I stare at the computer screen, my brows drawn down into a frown. I’ve just spent the last hour trying to make sense of this schedule for next week, but I can’t for the life of me work it out.

Tilting my head, I try to look at it from another point of view.

“This makes no sense.” I move the mouse over the spreadsheet, looking at the dates along the left-side column.

I growl, throwing my good hand up in the air before pushing my chair back and marching into Axel’s office.

It’s been three days since the near kiss and the knee-in-the-balls situation. Axel has barely spoken to me, remaining professional as he gives me rides to work each morning after helping me put on my brace. This morning I managed to work out how to get it on myself, so by the time he turned up at my door, I was ready and waiting for him.

When I told him what I’d done, I couldn’t work out whether he was happy he didn’t have to put it on me anymore, or sad. Either way, I totally bossed being an adult. And then this happens—a simple schedule confuses the bejeezus out of me.

I knock once on his door before opening it up. “Axel? I have no idea what this—” I cut myself off when I look up and see him on the phone. “Oh, sorry,” I whisper.

He shakes his head, a small smile on his face as he waves me forward, pointing to the chair opposite his desk.

“I’ll be there, Jared.” Axel watches me, his gaze burning a path as he follows the curve of my neck. He chuckles. “Yeah, I’ll bring a plus one this time.” He rolls his eyes at something Jared says. “I’m sure my brother will be there, too. I’ll ask him when I see him… Yeah… I’ll see you Sunday evening.”

He puts the handset down in its cradle, blowing out a deep breath as he massages his temples. The stubble lining his jaw makes a scratching noise as he runs his hand along it.

After a minute, he looks up at me. “I need you to attend a charity event with me on Sunday.”

My head reels back. I knew this could be a possibility but since I broke my collarbone I thought he wouldn’t want me to go. “You do?”

“I’ll make sure you have a dress and heels to wear. Someone can come to your room and do your hair and makeup so you don’t strain your…” He tilts his head to my shoulder.

I raise a brow. “What if I want to go fresh-faced with my frizzy hair untamed?”

“You can go in your pajamas for all I care, as long as you’re there to help me bat everyone away.”

“What event is it?” I ask, leaning back in the chair.

“A family friend is raising money for a new children’s ward for one of the hospitals in the city.” He lets out a frustrated breath. “I already donate so I don’t see why I have to go…” he trails off, looking out of the windows of his office. “Anyway, what did you want?”

I stand up, walking around his desk and clicking on his mouse, showing him the shared file. “I don’t understand a word of this.”

He looks over the schedule, making a couple of adjustments and pointing out where I went wrong before his alarm goes off for his next meeting.

Pulling away, I stand up, backing away as I smile. “Thanks. I don’t think spreadsheets are my strong point.”

He chuckles. “That’s okay, your meeting notes are some of the best I’ve seen, they’re detailed and you never leave anything out. I’d prefer that than an immaculate schedule.”

“Oh, well, awesome!” I fist-bump the air. “I knew I was bossing today.” I point at him as I step back, my fluffy socks sliding on the floor a little. “Bossed it like the boss.”

“What language are you talking?” His voice is rough and demanding, but the twinkle in his eye and the slight quirk of his lip tells me he finds me funny. Of course he does, I’m hilarious.

“Don’t act like you don’t understand me, Axel.” I wag my finger at him. “You totally wake up and tell yourself you’re gonna be a badass boss.”

“Yeah.” He stands up, pulling his jacket on as he steps around the desk. “That’s exactly what I do. I look in the mirror and ask myself what I see.”

“You do?” I ask as I take another step back.

“Yep.”

“And what do you see?”

His brows draw down as he says, “I see pride.” I burst out laughing at his awful Jamaican accent. “I see power... I see a badass mother who don't take no crap off of nobody.”

My stomach cramps and I hold my hand against it, wincing slightly but not able to stop it from overtaking my whole body. Tears run down my face and I wipe them away, standing up fully.

“You totally didn’t boss that.”

“Hey!” His eyes widen. “I do an awesome Jamaican accent.”

“Mmmhmm.” I bite my bottom lip. “You keep telling yourself that.”

His cell goes off in his hand, but he ignores it. “You do one then.”

“Huh?”

“You do an accent.”

“Me?” I point at my chest before looking around. “I can’t do accents.”

“Ohhh, so you can tell me mine isn’t good, but you can’t even do one?”

“Well… I… I can do a Southern accent?” He waves his hand at me to go on, so I clear my throat. “Now don't you git sassy with meh, mister. I’ll be fixin’ to teach you a lesson.”

He rolls his lips between his teeth, his cheeks reddening as he holds his breath before he bursts out laughing in the same way I did.

“Hey! That was good.”

“You sounded…” He heaves a breath. “You sounded like a Southern grandma.”

I gasp, long and loud. “How dare you!” Spinning around to hide the grin on my face, I don’t notice the glass door until it’s too late and it’s smacking into my forehead. “Ahh, fuck!”

Axel’s laughter dies off immediately. “Vi?”

“I’m okay,” I tell him after I’ve lifted my hand to my head and checked I’m not bleeding. My head thumps a little, but I do as Taylor Swift says and shake it off. Stepping back, I pull open the door before looking back at Axel. “The door attacked me, you should fire it.”

He chuckles, shaking his head as he steps out behind me. “I’ve never seen someone so…”

“Don’t say it,” I warn, planting my hand on my hip.

“Klutzy.”

“That’s it, you said it.” He winks before turning around, heading toward the elevators. “I’m gonna mess up your whole schedule now!” I shout after him, earning me a wave before he turns the corner and out of view.

* * *

I stare at myself in the mirror, quite proud of the fact I managed to tame my frizzy mane. It normally takes hours and way too many products to achieve it. But there must be something about the air in New York—probably on account of it being freezing cold.

Stepping back, I trail my hand down my side and over my hip. The soft material of the khaki maxi dress flows through my fingers, the split up the side wafts about, showing my legs which are smoother than they’ve ever been.

I wince when I think about this afternoon. I didn’t want to spend hours trying to shave so I found a beauty salon to get them… waxed. I want to say I’ll never do it again, but the after effects are so worth it.

Switching the bathroom light off, I head into the bedroom, picking up my small clutch bag and a jacket, holding it over my forearm. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna try and get both arms through the thing.

I’m fifteen minutes early to meet El and I want to surprise her downstairs—and not let her see my messy room. She’s a neat freak and if she spots the mess, I know she’ll spend the next few hours cleaning up after me.

Yesterday I told her I needed to get out of the room so we’re going out for dinner. She jumped on the opportunity of girl time and said she knew the perfect place and to dress nice. So here I am, in a dress and some strappy heels I probably shouldn’t have taken the risk in but I somehow didn’t think wearing flats would have the same impact.

Stepping out of the elevator, I make my way over to the bar, deciding I’ll have a small drink before she gets here.

After the bartender has passed it to me, I lean my back against the bar and start to people-watch—my favorite pastime. That is until a loud laugh sounds above everyone else’s murmurings.

My lips lift up into a smile as I turn my head, seeing El sitting with a guy on her left, looking at her like she hangs the moon. I don’t remember Chad but I know he was there after I passed out last week—according to El.

Holding my glass in one hand, I push off the bar and step toward them, catching the last bit of El’s conversation.

“So, you’re telling me you have been helping a woman you barely know? I can’t believe—” Her eyes widen when she sees me, several emotions crossing her features. Shock being the most obvious one. Why is she shocked? I mean I know my hair isn’t that bad but jeez. “No,” she whispers, standing up.

I frown, tilting my head at her. Chad stands up beside her, stepping toward me. “Nice to see you again,” he says, his deep voice reverberating around the silence.

“You too,” I whisper. “Although I don’t remember the first time.” He chuckles before he looks at the other guy whose back is to me before his face fills with the same shock El’s is still stuck in.

I push my hip out, planting my hand on it. “Why are you both looking like that?” At the sound of my voice, the other guy turns around. “What—why are you…”

“Vi,” Axel breathes, his lips lifting into a smile as he pushes out of his chair. “What are you…”

“She’s my cousin,” El blurts out at the same time Chad says, “He’s my brother.”

My head reels back, the force making me wobble on my feet. Axel steps forward, grasping my waist to right me as he comes closer.

“He was just telling us about helping someone who broke their collarbone…” El shakes her head. “I should’ve put it together.”

“You know El?” I ask Axel when El turns to face Chad.

“I do; she’s my brother’s girlfriend.”

“Oh.” I bite my bottom lip, causing his gaze to flick down to it. I can’t not think about the last time he looked at me in the same way… and what happened afterward. He seems to be thinking the same thing because he slowly let’s go, twisting his hips so his junk isn’t in line with my knees.

Good call.

We’re all silent for several minutes, each of us looking at each other until Chad breaks it by clapping his hands. “Well, we were both going to get dinner separately, we may as well all go together as Vi and Axel already know each other.”

“Her name is Violet,” Axel growls, bending down to pick his drink up and downing it.

“Whoa.” Chad holds his hands up in the air, his eyes wide, something in their depths only Axel seems to decipher. “My bad, I didn’t realize—”

“Don’t,” Axel warns before pulling his cell out and shooting off a text.

El finally looks back at me, a secret smile on her face as she rounds the chairs and heads over to me. Her arm wraps around my shoulder and she pulls me closer, squeezing.

“Ah, shit. Careful, El.”

She gasps, letting me go. “Fuck!” I wince before I place my drink on the table, having only had one sip but deciding I need painkillers more than alcohol right now. “I’m sorry, Vi.”

“It’s okay,” I murmur, trying to open my clutch bag. Pulling out the painkillers prescribed to me, I pop two out into my hand before stowing the bottle away and looking around for some water.

“You in pain?” Axel asks, and when I look up at him, I see concern flashing in his blue eyes.

“A little.”

He nods, walking away and leaving me, Chad, and El standing like lemons.

“I’m sorry,” El says again.

“Seriously, El. It’s okay. It was already hurting from trying to tame this mane.” I point at my head, chuckling at myself.

She trails her gaze from my strappy heels all the way up to my hair. “You look… sexy, hot, smoking.”

I shake my head at the different voices she makes. “Shut up.”

“You do!” She turns around to Chad. “Tell her she looks hot, Chad!”

“I…” His gaze flicks to something behind me. “I don’t think—”

“Tell her!” El insists, moving closer to him. “She’s seriously smoking, I mean look at those boobs… oh wait!” She throws her head back. “Your brother’s already seen them.”

“El,” I groan.

“Sorry, Vi.” She doesn’t sound sorry. “Tell her, Chad! Tell her she’s hot.”

He shifts uncomfortably, his gaze not meeting mine because it’s focused on something behind me, his face becoming more taught.

“Leave him alone, El.”

She spins around, her gaze meeting mine. “You’ll never believe it coming from me, but when it comes from someone else you will. So, Chad needs to tell you you’re hot!”

“Don’t you dare,” a rough voice sounds from right behind me. A glass of water is handed to me and I turn, seeing Axel’s face pinched in warning.

“I wasn’t gonna,” Chad says, grabbing El’s hand and pulling her along with him. “We’ll see you at the restaurant.”

El starts to say something, but when Chad whispers in her ear, she looks back at us, sending me a wink before happily skipping off with him. She literally skips.

“I see how you managed to get yourself in trouble last week.”

I lift the water to my lips, taking the pills before setting it on the table next to my other drink. “Yeah.” I chuckle. “She can find trouble anywhere.”

“Must run in the family then,” he comments, his lips spreading into a grin as his cell beeps in his pocket. “Our ride is here.”

“Our ride?” I ask, following him out of the bar and past Al who is standing at the main doors. “Hey, Al.”

“Miss Scott.” He nods. “Looking lovely tonight. Enjoy your date.”

“Oh no.” I wave him off. “This isn’t a—”

“Thanks, Al,” Axel interrupts, placing his hand on my back and propelling me through the doors.

I growl, earning me laughter. “You don’t play fair. You broke your own rule.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, you interrupted me.”

He shrugs but doesn’t reply.

I want to stomp my foot like a child, but instead I harrumph and walk past him to the car Jeeves is waiting in at the sidewalk. “Ohhh, you can be such an assh—”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” His chest hits my back as I pull the door open, his breath skirting over my neck and eliciting goose bumps. Traitorous body.

Neither of us moves until Axel’s hand lands on my waist again, his fingers squeezing as he brings his face into the crook of my neck, running his nose along it. “You smell so good.” He lifts his lips to my ear whispering, “They’re right: you look beautiful tonight.”

I hold back the moan wanting to slip free before I turn my head slightly, meeting his eyes and seeing the truth in them. I don’t know what to say or what to do, so I reply, “Thanks, you too,” before getting into the car.

Thanks, you too?

* * *

“This one time we were out riding our bikes around the neighborhood and we saw this hill so made our way up it. ‘I’m gonna go down and try to fly,’ she says to me. Now me being me and knowing Vi, I know she’s gonna get hurt. So I try to tell her but she pulls her shoulders back, giving me a determined look before she pushes off the top of the hill.” El laughs so loud the whole restaurant turns to look at her, but she doesn't care as she continues on with her fifth story of the night. “I’m at the top, watching her go down and then all of a sudden she shouts—”

“My brakes aren’t working,” I cut in.

I decided after the third story I may as well join in with telling them. When you look back at them, they’re funny. I mean, we all have those moments as kids where you’re so clumsy you think you won’t get through the whole day. It normally stops when you hit adulthood. Like I say: normally.

“Noooo.” Chad leans forward, his attention focused on El. “Then what happened?”

“She flies down this hill, her front wheel getting stuck in a rabbit hole.” El lifts her arms in the air. “Then boom! She goes over the handlebars, does some weird twisty shit in the air before she lands on her back.”

“Ouch.” Axel winces.

“Yeah. I dislocated my shoulder.”

El nods knowingly as she lifts her spoonful of cheesecake to her lips before she snorts. “Do you remember the summer trip after high school?”

“No, El.” I groan. “Not that one, please—”

“We went to Mexico for the week, right? So, we’re in the sea...” El’s eyes twinkle. “Then all of a sudden, I hear, ‘Everyone out of the sea! There’s something in there! Shark! Shark!’ People start rushing out of the sea along with Vi. When she makes it out of the water screaming she’s been bitten, I look down at her leg and there’s a crab attached to her.”

I snort with laughter. Now that one I was embarrassed about for weeks because I was—

“She was known as ‘crab girl’ for the whole week.”

I close my eyes, the smile on my face not able to be wiped away. However much she retells these stories doesn’t matter, because I’m spending time with her I wouldn’t normally get to.

El must sense my thoughts because when I open my eyes she’s staring at me with a sad look on her face. “I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.”

“Me too,” I whisper, reaching over and squeezing her hand.

“When do you leave?” Chad asks.

“Day after Christmas.”

“You should come to our parents’ for Christmas Day so you can spend some time together. They’d love to meet some of El’s family, too.”

“Oh no.” I wave my hand. “I wouldn’t want to intrude—”

“You should come,” Axel says from next to me.

“I should?” I ask, turning my head and getting caught up in his gaze again.

Everything seems to fade away when he looks at me, his eyes darkening as he stares right into mine.

“Yeah.” His voice is lower this time. “You should.”

I want to tell him my normal Christmas Day is spent sitting in front of the TV and watching Christmas movies while eating my weight in chips and candy. I haven’t had a proper Christmas since I left home at eighteen.

“I… okay.” I let out a long breath when he smiles at me.

Damn, a woman would kill to have that smile directed at her.