Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Warmth floods through me. “Dirk did that for me?”
“Dirk? Who’s that?” Rex stiffens beside me, and I soothe him with another squeeze of my hand.
“He said that you were the best profiler he ever had the pleasure of working with. That you had, quote, ‘A brilliant and unique mind.’”
“Oh.” I fight a smile at the high praise. “That was kind of him.”
“He didn’t seem like the type prone to hyperbole. Or kindness. He meant every word.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Dirk,” I say, picturing the solemn agent who drove most of his team crazy with his meticulous nature and attention to detail. Beside me, Rex is bristling like an attack dog who senses an intruder.
“Dirk,” he mutters the name like it’s a curse word.
“Did you date him?” Nadia asks bluntly. Her no-nonsense professionalism is reassuring, and I can trust she’ll tell me like it is.
“No. We just worked together. We made a good team,” I add to rile up Rex.
“Maybe we’ll invite him to the engagement ball,” Nadia muses.
“Absolutely not,” Rex interjects, then swears when we both grin at him.
What Nadia says suddenly penetrates. “Wait, what engagement ball?” I ask. “Isn’t it a bit late for that?” We’re already married.
“We’re rich,” Rex smirks. “We do what we want.”
The limo is pulling around the back of the hotel. It rolls up to a gate and, after getting checked by a security guard, rolls through to the dark underbelly of a parking deck.
I have one more question. “What did the press kit say about how we met? Where we were. . .” I trail off. Nadia didn’t mention Club Empire, did she? That would make the front page.
“At the NRPD Charity ball, of course,” she says. “Chief Jordan is already taking personal credit for introducing the two of you.”
Rex scoffs, and I roll my eyes. The chief will be insufferable. It’s going to take some getting used to being the center of attention and getting fawned over like this.
But I have Rex to shield me. I’m already getting used to the idea. Maybe that’s what I’m craving—the feeling that someone has my back, no matter what. I can’t trust Rex not to take the concept too far, but the primal part of me wants that level of devotion. He will stop at nothing to protect me. I know it in my bones, and it makes me feel safe.
The limo slows to drop us off at an elevator door.
“Okay, lovebirds, this is your stop,” Nadia says. “Just lie low until I say so.” She points a stern finger at Rex. “No more threatening the press.”
He gives a grim nod, and then it’s my turn to get lectured.
“And you,” Nadia says, looking pointedly at my hand. “You need a ring.”
I don’t need a ring, but I’m not going to backtalk a domme. She turns back to Rex. “Get her a rock the size of Antarctica. Give people something to gossip about.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rex says and half salutes her while helping me out.
“Is a ring really necessary?” I grumble.
Rex laughs. His hand skates down my back as he leads me into the elevator. “It is if Nadia says so. She’s the best. She’ll feed the rags a bunch of romantic nonsense, keep them speculating about our wedding colors—”
“There’s going to be a wedding?” This whole thing is supposed to be fake!
“We might be able to avoid it if the engagement ball is spectacular enough.” He presses a button, and the elevator rises. “As for the ring, think of it as costume jewelry.”
If I know Rex, he’s going to get me something that costs more than a house. “Not as a tiny collar?”
He looks smug. “Not unless you want to.”
I sigh. Once we’re back in the hotel room, I turn on the TV. Every news channel is playing footage from the steps of City Hall.
I watch Rex cup my face and kiss me over and over again.
I replay the moment in my head. I was totally swept away by Rex’s warmth, his touch. He looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Like he never wants to look away.
Just watching it, I feel shaken to my core. I’m overflowing with feelings—fear, lust, acceptance, longing. All my emotions explode out of the box where I’ve kept them locked down.
And now I’ll be on display.
“. . . is New Rome’s most eligible bachelor settling down? Who is the lucky woman who tamed this notorious playboy?”
They show a picture of Rex on a red carpet, looking suave, then juxtapose that with a police academy picture of me in my dress uniform. I look like a kid playing dress up, clueless, impossibly young.
The news switches to pictures of Rex’s glamorous ex-girlfriends, goddess after goddess with perfect skin and pouting lips like a slideshow on the screen. Women who deserve to stand on a red carpet with him. It’s obvious the press thinks Rex should be with one of them.