Page 45

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

brEE

I hadn’t even finished my second dance when I saw Dane standing in the middle of the tables with his arms crossed like he owned the place.

Maybe a little more dad bod now, yet still handsome.

But I knew the ugly inside him. My heart sank.

The last thing I needed was for him to see me without my top on, but I had no choice.

The pasties came off in the second dance.

When the song finished, I ran offstage for my robe. Tying it around my waist before taking a deep breath, pulling up my big-girl panties and going out front to find a bouncer. If Dane was here, he meant to cause trouble.

Unfortunately, he cornered me near the bar before I got to D’Andre, the closest bouncer to me. His voice low but filled with menace. “Listen, bitch. You gotta stop with this child support shit. I can’t afford it. I mean it—stop going after my money.”

I squared my shoulders, fighting the fear twisting in my gut. “I haven’t gotten a cent from you in three years. I didn’t get myself pregnant. Benny is your son too, Dane. You don’t want to be a dad, fine. But you’re still his father. It’s time to step up. ”

His eyes darkened. “Better watch that kid real close, Bree. ’Cause if you’re not careful, he might just disappear. And you won’t find him.”

The words stung like he held me under icy-cold water. I froze for a second, unable to breathe, then managed to choke out, “Are you… threatening my son?”

Dane knew my weaknesses. His grin was cold. “I’m warning you. Don’t push me.”

People nearby were starting to notice. I lowered my voice, desperate. “Please, just leave. Don’t make this worse.”

Before I could get away, a commotion caught my attention at the entrance to the club and you had to be kidding me. Reece. Here. Now. Why? I’d left like he wanted. Did he think I’d stolen from him? I only left with what was mine.

He and I locked eyes for the briefest moment until he took in Dane’s menacing posture next to me and he charged, using the flat part of his forearm against Dane’s neck to shove him backward, only stopping when my ex’s head cracked against the wall.

“Reece, stop . This is Dane, Benny’s father.”

His nostrils flared. My words seemed to set him off more.

“You got a lot of nerve showing up here.” Reece’s low, angry voice even scared me.

Dane clawed at Reece’s arm until D’Andre was able to pull him off.

Finding his big boy balls while coughing and trying to catch his breath Dane, choked out, “I’ll sue!”

“Good. I hope you do so Bree can finally get some money from your deadbeat ass.”

“I’m injured.”

“You were washed up before you ever took the ice. Take care of your kid.”

God, this was so messed up. Now I had to defend Dane? This was not on my bingo card. “ Baker .” That caught his attention. “Stop. ”

His eyes narrowed as he grabbed my arm. “Come on,” he said, dragging me behind him, but he turned back to yell, “Your sorry ass better be gone when we get back.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, starting to freak out, tugging hard on my hand to free it, but he held it with too firm a grip for me to escape.

Reece kept dragging me to the backstage area, only stopping when he’d reached the dressing room, then shoving the door open. It cracked against the wall, startling Missy and Renita, who sat in front of their dressing tables in various states of undress. They’d both been reapplying makeup.

“Out,” he barked and the women jumped. Missy had to grab her clothes before leaving.

After the door clicked shut, Reece walked me over to the closest vanity, sweeping his arm to clear off the top, and dropped me onto the counter.

“Reece, for God’s sake, what are you doing? I’m working.” Panic filled my voice. I couldn’t afford to lose this job.

“Taking what’s mine,” he grumbled.

“You didn’t want me. Nothing is yours.”

“ Wrong ,” he challenged. Dropping down to his knees, he tore open my robe, ripping my thong from my body. Shit. Now I’d have to go shopping and my costumes weren’t cheap. “You talk to him naked under that robe?” It sounded like an accusation.

“Reece. Stop.”

He attacked my pussy with his mouth. His teeth.

Oh, God—his tongue. This was old Reece behavior, the benefits man, not the man I’d fallen in love with.

But my body went into autopilot. No matter how angry I was at him, I rode that tongue, moving my hips to get more of everything.

I rode him until I couldn’t keep up the rhythm any longer, leaning back on my hands, and came hard all over his face.

But then he stood, wiping his mouth with his T-shirt, and unzipped his jeans one handed to free himself with the other.

He tore the condom packet open between his teeth, wasting no time with rolling it on.

Stunned didn’t begin to cover how I felt. He tugged my butt to the edge of the counter and flipped my legs over his shoulders to drive inside.

“Reece!” I shouted his name this time. If we were doing this, I wanted my Reece back. No. I wanted my Baker back.

“Not now, baby.” He pumped hard enough to lose his breath—a feat for a man as fit as him.

The whole wall of vanities shook and rattled with bottles shimmying from the vibration onto the floor.

This felt so good, but I needed more than to just feel good from him.

I needed him to love me, too. If he couldn’t, then there was no point to this.

He had me so close again, it felt like I was dying and being reborn at the same time.

The door burst open and McLovin walked in with Missy close behind him.

“You’re fired,” he called over to me.

Reece kept right on pumping his hips, but his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Get out or I’ll kill you.” His hand shot out, grabbing one of the bottles that remained on the once-cluttered dressing table. With a swift motion, he hurled it behind him right for McLovin’s head.

The bottle smashed against the doorframe with a loud crash, shards scattering onto the floor. McLovin barely dodged, stumbling back and hastily slamming the door shut.

I lost track of my former boss after that, closing my eyes and waiting for the big fall over the edge. That was two men he’d assaulted or tried to assault in one night. At this point, I hoped he didn’t end up in jail.

“Baby,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

It was a soft command, and I did. I had to.

Reece must’ve read the worry on my face because his eyes softened again, filled with an intensity only for me, his mouth capturing mine, his hands never leaving my skin .

But the man pressed on, relentless and fierce, as if claiming me in that moment was the only thing that mattered. The anger, the danger, the chaos outside the door—all of it vanished into the heat of the moment.

As he roared his release, I felt him fill me and that was all it took to send me plummeting to my bliss.

Then my senses came back to me and with tears in my eyes, I snapped. “I don’t know what this was, but we’re done now. I needed this job. Now what am I supposed to do?”

“Come home.”

“What?” I practically gasped the word.

Like he’d flipped a switch, all traces of that ‘benefits Reece’ vanished and my Baker stood in front of me again, showing me an almost childlike vulnerability, using his eyes to speak all the words he couldn’t quite get out yet.

His mouth moved over mine with the hunger I’d been longing for.

Like someone who’d finally realized what he was about to lose.

“I thought I lost you,” he breathed, lips brushing my throat. “God, I was so damn scared I’d lost you.”

“You did,” I whispered, threading my fingers into his hair. “But I would’ve come back. All you had to do was ask.”

“I’m asking now,” he rasped, kissing his way down my neck, open-mouthed and slow. “Stay. Be mine. Please.”

My breath hitched. My heart pounded so hard, it felt like it would burst. I glided my fingers to curl around his face, thumb brushing over the roughness of his cheek.

He peeled my fear away with aching care, watching every inch of skin he caressed like it mattered.

His hands traced reverent paths across my chest, down my sides.

I was trembling, from the cold, from the heat, from the overwhelming sense of coming home.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, mouth warm against the curve of my breast. “Every damn inch of you. I missed this. I missed you.” Then he squeezed his eyes shut, taking a long pause before looking me directly in the eyes. “I love you.”

His voice cracked just slightly, enough to break something loose in me. I held his face in my hands, kissed his jaw, the bridge of his nose, his temple. Those were the words I’d been waiting to hear from him.

“I love you too, Baker Reece,” I confessed, my voice barely above a whisper. “I thought you knew it in Vegas. But when you pulled away—The agreement. It was over. You never said anything .”

He groaned—deep and unburdened—capturing my mouth again, softer now, full of regret and raw emotion. His hands moved to my back, pulling me flush against him. I felt the heat of his body, the steady thump of his heart beneath his chest, and I knew every beat was for me.

Then he murmured against my skin, “I was an ass. Scared. Stupid. But I can’t live without you. You’re not just part of my life—you are my life.”

Fingers traced lazy circles over the small of my back, sliding down to the curve of my waist. He held me like I was the most delicate glass, yet the strength of his embrace told me I didn’t need to come home because I was already there.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, breathing in the scent of him—ice, musk, and something achingly familiar. “I wanted to stop loving you,” I breathed. “I tried so hard.”

Reece kissed a trail down my jaw, nipping gently at my earlobe. “You’re the only woman I want for the rest of my life.”

His kiss turned possessive, hands moving with urgency again, pushing through the folds of my pussy, the rough drag of his fingers against me sending a jolt of heat through my belly.