35. Take My Breath Away

EZI

Their timing couldn't have been worse. Just as I thought I was getting her back again, she's hiding in her bunker once more. She's so fragile now, not the playful, wild woman I know. I take her hand and hold it, even though it's a little awkward to reach over. I'll deal with awkward so long as it means I get to feel her. It doesn't matter to me who she is now because I still love her. People change, but no matter how much she changes, I will never give up on her.

I park behind Sam's building and they're both there waiting for us, but I don't see any police around. Dani hugs Lexi when we get out and Sam comes over to me.

"How are you feeling?"

"I don't know."

"Well, come on. I've got them waiting for us at the coffee shop, so they stop freaking everybody out at the office."

As we walk, I tell Sam about the PIs and some of what they found. I keep it general because as much as I appreciate everything he's doing for Lexi and me, some things just aren't his to know. By the looks of it, the line for the coffee shop is out the door. Lexi won't handle a crowd well right now, but she hasn't noticed yet since Dani has been talking almost non-stop. I reach over and take Lexi's hand, and just as I do, Sam steps in front of us.

"Before we go in, I want to talk to you both real quick."

"I'll meet you inside," Dani says before taking off.

"Guys, I know you've been through a lot and I don't expect answers today, this week, or any time before you're ready to make these kinds of decisions." Lexi squeezes my hand as Sam looks at her first. "Lex, I want to take the office remote and I need your help to do that. I'm thinking maybe hybrid at first and then transition everyone to fully remote. I'll still keep an office setup and have desks for any time we need to meet in person, but I want you and everyone else to have a little more freedom—including myself."

"Uhm, okay, sure."

"Great. James, how would you feel about a full-time job?" He checks the time before I can answer. "Shit, let me tell you about it inside. We should get going."

"You'd like remote work," I say softly to Lex as we walk. She nods, still staring her feet instead of looking ahead. "We can talk about where you want your office later. You can have any room in the house. I'll paint you a beautiful mural. How does a cherry blossom tree sound?"

"What if…no that's stupid."

"What?"

"What if we put it in the studio? So we can work together. Depending on what Sam wants you to do."

My heart does double dutch against my chest. "That's not stupid. That's the best idea ever." I lean over and kiss her head. Maybe there's still hope for her. For us. I need to get this over with so I can call Chase about Vegas.

Lexi and I step into the shop and we both freeze. Instead of police or detectives, there's Chase, Dani, Steve, and Bex, all standing there like they've been waiting on us. Great, apparently we need an intervention. I groan and go to move out of the doorway, but Lexi isn't moving. Fuck.

"Angel, are you?—"

"James, look."

"Huh?" I stare at our friends again and Coop laughs, pointing toward the wall. Like one of those Magic Eye posters from the old malls, things come into focus. Instead of the quirky decorations that were here before, the walls are full of paintings. My painting. My dad's paintings. Lexi's posters are up, too. "What the fuck?"

I glance around at the people, and I realize I recognize some of them. There's a dean from a college I applied to for a teaching position. There's a handful of people I've met at my dad's charity events. In the back corner, there's a group of guys my dad played poker with and Carl.

"Surprise?" Dani says with arms wide, with Raf next to her.

"What is this?"

"It's an art showing, dumbass." Coop pulls us into the shop. "Haven't you been to enough of those to know that yet?"

"But, why? How?"

"Well. Dani and Steve did most of the work. Bex and Sam did all the networking, and I told the shop if they shut down for a day to do this, I'd do a commercial for them. Which, when I say it out loud, makes my helping sound super lame."

"Okay, but that doesn't answer the why?"

"Because," Dani chimed in, "You two need a reset button like nobody's business. Also, Sam gets to use it all as a write off when he opens the new cent?—"

"Woah! Haven't told them yet."

"Told us what?" Lexi spins around to ask him.

"Well, we're going remote because I want to repurpose the building. Jamie, the job I want to offer you is head of my new organization—an art school."

"Art school?"

"Yeah, that's why I pulled in the dean over there. I want to come up with a way for local artists to work with therapists in an arts center for at-risk and disadvantaged youth. Locals helping locals kind of thing. We're going to name it after your dad. If you'll let us."

My mind is only retaining half of this conversation, so I hope Sam will have it again later. There's so much going on all at once.

"Why is my art here?"

"Advertising mostly. We're handling all the donations and registration here since there's food. Right now, my office has twelve local artists' pieces, and at last count, over four hundred guests bidding on them. A small portion of the sales goes toward the new art grant my lawyer is in the middle of writing up."

"Jesus, Sam. This sounds like a lot," Lexi mumbles before letting go of my hand and wandering toward the art.

"It is. You've got some particularly convincing friends who also have my home telephone number. There's a small catch. We need a big donor for this to kick off. I was thinking of you."

I search behind me to see who he's talking to and realize there's no one there. "Me?"

Sam steps aside and the lawyer, Mr. Morgan, is standing behind him with a handful of paperwork.

"Mr. Barton, I contacted Cynosure and I've spoken to their legal team. They're ready to offer you fifteen million dollars and the retained rights to your total shares, as well as your father's, if you don't take legal action against them. Now, that means we could always reject the offer and go after them for more, but that seems pointless if you're in charge of the company."

I stumble backward, luckily finding a chair behind me. Lexi rushes over and I can see that she's talking, but I can't hear the words. My mind is racing, and it's several minutes and two shots of whiskey before I'm able to make any sense of the world again.

"You good, man?" Coop asks.

"When did this place start serving whiskey?"

"So what do you say?" I study Sam's outstretched hand. "Partners?"

"All I have to do is sign the papers?"

"Yep."

"Sam, can I borrow your car?" He looks at me strangely, probably wondering if I hit my head when I fell. "I need to do something before I sign those. I promise I'll sign them as soon as I'm back."

"Why my car?"

"Because I need to fit six people in it and drive to Vegas. I want to marry Lexi while I'm still a broke ass idiot artist."

* * *

We get to the hotel and it's almost one in the morning, which is early for Vegas. But we need a marriage license and the office closed at midnight. We filled out the forms online while Chase drove and Dani booked hotel rooms for all of us. Now we're supposed to get some sleep before we pick up the damn license in the morning and find Elvis. That's seven hours from now.

"Wow, Dani really knows how to pick ‘em, doesn't she?" Lexi asks as we survey the small motel room. "I mean, I know we're living the broke artist dream for another day or two, but this is a little?—"

Before she can finish, I pull her against me and she lets out one of her little squeaks. I fight with the stupid sling until she helps me take it off, and then I'm cupping her face and practically shoving my tongue down her throat. It's not romantic. This room isn't romantic. The whole situation isn't romantic. It's desperate and dirty and absolutely us. We're making it work.

She helps me pull my shirt off and I pick her up, not giving a shit about how much it hurts to do so, and carry her to the bed. She crawls back on her elbows and looks up at me. I'm sure she's just looking at a wild, insatiable stare. Then she giggles.

"What?"

"You."

"Me? What did I do?"

"You have your arm in a cast and your ribs still aren't healed and you're trying to throw me onto the bed and have your way with me?"

"Yeah, that did kind of hurt." I rub my side. "But…we haven't…I mean. We haven't done more than a little making out since…fuck. I don't even know when."

She gets up on her knees and reaches out, balling my shirt up in her fist and pulling me toward her. "Take off your fucking clothes and get in the damn bed." She moves away from me and off the bed.

"Where are you—" There's a knock at the door and she winks at me as she goes to answer it. I hear a voice; It sounds like Bex. Someone passes a small bag into the room and my eyes narrow suspiciously when Lexi hides it behind her back. "Do I want to know?"

"You'll never find out if you don't get the fuck on the bed."

She disappears into the bathroom, and I start desperately trying to undress. It's not easy with my wrist still fucked up and when she pokes her head out, I'm fighting with my fucking fly. I stare up at her in a desperate plea.

"I tried!"

"I know. It's close enough. I'll take care of the rest later. Lay down on your back."

I throw myself onto the bed. Not the best of decisions, but that seems to be the role I'm playing. Lexi crawls up from the end of the bed in this absolutely jaw dropping, hard on inducing lingerie. It's got lace and straps and things I can't even comprehend. It pushes her tits up in these perfectly overflowing cups and makes her ass look phenomenal. I wipe my mouth, convinced that I'm drooling.

She stops right over my cock and smirks. "We'll take care of that next. But first…you look hungry, Jamie."

I can't even speak, and the moan she rips out of me when she traces my abs with her tongue. I hope none of our people are sharing walls with us tonight. She continues up my body as my hands explore all of her I can reach. She's fucking amazing and if she keeps this up, I'll be coming in my damn pants.

My head rocks back onto the pillow when her tongue slides over my nipple and she palms my cock. I'm not exactly quiet in bed. I never have been, but fuck—I've never been this loud before.

"You're so fucking beautiful, angel."

"So are you, pretty boy." The nickname has me seeing double as my head spins. "Tonight, I'm going to make you sing for me."

"I will always sing for you, Cherry Blossom." I see the flicker in her eyes. "Every damn day. But first, why don't you come up here, straddle my head, and let me taste that perfectly sweet pussy."

She moves over me carefully, clearly unsure of herself. "James, what if I…"

"Baby girl, if I suffocate while eating you out, you just tell everyone I died a very, very happy man. Now, hold on to that headboard and let me feast on you."

I lower her right where I need her, and her whole body shivers when I lick a slow strip through her. It's not long before she's riding my face and singing my name like a bird. It's beautiful and breathy and it's all I'll ever need. I get her to the edge and she's about to climb off of me, but I wrap both arms around her thighs and hold her down as she grinds harder, coming apart on top of me.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to marry this woman. Then I'm going to do this to her every day for the rest of our lives. She's screaming my name, and I feel her tight pussy pulsing around me. She's all I want. All I ever need in this world.

"James…right fucking there, baby. Oh, shit!"

My cock is straining against my pants and I'm so fucking lost in her ecstasy that my hips thrust into nothing. She throws her head back and arches her back as she releases the most primal scream I've ever heard before. She looks down and her eyes lock on mine. We've only just begun and already she looks fucking ruined.

"Don't stop, James!"

She comes undone, squeezing my head with her thighs and grunting as my tongue fucks her right into a second orgasm, not letting her come down before I'm done with her. She reached down with one hand, gripping my hair hard and riding my face like she's at a rodeo and I couldn't be happier.

"I can't, oh god, I can't!"

I let her go, and she collapses down next to me on her back, gasping for air. I roll over, gently nipping at her neck, a mantra of I love you's between every kiss. When her breathing finally slows, she looks up at me with a drunken smile.

"You okay?"

She looks at me for a while, as if she's contemplating her answer, then tucks my hair behind my ear and purses her lips. "I will be, because of you."

"What do I call you tomorrow?"

She giggles as she says the word, "Wife."

"You know what I mean. Are you going to change your name? Am I? I will happily be known as Mrs. and Mr. Alexis Strauss from here on out. James Strauss has a ring to it. Or Alexis Barton."

"I think for once we do things a little differently."

"Like what? I'm not taking Coop's name."

"No you goof. I mean we take it slow and figure it out later."

"Well, that's not a very us way of handling it, soon-to-be-wife."

"Which is exactly why we're going to do it, soon-to-be-husband."

"Graham."

"What?" she giggles.

"My middle name. It's Graham. Named after my grandfather."

"James Graham Barton. It's pretty. Mine's Riley because mom shot down Sophia. It's probably the nicest thing she ever did for me."

"I mean, ASS or ARS." She swats at me playfully. "I love it. Alexis Riley…whatever we decide."

I brush her hair through my fingers and stare into her beautiful, broken soul. I wish dad could have met her and seen just how happy I am. My angel. My muse, who shrouds me in her darkness so we can watch the stars burn.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Dropping your phone."

"We would have worked together even if I hadn't."

"Yeah, but our story would have been so different. I wouldn't have told Dani about my pink haired goddess. I wouldn't have ignored almost everything Sam said because I couldn't concentrate on anything but how I could find you again." Carefully, I climb over her and she undoes my jeans, pushing them down as we exchange soft, sweet kisses.

"We have to be at the courthouse in a few hours," she reminds me as her fingers play in my hair. "We should probably get some sleep."

"Yep." I rock my hips and her legs open for me. She reaches down and I groan as she grabs me, lining me up. Electricity shoots through my body as I slowly stretch her. I watch between our bodies as she take me in until she cups my face.

"I love you, James. I wanna watch your pretty blue eyes. I want you to see what you do to me."

"Oh, Cherry Blossom, I already know."