We took the Defender, Lee’s hands familiar on the wheel. I was tempted to give him the vehicle, his love of it apparent every time he sat behind the wheel. Maybe later. Now it would only cause a fight. Questions from Brant. Too much confusion, too much rocking of the boat.

A silent drive, the only words coming when I’d point out turns, give directions. I snuck glances at Lee as we drove down manicured streets, a world away from his part of town. His eyes moved constantly, his expression brooding. I knew this Lee. This was the insecure Lee. The one who grew hostile and irritable at my general life of luxury. The one who hated Brant with a fervor that scared me. Maybe today was the wrong day to show him the house.

“I’m starving.” I reached over, looped my hand through his. “Want to grab lunch first?”

“I’m not hungry.” He pulled his hand free. Down shifted. “Doesn’t your new place have food?”

I looked out the window. Swallowed my response. This was going to be a disaster.

I saw the hesitation in Lee’s turn as I pointed toward the new house, the slow stop of the Defender at the gates, the guard stepping from the small hut, seeing the two of us and waving, the gates starting their slow movement, unveiling the beauty that was Windere.

His shift movement was delayed, the crawl down the driveway slow, the crunch of dead leaves audible in the absence of wind. When the truck came to a stop, before the six-car garage, he jerked it into park, turned off the key, and sat there, the engine dead, his hands on the wheel.

“You’re moving in with him.” A dead sentence.

“Yeah. You can come in. I want you to be comfortable here.”

He chuckled. Dropped his hands from the steering wheel and looked at me. “I’m not coming in, Lucky. I didn’t know… didn’t realize. You should have told me.”

“It’s just a place to live. It doesn’t change anything with us.”

“It does. Your house… I was okay there. This place…” He tilted his head and looked up, at four floors of excess. “This place has its own guard shack for Christ’s sake. You think they’re going to let your side-fuck in?”

“It’s fine, Lee. You can come and go anytime.”

“Anytime he’s not here. Fuck that.” He let out a heavy sigh and turned in his seat. Stared into my eyes. “I’m never gonna be able to give you this. Shit, I’m never gonna be able to give you anything.”

“I don’t need you to.” I shook my head. “I only need you to love me.” The words stuck on the way out, my mouth regretting them as they fell from my lips. He wouldn’t understand, he’d think it more than it was, the statement putting too much weight on our affair.

“Love you?” He looked down, laughed softly under his breath before peeking back up at me. “Lucky, I’ve loved you for as long as I’ve known you. I just never thought I could have you.”

I lost a heartbeat, crawled over the center console, sitting in his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. Kissed his mouth in full view of the guard shack and a threesome of movers who I’d never see past next week. His hands slid down my body. Squeezed my ass while his mouth claimed my own. It had been the wrong statement for me to make, his admission one that broke my heart and made my year, all at the same time. I pulled off, breathing hard, my eyes meeting his, and told a twisted version of the truth. “I love you too.”

“All the good that does us.”

“Come inside,” I begged. “You can christen it, f**k me in every room of the house. Make it yours.”

His body tightened underneath me. “Hasn’t he already done that?”

I smiled against his mouth. Took a final taste of his mouth. “Not in any way,” I whispered.

“I take back any time I ever called him smart.” He wrapped his arms around me, shouldering the door open and carrying me out of the truck. Set me gently on my feet, his hand shutting the door while looking warily up at the house. “Rich prick,” he muttered, leaning back against my pull of his hand, his strides slowly taking him up the entrance steps, a mover passing us on the way, professional smile flashed at us both in turn. “Ms. Fairmont. Mr. Sharp.” The woman chirped, steps continuing, no pause in her stride.

I felt the start in Lee’s step, pulled him fully into the house. “She thought I was Brant,” he hissed, glancing over his shoulder at the woman.

“You’re with me. He hasn’t been here. The movers will probably assume it,” I nodded at the room before us, a three-story entrance hall, with as many as four men actively unpacking before us.

“Meaning I can f**k you right here and none of them will be the wiser?” He moved closer, pushing me against the closest column, the press of his body making it very clear where his thoughts lied.

I giggled, pulled away from him. “Behave,” I mouthed, stepping away to tap the arm of the closest individual.

“Yes, Ms. Fairmont.” The man turned, giving me a wide smile while nodding respectfully at Lee.

“We’d like some privacy. Can you find Ann and have her clear the house of staff?”

“Certainly.” The man scurried away, Lee watching him in amazement.

“Does everyone do everything you tell them to do?”

I stepped back against the column and pulled him back before me. “Kiss me.”

His eyes hooded, he obeyed, returning the crush of his body to mine, his kiss hard and possessive, his hands blatantly groping me over the thin cotton of my sundress. “I guess that’s a yes,” he muttered.