Chapter 38

38

Banks was broody as they headed down the elevator to the parking garage. He still held her hand, but there was a tension there since they’d left her parents’ penthouse.

“You okay?”

“Nope.”

She swallowed hard. Banks never admitted when he was unhappy. Or happy, for that matter.

“I’m sorry about how nosy they were. All those questions about your salary.”

“That’s not it.” He turned to her, his usually golden-brown eyes as dark as night.

“Is it because they blabbed to the Chicago Tattler about our marriage? I didn’t mean to tell them. I thought they already knew and it just came out?—”

“Don’t care about that. What I do care about is how they treat you. How critical they are of your choices.”

“Oh, they don’t mean anything by it.”

He snorted. “They have more than one daughter.”

Her chest tightened. So he’d noticed. Georgia had never questioned how her parents’ homes were shrines to Dani. Dwelling on it would manifest as resentment, and if she started resenting her parents, then the next step was resenting Dani. She refused to go down that road.

“They miss her. We all do.”

“And you’re still here. Full of life and with a heart so big it can barely be contained. Why won’t you tell them about what you want to do with the charity?”

They reached the parking level and the elevator doors opened.

“I need to be careful how I propose it. They have expectations?—”

“So you keep lying about how you feel. What you want. What you need.”

She stepped out of the elevator and turned back to him.

“I’m not a liar.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, you are. You’ve been lying your entire life, telling your parents and anyone who asked that you’re fine. The healthy one. The reliable daughter. All their focus was on Dani, so you did your best to fade into the background and not give them any trouble.”

“Hardly! I made trouble.”

He waved a hand between them. “Later. When you realized Dani didn’t have long and you wanted to make her happy with pranks and scandal and acting out. Even then, you were doing it for your sister.”

“You don’t know a thing about it.”

Eyes welling, she started a march toward the car, then stopped and threw her hands up because she couldn’t remember where it was.

She turned as he reached her. “I married you, didn’t I? How is that ‘for my sister’?”

“Y’know, I think that’s the first thing you did without Dani being at the forefront of your mind. You wanted something for yourself.”

She was breathing heavily. “It was a?—”

“Mistake. Yeah, you’ve said.” He closed the gap, backing her up against the nearest car, his solidity the perfect salve. “Sometimes mistakes are a cry for attention. Sometimes they’re a way for us to learn. About ourselves.”

He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her lower lip.

“Every time you say you’re fine and you’re not, you might think it’s a harmless lie. You’re keeping a lid on all those feelings, containing it so you won’t be a bother. But it’s not harmless. It’s not good to keep it in. You don’t have to do that with me. Our marriage is a safe space. It’s all about communication.”

She sniffed. “That’s my line.”

“I’m co-opting it.”

“I don’t know where to start.”

He rubbed along her cheek. “Tell me what you want to tell them.”

“If we’re going to do any kind of role-playing, I’d rather it was sexy.”

“It can get sexy later. For now, I need you to stop being passive and start telling the truth.”

“Passive? Is that what you think?”

“Sure.” He shrugged in an infuriatingly casual manner that pissed her off. That was intended to. “You’ve let them railroad you forever because it’s easier. Don’t rock the boat, be the good girl, keep life on an even keel. But once Dani died, all that pressure, pain, and grief that built up needed an outlet. You went a bit wild, acted out all that hurt, not just because of Dani, but because of how you’ve been second to your parents forever. Now you’re falling back on those old patterns. People-pleaser, all’s fine, nothing to see here when really you should be thinking about how to be your own person. How to do that without Dani.”

Her next breath was labored, and she turned her head away.

“Georgia.” He lay his forehead to hers, which meant he had to bend to meet her at her level. Lately, this beautiful man had been doing that in all the ways. “I’ll support you no matter what. You want to head up this foundation in your sister’s name, then do that. You want to create something new, make your own way in this world, I’ll be right behind you. But be honest with yourself about what you want.”

A tear fell, and he brushed it away.

“I hate seeing you upset, but sometimes you need to go there to let it out. Start anew. Now tell me what’s in here.” He touched her forehead with his finger.

“I don’t want to head up Dani’s charity,” and then softer, “which makes me a terrible person.”

“No, it doesn’t. You want to have an identity of your own and there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ve been volunteering your time, but for some reason, you’d rather your parents thought you were lying around, eating bon bons.”

“If it’s not how they do things, then it’s not the right way.”

“Screw that. You do it your way. Find your joy.”

This is my joy. You are it for me. She placed her hands on his chest. “You had my back in there.”

“Fuck yeah. They’re not easy, but …”

“But?”

“Some of this is on you. You need to tell them how you’re feeling. How you’ve always felt. No more ‘I’m fine’ when you’re not.”

She reached for his hand and kissed his fingertips. “I could say the same for you, Mr. I’m-pretending-not-to-be-hurt.”

“I’m not pretending. You know all about it.”

She did. He trusted her with this precious intel. “So we can’t say we’re fine anymore when we’re not,” she murmured. “Honesty in all things.”

Most things. Inside her heart was thundering. She couldn’t tell him everything, that she’d fallen in the worst way.

That she was head over Manolos in love with her husband.

Honesty in all things.

She was the only one he wanted to share with about his problems.

Except for the fact that she was his biggest one.

“The thing is, I can say it. Meaning I can say my wife is fine because she so fucking is.” His hand coasted down the front of her dress in between her gorgeous tits, claiming. Possessing. Inclining his head, he kissed her, sucking on those luscious lips, taking all that sweetness for himself.

She responded in kind, her mouth wet and greedy. She needed him. His wife needed him.

And fuck, he needed her right back.

But not here. He would take her home, even though his cock was an iron spike and he had serious doubts he would make it without coming in his pants.

Taking her hand, he led her around the pillar where the SUV was parked. Just another few steps to the safety of tinted windows, but his wife had other ideas.

“Dylan.” She pulled at his belt buckle.

“Baby, not here. I have to protect you.”

She paid him no heed. Zipper down, her small hand inside grasping him tight. His groan echoed in the cavernous space.

“I can’t wait,” she murmured. “Need you now.”

The best option was to lift her against the pillar, and while his shoulder would bitch, he would happily suffer to feel her perfect pussy wrapped around him. Or maybe lay her on the hood of his car and eat her out until she came, clamping her lovely thighs around his ears.

But she was already asserting her need and carving her own path, just as he’d advised a moment ago. Panties down, then kicked away. The little white scrap of lace lay at the back of the wheel, like a fancy society invitation.

Stunned, he watched as his wife turned from him, placed both hands on the hood of the SUV, and bent over. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled.

“I’m so wet for you, Dylan.”

Oh, fuck.

More slowly than he would have thought possible given his erection situation, he hitched up the skirt of her dress and groaned at the sight of her peach-perfect ass. Taking those sweet cheeks in hand, he palmed and squeezed, yielding a sexy little shiver.

“Let’s see if you’ve been telling the truth.”

She was.

Absolutely soaked between her legs.

Another gush greeted his hand as he stroked her slit.

Leaning over, he whispered in her ear. “Spread ’em, Georgia. Lemme see that pretty pink pussy.”

That earned him a sultry whimper and extra access as she moved her feet further apart.

“Good girl.”

“Please. Inside me. Need it. Need you.”

He released his cock, which was already weeping and desperate to get in the game. Pulling her hips forward, he nudged against her opening, bathed the head in her wetness, and plunged home.

The notion that she might be begging him to fuck her, to do this reckless act in the parking garage of her parents’ condo building, glanced across his brain for a second. Was he another crazy stepping stone in her rebellion or was this the real deal?

Because as he withdrew and thrust again, he recognized that this felt as real as it could get. For once, he didn’t mind the flood of feeling. He let it wash over him as every stroke yielded a moan from her and a corresponding groan from him. The two of them in sync.

On he went, making her his.

Losing his mind while losing his heart.