. “Me neither.” She steps up to it and places her hands on the brick. “I did this.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
She turns to look at me. “I painted this.”
My mind is a little slow at the moment, so I point at it. “You did this?” I ask stupidly.
She looks down at her black Converse and bites her bottom lip. All of a sudden, she’s nervous.
I step into her and place my hand under her chin, lifting it so she looks up at me. Her piercing blue eyes shine from the sun hitting them. Then she lifts her hands and runs her fingers softly over my neck tattoo. I can’t help the shiver that runs through me at her softness.
“I like art too, Grave.” She speaks quietly as though the world can’t know our secret.
My hand drops from her chin to wrap around her waist, and I pull her body flush with mine. She doesn’t fight me or push me away. “You’re amazing,” I say honestly. I’ve never met anyone like her before. She’s the exact opposite of me. Full of life. Breath of fresh air. Talented.
She gives me a soft smile. Her eyes drop to my lips, and I try to think of anything else but her hands on me because I don’t want to get hard and ruin the moment.
But when her hands cup my face, I lose the battle. Her eyes meet mine again, and she whispers, “Kiss me.”
I begin to walk forward, forcing her to walk backward. Her back gently hits the building, and I bring my left hand up and cup the side of her face. She leans her head back, staring up at me with heavy eyes.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” I whisper.
“Grave …” My nickname shakes on her lips. Her hands come up to my chest and grip my T-shirt.
“April,” I whisper, and she whimpers.
Lowering my lips, I gently touch mine to hers. She parts her lips for me, and my tongue enters her mouth. She tastes like sugar. Addictive.
She moans into my mouth, and my other hand comes up to hold the other side of her face. I tilt her head and deepen the kiss, memorizing every stroke of her tongue on mine. The way she pushes her hips into my hard dick and grips my shirt, greedy and wanting.
I pull away and rest my forehead to hers. We’re both panting. I open my eyes to look down at hers, and they’re still closed. “Have dinner with me tonight,” I say before she comes back to reality. Before she remembers who I really am and why she wanted to meet with me this morning, bursting this bubble she has built around me.
Her eyes open, and she looks up at me. “Okay.”
APRIL
After I watch Grave exit the shop, I pick up my cell to call Alexa but then pause, afraid of what she’ll say about my date with him tonight after what her brother told us about the Kings. So instead, I dial up Jasmine. We traded numbers that first night when we went out after leaving her own party.
“Hey, doll.” She answers on the first ring.
“I need to talk to you,” I say in a rush. My heart’s still pounding from our kiss. It was a mistake. I know it was. It was so unexpected, but again, it was what I wanted. When he asked me out on a date tonight, I didn’t think twice about it.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
“I’m not sure.” I bite my bottom lip.
“Tell me everything and we’ll figure it out together,” she assures me.
I like Jasmine. I don’t know her all that well, but she seems to be a good kind of friend to have.
“You know the Kings, right?” I come right out and ask.
“Yeah …” she trails off. “Why?”
“I have a date with Grave tonight.” I close my eyes and bow my head in shame. Why did I say yes? Why did he have to kiss me like that? My heart still pounds. He looked at me like he was seeing something for the first time. My skin still tingles from where he touched me.
She whistles. “Oh, girl. What are you doing around noon today?”
I frown, but answer, “I’ll be at the shop.”
“Okay, I’ll come pick you up then,” she states.
“Why?” I ask.
“We’re going to go have lunch with the girls.”
_______________
Jasmine and I pull up to Kingdom. “What are we doing here?” I ask, getting out as the valet slides in the driver’s seat of her car. I’ve never been here. But the hotel and casino dominate the Las Vegas Strip. It has four towers—one for each King—and is its own city.
“The girls and I have a tradition that we meet up for lunch at Empire.”
We walk into Kingdom, and it’s exactly as I expected. White marble floor with the same black circle with a golden K in the middle. We entered the hotel side. I can see off to the right where it opens into the casino.
She grabs my hand and pulls me to a bank of elevators. We make our way up to the twentieth floor, passing slot machines, and enter the restaurant. I see the girl from the other night; Emilee I think was her name. And another woman I don’t know.
“Hey ladies, this is April.” She introduces me before she slides into the booth. I sit down beside her since both women are on the other side, facing us.
“It’s good to see you again.” Emilee nods.
“I’m Haven.” The brunette reaches out her hand to shake mine.
“Nice to meet you.”
We all open our menus. “What’s good here?” I ask.
“Everything,” Jasmine answers, licking her lips. Then she lifts her eyes to look over at the entrance. “Haven, how long is Nite gonna be on babysitting duty?”
I follow her eyes over to a man I didn’t see when we entered the place. He’s standing with his arms over his chest and legs spread wide. His eyes are on our table, and he’s dressed in a black three-piece suit with an earpiece in his ear. He looks like he belongs in the Secret Service. Who is this Haven chick?
Haven sighs. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Emilee rolls her eyes, and Jasmine just laughs. Then a silence falls over them.
“So, uh, Jasmine mentioned you girls have lunch here often,” I add, breaking the silence. I like Jasmine, but I’m confused as to why she brought me here.
“Yeah.” Emilee nods and then it’s quiet again.
I look over the menu trying to figure out what I want when I hear Haven speak. “Hey babe. That was fast.”
I look up and meet a set of dark eyes that I know well.
“April,” Luca says my name in surprise.
“You know her?” Jasmine is the one who asks.
“Yeah.” He places his hands on Haven’s shoulders “April is my favorite florist.”
“Oh.” Haven’s eyes light up. “I love all of the flowers he brings home. And your vases, they are gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” I blush at her praise. But it’s not hard to figure out who she is—his wife.