“So we finally get to meet My Becca,” Nico says once the car’s in motion.

Becca looks up at me, her brow bunched. “My Becca?” she mouths.

I shrug. “Tommy talks a lot.”

“My neck’s all stiff,” Reece says, rubbing the back of his neck and tilting his head from side to side. “Or maybe it’s just all the sexual tension in this car.”

Ry attempts to stifle his laugh while I kick Reece’s leg. He feigns hurt and points to Chris. “You see that? Write him up a warning!”

“Idiot,” I murmur.

But Reece just leans forward, his eyes focused on Becca. “You’re a lot hotter in person, My Becca.”

I kick his leg again.

“Chris!” he shouts. “Josh kicked me!”

“You started it,” I mumble.

Chris sighs. “Settle down, children.”

*     *     *

My hand covers the handle of Becca’s luggage while I roll it behind me, the other taking hers as we walk into the hotel lobby. “You want me to book you a separate room?” I ask, turning to her.

She nods.

I freeze.

Then she smirks.

“You’re mean.”

I hold her hand tighter and rush through the lobby toward the elevators, praying for the first moment alone. The second we’re inside, I hit the button for the twentieth floor. I stare down at her, watching her bright green eyes lift to mine. “Hi,” I say.

“Hi,” she mouths.

After releasing her bag, I wait for the elevator doors to start closing before holding her face in my hands. But that’s all I can do because the doors ping open again, and the rest of my team, plus Chris, step inside.

I drop my arms.

“Team cock-block to the rescue,” Reece shouts.

Chris shakes his head. “Leave ’em alone.”

Ry laughs.

Nico says, “I bet you can’t wait to get her in your room, be alone, get down and nasty.” He smirks at me, winks at Becs, then presses the buttons to every single floor between here and the twentieth.

“I hate you,” I tell him.

Becca presses her face to my chest, hiding her laughter. I’m glad she thinks it’s funny. I’m pissed.

Swear, an entire lifetime passes before we actually make it to our floor. I’m the first to step off, but not without a pocketful of condoms jokingly supplied by my so-called friends. I hustle Becca down the hall and into my room, making sure the door is closed, locked, secured, and then I grasp her hand when she starts to walk farther into the room. I gently push her against the wall just inside the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”

She looks up slowly, her eyes meeting mine, her teeth working on her bottom lip.

I move in on her, smiling when her eyes widen. “You’ve been bad, Becs, messing with my head like that.” I almost laugh when she rolls her eyes. Instead, I move closer until I’m flush against her. “You crushed my heart and you know how fragile my heart is.”

She smiles when she rises to her toes, her lips aiming for mine, but I don’t let her have it. Not yet. I pull back just in time and place my hands on her hips, pushing her away from me. “I’m mad at you.”

Her eyes dance with amusement as her hands flatten on my stomach, beneath my shirt, and I almost lose it. Almost. Her touch is warm, hot, satisfying all my cravings, all my longing. I hold off, fighting the urges coursing through my veins. She raises her hands slowly, so damn slow I can feel the pulse in her fingertips as she makes her way up to my neck, taking my shirt with her. I try to think. Try to come up with a plan that will give me the control and right now—the way she’s looking at me… I can’t think of a single reason to stop her when she removes my shirt, wraps it around my neck, and then uses it to pull my mouth to hers.

She kisses me softly, slowly, as if we have all the time in the world. Her tongue darts out, tracing my lips, and—knock knock.

“Fuck off!”

Knock knock.

Frustrated, I sigh/grunt loudly and reach for the door.

Reece quirks an eyebrow after peeking into the room. “Wow. It’s been what? Two minutes and she’s already got you on a tight leash?”

Becca pulls my shirt from around my neck and hands it to me.

“What do you want?” I ask, my tone clipped.

“Team meeting after the signing. Remember?”

Fuck. I’d agreed to have the meeting in my room because Becca wasn’t supposed to arrive until later. Without an invitation, Reece enters the room, now joined by Ry and Nico and Chris, while I replace my shirt and hide my excitement. Becca grabs her laptop out of her bag and points to the door but Chris stops her by saying, “You need to be here, too.”