She arched in, one arm around his shoulders, one hand wrapped around the back of his neck.

She’d gripped his neck like that before.

That night they made love.

He knew right then it was her brand, hot on his skin in a way that radiated out and released the tension from his neck and shoulders better than any steam or massage.

“Hi,” she said softly.

Christ, his girl was something.

“Hey,” he replied. “Have fun?”

“It was a blast.”

He grinned at her, but it was small, and it died fast.

“Babe—” he started.

“You don’t have to—”

“I do.”

She went quiet.

“I wasn’t ready to talk about that piece, or Jordan. But you’re right. It’s a part of me and with what we’re building, I need to give it to you. And I should have just said I wasn’t ready instead of being a dick to you.”

“And you were right,” she instantly returned. “That wasn’t about me. I should have let it go and then brought it up later, letting you know it was important to me to have it, but you could give it to me when the time was right for you.”

“Okay, but I could have been cooler in how I communicated to you.”

“Axl, honey, I want you just as you are. Not diluted. Not careful with every step you take or word you say. You were feeling something, and you let it out. My point is, I can take it.”

“Yes, I know, you’ve been taking a lot from your father for a really fuckin’ long time.”

Her entire head jerked, her curls bouncing.

“That’s not like my dad.”

“It’s—”

Her hand on his neck squeezed hard.

“Axl, it is not one thing like my dad. We’re going to fight. There are going to be times when you’re not cool, or I’m not cool. We just experienced one. That isn’t like what my dad does. It’s being in a relationship.”

His voice dipped. “I never wanna hurt you, Hattie.”

Emotions moved over her features, at first surprised, then gorgeous and shining.

Oh yeah.

She was falling in love with him.

Maybe already there.

After today, he knew he was.

And wasn’t that the fuck of it.

Jordan would have been all over his ass for being a dick to Hattie.

But he would have loved it, knowing a fight that was partly about him, led Axl to truly realize the kind of woman Hattie was and that she was the woman for him.

“Please stop being so hard on yourself,” she urged. “That upsets me. Having honest reactions and being real with me does not.”

Yeah.

She was the woman for him.

On that thought, he decided it was time to kiss her hello.

So that was what he did.