When I left the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around my waist, Danni was standing there waiting for me. The moment I saw her face, relief washed over me. That small, sexy smile of hers was lifted on one side as she stood with her hands clasped behind her back, swaying her hips from side to side.

“Even warriors need a moment to think sometimes,” she offered softly.

I folded my wet arms across my wet chest and smiled back at her. “Those deep thinkers are usually the most dangerous warriors.”

“There are people you’d want in the trenches with you, and people you’d be better off without. I want to make sure I’m always the one you’ll want by your side, no matter who is waiting to shoot us down on the other side.”

“Always.” I smirked.

Danni took a long stride closer before stopping. “I got a little jealous,” she admitted.

I took a stride closer to her. “I got a little embarrassed.”

She took another. “I was also extremely proud to call you mine.”

I inhaled, blowing it out through my nose before I took a stride. “Okay. I got a lot embarrassed.”

Danni closed the gap with her final move, standing toe-to-toe with her hands still behind her while mine propped up my chest. Her eyes fell to my shoulders, watching as a rivulet of water trickled down my skin. She reached out to catch it with her index finger, smearing it down over me before resting her hand over my heart.

“How do you feel?”

“Like I love you. A lot.”

Her smile grew slowly, despite her trying to bite down on it. “I meant about the Tasha stuff.”

“I know. And I still feel like I love you. A lot. That’s all I can think about. The other stuff, the emotions, the embarrassment, the feeling of being naked in front of a billion people, it all disappears as soon as I see you smiling at me.”

“Then that’s all that matters, right?” Her fingers pushed against my skin, her chest rising slowly and falling quickly as she took a breath. My attention fell to her tight nipples rising and pressing against the thin, delicate material of her slinky nightdress.

“That’s all that matters to me,” I whispered, dropping my head closer to hers.

“Jealousy weighs a fucking tonne, doesn’t it?”

“Yep. Stings like a bitch.”

She blinked slowly, stretching her chin up until her lips were an inch away from mine. “I kinda like the pain of it all.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s fitness for the mind. Makes me realise how lucky I am to have you.”

“I am a total catch,” I breathed, brushing my lips against hers.

“We should talk about what this means for you. For us.”

“What does it mean for us?” I dropped my hands to her waist, tugging on her delicate hipbone, feeling myself growing hard beneath my towel.

“Well, I think it means I’m going to have to be a little bit more protective over you from now on. There’ll be women all over the world swooning over you right now.”

“Are you swooning over me?”

“If I swoon any harder, I’ll fall backwards.”

I smirked. “I’ll catch you.”

I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to taste her. I needed to wrap my lips around her and lose all the worry from my shoulders because that’s what Danni did. She wrapped me up in a cocoon that only we knew about—that only we could see. She made any weight that rested on my back fall away like dust in the wind.

Her hands flew around my neck, her body resting on tiptoes as she pushed into me. I was still wet, soaking her silk through as I pulled her to me and held her tight, making sure she could feel the intensity of my arousal pressed against her.

“Does this class as a fight?” she mumbled, breathless.

“We suck at fighting,” I gasped, sweeping my tongue across hers and enticing a soft moan from the back of her throat.

“But we fucking rock at the make-up sex.”

Reaching down, I grabbed her arse cheeks, lifted her and wrapped her legs around my waist, kicking away the towel as it fell to my feet. Danni held on tight, bouncing her arse in my hands as we kissed until I slammed her up against the first wall I came to.

I pulled my chin back, my breaths thick and fast as I looked up into her eyes.

“You have to fall apart to make up. I’m never going to let that happen.” 

She grinned, her cheeks ablaze as her fingers twirled the hair at the nape of my neck.

“What can we call this then?”

“Does it need a name?” I asked, raising a brow as my fingers slipped into the creases of her naked arse cheeks, stroking and teasing her with the lightest of promises.

“I guess not.” She smirked. “Whatever it is, I sure do love it, Marcus.”

“Good. ‘Cause you’ve got a lifetime of moments like this ahead of you, baby.”

“Swoon,” she breathed.

Her lips were on me with a fiery passion that brought everything to life. I fucked Danni against that wall. I screwed her on the bed, too. I spent all morning with my head between her legs, showing her that as long as we had this—as long as we had our own little world together away from the world out there, there wasn’t anything we couldn’t face. No mountain too high, no shame too wide for us to overcome.

The only thing I’d never be able to handle was losing her.

Quite frankly, that wasn’t a fucking option for me to even contemplate.

Luckily, we didn’t have anywhere to be until later that afternoon when Danni was due to have a photoshoot for a feature for some magazine I’d never heard of. The free time gave us the opportunity to lie together on the bed and make plans, order room service, and let the shock of the morning wash away like the storm had never happened.

We’d taken calls from Nat and Alex, the two of them worried about what they’d read. Alex had assured me, during a heavy bout of laughter and piss-taking, that I was becoming the poster boy of the modern-day man who was in touch with the heart. Long gone were the days of women wanting the bad boy, millionaire psycho. I was starting a revolution, according to him.

I told him to go fuck himself. 

Sammy had phoned Danni, saying it was too cringe for her to discuss my one-night stand with me directly. When she’d ended the call, I’d seen a flicker of something flash across Danni’s face.

“Everything okay with Sam?”

“Yep.” She nodded. The little liar.

“Her and Cam doing good?”

Danni’s eyes had flashed to mine as she assessed me for a moment. I must have grinned or smirked or something because the roll of her eyes and the hand that appeared in front of my face had me laughing in an instant.

“Don’t,” she snapped. “Don’t make me choose between one of my best friend’s and you, because you will lose, Marcus Anderson.”

“What?” I gasped. “You would choose them over me? After everything we’ve said, the promises we’ve made? I am shocked, Daniella Marston. Shocked. Hurt. Wounded.” I clutched my heart.

“Uch. You’re so disgustingly cute when you’re dramatic.”

“See. I’d totally win.”

“Fine. You would win. But what I’m asking is that you don’t try to win and respect that your sister has confided in me. I take my friendships seriously. Loose lips sink ships and all that. If she wants you to know something, she’ll tell you, I’m sure.”

I frowned, despite the smile still plastered on my face. “Is she okay, though?”

“She’s fine. It’s just some teething problems in her relationship with Cam. That’s all you’re getting from me.”

I gave her a nod, deciding not to pry, yet hoping my sister was better than okay. I also made a mental note to call Cam when I got the chance, just to make sure he wasn’t being a complete arsehat. Not that I even thought the guy was capable of such a thing.

“So,” Danni drew out, holding her phone in between the two of us on the bed, showing me her Instagram page which was filled with pictures of us together on our adventures, as well as highlights from her modelling career. When she was beside me, or I was inside her, she was just my Danni. The woman I loved. When I looked at her social media, I saw the other side of her life—the one that belonged to everyone else. She looked untouchable in those pictures. I couldn’t believe I was the guy sitting next to her, bringing out all her smiles.

I nodded. “Teach me your ways, Jedi.”

Her shoulder nudged mine. “Like I told you ten minutes ago, Marcus, this could be a good thing for you. Once we look past all the stuff you feel embarrassed about, you’ll see why Berti looked so smug this morning. She knows that you’re a blessing in disguise in some ways. Look how crazy my notifications are going today on my Instagram profile.”

She directed me to a tab where a new like or comment was coming through every few seconds, all on pictures that featured me.

Danni, you’re so lucky.

Look at his smile. OMG! To die for.

I want him.

I swear those eyes were made from pure sunshine.

His jaw. LOOK AT HIS JAW! Rawr.

What makes this blonde bitch so special? I could make him so much happier.

That last one made me scowl.

“Ignore the negative comments. I get those every day.”

“You do?” I frowned harder.

Danni glanced at me and smirked. “You can’t please the whole world, babe, but you’ve got to keep on shining anyway.”

“You really are incredible.” I trailed a finger over her bare shoulder, watching as a trail of goosebumps rose in its path.

“And you need to focus.”

“Right. Sorry. Facebook.”

“No, Instagram, Marcus.”

“That’s what I said.”

She chuckled and turned to another page, typing in a password before my face appeared on an account of my very own. “Marcus A.” was what she’d named me as when she’d set it up with the description of Artist. Also being led astray by @Danni_MModel.

“This is going to be your account to showcase your artwork. I know you’ve already sold a few drawings here and there, but, Marcus, you could go global here.”

“I don’t know. It feels tacky setting this up on the back of what happened this morning.”

“It shouldn’t. Not everything that comes to you in life has to have gotten there from decades of hard work. This is an opportunity. People are interested in you for the wrong reasons, right now. Make them take notice for the right reasons by just being and doing you.” 

I pressed my lips together and took the phone from her, holding it in my hands like it was contaminated and I was about to catch the social media bug I desperately wanted to stay away from… especially after my experiences with Alice.

“You really think I should do this?” I asked one final time.

“I think you deserve success way more than I do.”

“How about we both chase it?”

“Together.”

“Hell, yeah.” I kissed her shoulder before holding the phone up above us. We were still in bed, the white duvet and pillows surrounding us as the Californian sunshine poured through the windows, bathing us in a blinding, flattering glow and warmth. I was shirtless, my hair askew. Danni was in her silk nightdress, her hair unkempt and wavy, a few strands pressed to her forehead, her face makeup free.

But if there was ever going to be a picture of us that I wanted the world to see, it was going to be the real us. The happy us. The carefree, living life the only way we knew how us.

She leaned in, resting her head on mine as I took the shot. When I dropped my phone in between us and looked down at the image, I found myself smiling, unable to believe how lucky I’d become.

“Kinda perfect, isn’t it?” I said quietly.

“I think it’s my favourite picture of us so far.”

She taught me how to upload, copying the picture to her account, too, and directing her followers my way. Within thirty minutes, I’d reached the thousands, and I had to grab a beer from the mini fridge in our hotel room to process what was happening.

Danni looked smug as she fell back on her arms and kicked her legs out on the bed, dragging my attention down to the silky smoothness of her skin as I glugged down the beer as fast as I could.

“Get ready, Marcus,” she said, wiggling her toes.

“What for?” I asked, pulling the beer away from my lips and gasping.

“You’re about to be famous in your own right, and I can’t wait to see you soar.”