One Wild Night (Hollywood Chronicles #1)(39)

I blinked up at him, my heart a stampede in my chest. “You want me?” I whispered.

“Fuck. Do I want you?” His brow pinched and he tightened his hold. “I fucking love you, Kaylee. I fucking love you the way I’ve never loved anyone, and I’m not going to let you go. Tell me you feel the same. Tell me all this bullshit is worth it.”

“You’re worth everything.” The words were soggy, and my hands were shaking when I reached up and scratched my nails across his perfect jaw. “Everything. I love you so much. So much it should be impossible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Oh, thank God.” Quickly, he wrapped me up in his arms, my arms pinned between us as if he wanted to grab onto every part of me, the man holding me so tight it almost hurt.

Kind of the way I loved him.

I could feel his smile at the top of my head. “Good…now that that’s cleared up, I’m taking you back to the hotel so I can fuck you until you don’t forget it.”

I pulled back and stared up at his face. “I’m sorry…I…I never should have doubted you.”

Gazing down at me, he brushed back a piece of hair matted to my face. “It’s okay. I never should have left you alone when I knew Kendall wanted you out of the picture.”

I flinched. “I never wanted to make things complicated for you.”

He grinned that smile that I’d always known would wreck me. “Don’t ever stop making things complicated for me, baby. That’s just the way I like it. Let the rest of the world think what they like. As long as I’ve got you and you’ve got me, that’s all we need.”

A soggy smile pulled across my mouth. “Okay.”

“Come on.” He grabbed my bag and slung it over his shoulder, pulled me to his side, and took the handle of my case, and started us out toward the entrance. Kenneth was suddenly there, grabbing my things, sending me a secret smile.

Kenneth loaded my bags into the car, and Pax crawled into the car, pulling me right onto his lap.

Silence filled the car as Ronald drove us back to the hotel, Paxton’s hand cinched down tight on my leg the whole way, my arms around his neck.

He said nothing when we pulled to the curb and Kenneth opened the door, Paxton shifting me around to slide out first before he helped me out.

Paparazzi crowded behind a red rope on the sidewalk, flash after flash striking my eyes when we stepped out.

Pax didn’t hesitate.

He pulled me into his arms and he kissed me.

Kissed me for the world to see.

A statement.

A promise.

Then, without a word, he pulled me into the hotel, tension binding in the air as we rode the elevator to our floor.

He let us into the silence, and I turned to look at him as he snapped shut the door and locked it.

He turned back to look at me.

The shadowy darkness bated.

The man so beautiful he made me weak in the knees. He started to work the buttons of his shirt. “Who do you trust, Kaylee?”

Shivers rolled. “You,” I stammered.

He shucked free of his shirt. “Good. Don’t ever believe what the tabloids print or what someone else tells you. If you have an issue or questions, you come to me. Okay?”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Good. Now come here…I didn’t get to unwrap you from that red dress I’ve been fantasizing about all night. The entire premiere, the only thing I could think about was peeling it from this body. What a waste,” he teased, his voice dripping with seduction. “Put it back on so we can pick up where we left off. I’d been about half an hour from bringing you back here and ravaging you until the sun came up.”

A giggle slipped free, and I glanced at where the red dress still lied in a crumpled pile where I’d left it when I’d flown into the room three hours before, a heartbroken mess. I’d changed quickly and grabbed the few things I had brought with me before I was in a cab taking me to the airport.

Who would have thought I’d end up back here?

Sobering, I told him, “When I came back to this room tonight, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

I watched the thick bob of his throat as he edged closer. “And when I found out you’d left, I knew I’d do whatever it took to find you. Find you and convince you that you belonged with me.”

“I think my heart knew it all along. My first instinct was to refuse what Kendall was telling me.”

He set his hand over my heart. “Guess this knows exactly where it belongs.”

He let his fingertips flutter down my belly.

I shook.

“And I’m pretty sure this body knows it, too.”

Beneath his touch, a moan tremored free. “All of me, Pax.” I bit my lip and looked him in the eye. “And you…you belong to me.”

It didn’t matter if he was famous.

Adored by millions.

He was mine.

I flicked the button on his pants and freed the zipper.

Pax chuckled. “Oh. Seems someone has finally figured out what she wants. It’s about damned time.”

I peeked up at him as I pushed the pants from his hips. “I’ve always known I’ve wanted you. I just always thought it was a fantasy.”

His big hands pushed up under my shirt, drawing it over my head. Cool air brushed across my heated skin.