London Bound: New Adult Romance (Chase Brothers) (38 page)
Read London Bound: New Adult Romance (Chase Brothers) Online
Authors: Nana Malone
In that moment, the fear fell away. This was the perfect moment she’d always looked for. This was the kind of love and acceptance she’d been looking for all her life. “I love you too. Blissful abandon started in her toes and cascaded through her body. She held onto him tight and muttered how much she loved him as the orgasm took over all her conscious and subconscious thought.
As her body held him inside her, he whispered in her ear, “I am so lucky.” With two more deep strokes, his whole body shook with release.
Epilogue
Three days later.
Contentedly, Abbie sipped her tea and watched Alexi cook shirtless. She could really get used to this. After they’d finally talked, he’d brought her to the beach to get away from it all. An overnight trip had turned into three blissful days of uninterrupted together time.
She’d put everything on hold just to be with him. Xander hadn’t been thrilled that she’d missed their weekly meeting, but this was so worth it. Alexi’s one conversation with his brother had been short and brief but he’d looked more relaxed after they’d spoken. A few days with Alexi alone was just what she needed. What they both needed.
It hadn’t come free though. Now she’d have to rush to complete her next assignment. And she had a make-up meeting scheduled for this afternoon with Xander. No doubt she’d get an earful about responsibility and squandering opportunities, but she didn’t care right now.
Alexi looked up from the sausages. “What’s that smile on your face for?”
She shrugged. “Oh nothing. Just admiring the view.”
He smirked and turned the sausages. “You know one of these days, we’re going to have to get you to do some shirtless cooking.”
“You wish. Besides, that would prove dangerous for me. I have a lot more wobbly bits than you do. Cooking can be hazardous to my health. I think I’ll leave it to you.”
“I promise you, if you were cooking naked, you wouldn’t even make it to the stove before I dragged you back to bed.”
“I can live with that.” Her phone vibrated on the tabletop. She glanced at the incoming text message. Xander: Meet me in the labs at one sharp. We need to discuss program demands.
Alexi gave her a soft smile. “Duty calls?”
“Yeah, just a reminder that I need to return to real life.”
He nodded. “Me too. I wish we could stay for longer.”
“Tell me about it. But, we have each other. Somehow it makes the big, bad, scary world more tolerable.”
He grinned as he served her plate. “That it does.”
* * *
When Abbie got to the labs, she was surprised to find Xander developing prints of some of her work. “I see you got the photos I sent from my last shoot with Jasper.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I figured I’d go old school with some of them.”
She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as Xander examined her photos. He pointed to one of the ones she’d done with Alexi’s model friends. “Is that Serena Winchell?”
Abbie blinked rapidly. Was she going to get into trouble for using an actual model? Her stomach rolled. “Yes, she’s sort of a friend of a friend.”
“I worked with her in Milan. For someone so young, she has an ethereal quality to her. And good work ethic.”
Abbie blinked in surprise. “She was great. Didn’t complain once, no matter how long it took me to set up a shot.”
Xander nodded then smirked. “She’s fantastic in the sack too.”
Abbie’s gaze shifted up from the photo to stare at Xander. Had he just said—“I beg your pardon?”
His laugh was low and mellow. A lot like Alexi’s. He probably drove every woman he worked with mad with that laugh. “I wanted to see what you’d say.”
Abbie raised a brow. “So she’s not good in the sack? Poor thing, I hope you didn’t tell her that. The poor girl will have a complex for life.”
He stared at her long before a deep bellowing laugh broke free from his chest. “You surprise me Abbie. You think fast on your feet and you’re not unsettled by me.”
“Well, not as much anymore. But you still are my teacher.”
His voice was soft when he spoke. “Not for long.”
Oh hell
. He hated these photos too? “Look, I’ve worked my ass off. You can’t cut me from the program. You have no idea what I had to do to get the money for my next semester. Just give me another chance.”
Frown lines furrowed his brow. “Why the hell do you think I’m cutting you from the program?”
Wait. What?
“That bad week I had. You said if I ever took another set of shitty photos you’d cut me. I did my best on this shoot. I—”
He put up his hands and interrupted her. “Hey, stop. I’m not cutting you. I was a bit hard on you that day. Yes, I wanted you to bring me your A game, but admittedly I was a little jealous and thought you were distracted by my brother.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So what, you were scaring me straight?”
He shrugged. “Something like that. I would never cut you. You’re extraordinarily talented. Not to mention beautiful.”
All she could do was shake her head at him. Well he’d accomplished his goal. She had been terrified of losing her spot. “Are you always such a pain in the ass?”
He laughed then studied her for a minute. “You don’t seem fazed by me anymore.”
“I’m not going to deny that you’re pretty to look at, but I’m not interested. And I’m still your student.”
He grinned at her. “And you stand up for yourself when someone’s being an ass.”
“Yes, I do.” She frowned. “You might be my teacher still, but if you’re being a wanker, I’ll call you on it.” She tried not to wince at her Americanization of the word wanker. It just didn’t sound as cool as when Tamsin and Sophie said it.
“It’s been a while since someone called me a wanker to my face.”
Abbie bit her tongue, he still had the power to fail her in is hands and she needed a recommendation. “Sometimes my mouth runs away with me.” That was all she was willing to concede in the way of an apology.
“That’s not a bad thing. I’m looking for someone who can put me in my place, not be rattled by straight talk or sex talk or cursing. And someone with incredible talent.”
What? He was auditioning bed partners? “Look, Xander, as intriguing as your offer is, I have to tell you I have a boyfriend, and considering he’s your brother I think what you’re asking is inappropriate.”
His brows drew down, “So you don’t want to work for me then?”
She barely heard him as she continued. “I mean, it’s not fair to proposition your students, we depend on you for our—” Her brain halted, then sputtered to life again as what he’d said settled in. “You want me to come work for you?”
His arrogant smirk slid back into place. “Well, that was until you mentioned propositioning. If I have a choice, I’ll take propositioning.”
Her face flamed and she ducked her head. “Shit, sorry about that. It just sounded like you were offering me a job as your mistress or something. Not your assistant.”
He laughed. “You can relax. I know what you mean to Lex. And while I am a womanizing man whore, but I also work my ass off and I could use an assistant with your talent. It’s technically a work-study. The official assistant job won’t be available until the course ends, but as long as you don’t screw up, it’s as good as yours.”
Elation and joy skipped over her synapses. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“How about you say yes and put me out of my misery.”
Abbie’s body vibrated with giddy excitement. “You’re sure you want me?I mean I don’t have a lot of experience and I could use some work in some areas and—”
He held up a hand. His dark eyes met her gaze. “I’m positive. You’re the one with the most talent in the class. Even when you’re not at your best, you’re still better than most professionals I’ve seen. You earned it.”
Abbie grinned and spun around in a happy little twirl. He grinned back. “Wait, can I still do my side gigs? I know assistant jobs don’t pay much.”
“Yes. As long as they don’t interfere with your work for me. But I should have mentioned the work study portion covers half your tuition.”
She squealed again. Half her tuition? That meant she had enough money saved so far to pay for next year as well. She did a happy twirl. “I have no idea what to say or do right now.”
“Why don’t you get out of here? I’ll have my personal assistant call you with the details.”
Tears threatened and she rapidly blinked her lids. “Thank you. Thank you. So much, thank you.”
“Go on. Get out of here before I forget that you’re my assistant and I promised my brother I’d keep my hands and sexual innuendos to myself.”
Abbie skipped out of Xander’s office and down the stairs of the Arts building. She was running so fast she squealed when someone snagged the back of her jacket. She whirled around ready for a fight only to see Alexi’s grinning face.
“Easy there, Tiger, where’s the fire? In a hurry to get to your boyfriend?”
She beamed. “Yes, actually, I have good news to give him.”
Snowflakes clung to his hair and his lashes and the tip of his nose. He looped his arms around her waist before pulling her in for a kiss. With his lips and tongue he coaxed his way into her mouth, sliding his tongue against hers. He drugged her so her brain didn’t have a hope of functioning properly. When he pulled back, his eyes were stormy with desire. “So what is this good news you have to share?”
“Xander just offered me a position as his assistant.”
Alexi grinned then squeezed her so hard she could hardly breathe.
“From the joyful expression, I assume you said yes.”
“You know, I never would have been able to do this without you?” Unease tripped up her spine. Had he stepped in as her white knight even after she told him not to? “Was this all your doing?”
He shook his head. “Xander came to me and asked my permission. He wanted to make sure I’d be okay with the two of you working together. But it was all him. This time I get to just be the happy boyfriend.”
“I have never been so happy in my life, Alexi.”
“Well, good thing for you, I only plan on building on this happy buzz you have going.”
She laughed as he nuzzled her throat. “And just what are these plans of yours?”
“How about we start with us loving each other?”
She grinned up at him. “Done.”
THE END
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