I cradled her upper body with one arm and wrapped the other one over her legs. I gave her a tight hug and she rested her head on my shoulder. “That’s exactly what I meant.”
She let out a deep sigh and nestled into my hold. We sat that way for a few minutes, breathing together, my body surrounding hers.
“I wish it didn’t bother me,” she whispered.
“I know.” Though I probably shouldn’t have, I pressed my lips to her temple. “I’m a little surprised. We were pretty wild the other night.”
She snorted. “We were. But it was planned. And it wasn’t from the back.”
I nodded. “Then we’ll stick to the plan.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I wish I could be more spontaneous.”
“Hey.” I jostled her in my arms. “I had an incredible time the other night. The plan has plenty of perks built in.”
“I know,” she said. “But I wish I could deviate from it.”
“We just started the plan two nights ago,” I said. “This stuff will take time. And you don’t have to hide the hard stuff from me.”
She whined and snuggled closer to me. “Wish you could have been there the other times this happened.”
“What do you mean? I was there the other times. If you’d asked me to, I would have held you.”
Hell, I tried to and she couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
She shook her head. “No. Another time was when I was with another guy.”
“Well, I couldn’t have been there then.”
Her eyes met mine with a quizzical look. “Why not?”
“Because if I saw someone else getting to have you, I’d have to kill them. And that’s just a whole inconvenient mess to clean up that I don’t want to deal with.”
Vi held back a smile, and I got a twinge of that magician feeling I had when I first met her. I took her from scared to smiling. She traced a finger down my breastbone. “So, if I called you and I had a body in the trunk, you wouldn’t help me get rid of it?”
“Depends. Is it his body?”
Violet laughed and her smile made everything in my body stop. In her joy, in her pain, in everything, Violet was the most remarkable person ever made.
“I’m kidding,” I said, jostling her in my arms. “I’d bury any body for you.”
She paused to study my face, a soft smile on hers. “I know you would.” She rubbed her lips together, then her gaze flicked to my lips. Holy shit, was I going to get a natural, no-pretense kiss?
Just then, the door to the parking garage creaked open. “Woo! Didn’t know the party was out here, Cap,” Royce called. “You coming to Z Bar?”
I glanced at Vi in my arms. She leaned to address Royce. “We’ve got other plans.”
“Oh, hey, are you Iris? Cap said your mom?—”
“NO!” I barked. “Go home, Royce.”
“Night, Rice,” Violet said.
“His name’s Royce,” I said.
She shrugged. “He got my name wrong. I wanted to get his wrong.”
I laughed. “You’re diabolical.”
