Page 124 of The Wildest One

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen.” My hands slid down to her neck even though she was still holding one. “The PR crisis team is going to take over from here. Statements will be issued by the team and Kirk. And?—”

“Not that. I mean, my future with the team.” Emotion was pouring into her eyes. “Dad isn’t happy. I’m worried that he thinks he gave me too much responsibility and I can’t handle it. We’re only on our first away trip—our first one, Beck—and this happens and?—”

“Baby, it’s going to be okay.” I held the back of her head and brought her against my chest again, squeezing her so tight.

She was feeling the pressure—I understood that.

Kirk had been an absolute shit, and I’d laid into him for that.

But I also knew the impending conversation she was going to have with her father about us was weighing heavily on her.

And now this had fucking happened.

Even though the PR crisis team was doing their thing, statements had been released, and a new piece of celebrity drama had hit the press, causing Kirk’s story to lose some momentum, Jolie was still stressed as fuck.

I didn’t know how to fix things for her. I didn’t know how to drain the worry from her body. My tongue worked, but the result was only temporary. Same with my dick. Because once she came and I held her in my arms or carried her to the shower, I could feel the tension slip right back into her muscles. I could hear the anxiety in her voice.

There was only one thing I could think to do, one way to get her refocused.

So, when we left Vegas and played New Jersey and had a two-night stopover before we flew to Calgary, I planned an evening that was all about us. I didn’t want us to leave for dinner and run into any of the guys in the hotel—not before we told them about our relationship—and I definitely didn’t want to be seen by any unexpected paparazzi, so I had my assistant organize a date in my suite.

Once Jolie got out of her meetings and the marketing team was free for the night, I told her to come to my suite. When I opened the door for her and she walked into the base of the living room, lit with candlelight from a table in the center, covered in rose petals, the smile on her face was unlike anything I’d seen since the controversy had gone down.

Even if it was just for this moment, I had my Jolie back.

“You did this?” She glanced from the living room to me, still grinning.

“I made it happen.”

She laughed. “That’s as good as doing it in my book.” Her head tilted back a little as she stared at me. “I cannot believe you went through all of this trouble.”

I pressed my lips to her cheek. “Why? Aren’t you hungry?”

“I just assumed we were going to order room service, like we’d been doing.”

“I’ve had enough cold fries and stale bread.” Even though the room was dimly lit, I swore there were tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, baby?”

She flattened her hands against my chest. “I was just thinking … this is our first date.”

It hit me then; she was right.

“I didn’t even think of that.”

“And in the best possible way, you made it beyond special.” She looked past me. “Look at this room. I can’t get over it.”

I grabbed her hand and led her over to her chair, waiting for her to sit before I pushed it in. “You once told me you loved Charred.”

She smiled. “I did say that.”

“And it was where your parents took you for your birthday.” I moved to the other side of the table and sat.

“I can’t believe you remember that.”

I lifted each of the metal plate covers—there were a total of four on the table—and I set them on the floor. “Since there isn’t a Toro here, which I know you also love, I went the steak route. Walker would probably be extremely disappointed in me with the way I’m about to describe this”—I chuckled—“but what I got you was a filet, cooked medium, sliced, with a mushroom rub and a burgundy sauce on top, accompanied by a salted baked potato, wild mushrooms, and broccolini.”

“Also known as heaven on a plate.”

I gave her a smile, pleased that she liked what I’d chosen. “And since I had no way of keeping the main course warm, we’re going to eat the appetizers at the same time. I ordered a few of my favorites—the shrimp cocktail and the tuna tartare.”