I feign shock. “No!”

“Yes. It’s quite the minefield to navigate.”

“I’m sure Ryan is happy to carry you over all the little bumps and incendiary devices.”

“My feet barely even touch the ground,” she says wistfully.

“You’re loving it. I’m so happy for you.”

“You know, on the whole, it feels pretty much the same as being single. Except with jewelry,” she adds, waggling her left hand and showing off her wedding band.

“Bullshit.”

“Hey, we were practically married before. So it was really no big deal to tie the knot officially.”

I just smile, because I know how big of a deal it was. Jamie’s fear of matrimony almost made her blow the best thing that ever happened to her.

“So where is the man of your house?” I ask. “You were attached at the hip when you first got married. But that was months ago on Valentine’s Day.” I make a sad face and try not to crack a smile. “Has the bloom worn off?”

“Ha ha. We’re both working to prep for the premiere,” she says. “Which means I’m here negotiating high-level interviews with techno-savvy socialites—”

I make a face.

“—and he’s with his slave driver of a boss, otherwise known as your husband, to talk about tightening up security.” She glances over my shoulder toward the window and the view of Ventura Boulevard. “Actually, maybe he’s not.”

I frown, then turn around to see what she’s looking at.

Right there, parked just outside the window, is a shiny red Bugatti Veyron, one of the world’s most expensive cars.

And one of my husband’s favorite toys.

Within seconds after I notice Damien’s car, my phone pings with an incoming text.

Here. Now.

I grimace, then glance at Jamie. “Apparently, I need to go. You’ll get the check?”

“Rules,” she says. “It’s a minefield.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve tripped a detonator,” I say as I remember that my iPad was in the apartment. And that my text messages flash across the lock screen.

“Good luck,” she says, then grabs a section from my half of the sandwich.

I give her a wave, then head outside.

Then I draw in a deep breath for courage before I get into the car and stow my shopping bags at my feet.

Sure enough, my iPad is sitting in the passenger seat. It’s quiet now, with nothing on the screen. But I scowl at it, anyway. “Traitor,” I say.

“On the contrary,” Damien says. “I’m considering offering your iPad a job in security. Certainly it’s doing a better job keeping me informed about threats to my wife than the lady herself is managing.”

“I was going to—”

He holds up a finger, then waves it back and forth, indicating that I need to stay silent.

“But—”

“No.”

I press my lips together and lean back in the seat. I know well enough that it’s best not to argue. Not yet, anyway.

“Where are we going?” I ask as he pulls into traffic, and though he doesn’t say anything, in a few moments, I have my answer. He turns into the parking lot of my office condo, kills the engine, then gestures for me to follow him.

We walk in silence up to my office, and the moment the door closes behind us, he grabs me and pulls me to him, holding me in such a tight embrace, I think I just might suffocate.

“Damien—Damien.”

He releases me, but before I can say another word, his mouth is on mine, his hands roaming my body, pulling up my skirt, tugging down my panties.

I’m gasping, my contrite guilt at not having told him about the texts disappearing under a wave of pure arousal.

“On the desk,” he says, but before I have the chance to move there, he’s lifted me up and sat my bare ass on the polished wood. He spreads my legs, drops to his knees, and buries his face between my thighs.

I shudder with the building excitement, then lean back, putting my weight on one hand. I spread my legs even wider as I use my other hand to slide my fingers in his hair and hold his head as he goes down on me, his tongue licking and teasing and turning me on so much that all I can think of is the building explosion.

Then he pulls back, and I whimper with a disappointment that fades as quickly as it came. Because now Damien is standing between my legs, and his fly is open and his cock is out. He holds my ass in one hand and scoots me to the edge, so that his cock is right at my core. And then, with one wild, hard movement, he thrusts deep inside me, fucking me hard, punishing me beautifully.

“Lie back,” he orders, and I do, resting my back and shoulders on the desk. He lifts my hips, then tugs me toward him even as he buries himself deeper and deeper inside me. He needs this, I know. Needs to feel that I’m safe and here. Needs to know that no matter how wildly the world around us spins, he still has some measure of control—even if it’s only the control of my body, my pleasure. Even if it’s only ensuring that he and I are together, always.

And so he takes from me as hard as he gives. It’s wild and brutal, and I’m so wet and turned on that I know I will explode any minute.

I reach my hand between my legs, teasing my clit with my fingers and also stroking his cock as he enters me, harder and faster, until finally his body lurches and he bursts inside me, falling on top of me and pinning me down as the final throes of the orgasm rack through his body.

I squirm against him, seeking release as he recovers. “I shouldn’t let you come,” he murmurs. “More than that, I should spank your ass.”

I’m in no position to argue. Instead, I just beg. “Please,” I say. “Damien, please.”

He slides his hand between us and teases my clit with firm, sure motions that have desire building anew inside me. Higher and higher, until I’m so wound up that when the explosion comes, I open my mouth to scream.

Only a squeak gets out, though, because he captures the sound with a kiss. That’s for the best, I think as sanity returns. I hardly need to shock Marge.

We sprawl on my desktop, half naked and sated from this wild, unexpected encounter. Soon, though, Damien gets up, then tugs me to my feet and leads me to the couch.

“Why?” he says, taking a seat beside me and adjusting my clothes. “I saw the message flash on your screen, so I opened your app and saw two others with it. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”