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  Rolling off him, she pressed her ass into his hip as she cuddled into the pillow. “Night, JoHo.”

  Reaching over, he took ahold of her butt and closed his eyes as she shook with laughter. “What?”

  “Is this how we’re sleeping, your hand on my ass?”

  “Hey, it’s my ass to hold, and you’re in my bed, so shut it.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.”

  “Good.”

  “Great.”

  Shaking her head, she cuddled into the bed and said, “’Night.”

  “’Night, baby.”

  As his eyes closed, his heart slowed in his chest because he wanted this.

  He wanted her.

  All of her.

  “Vaughn, answer your phone.”

  “It’s not my phone. It’s yours.”

  “No, it’s yours.”

  “Babe, I don’t have Ed Sheeran as my damn ringtone.”

  “Oh,” Brie muttered before reaching for her phone off the nightstand in the apartment where she had been living for the last three days. Since the night she stayed, she hadn’t left. Well, except to take Rodney home and to go to work, but other than that, she was in bed with Vaughn. All the time. It was normal, even, at least for her. She was worried he was still a little nervous, but he wouldn’t let her leave. He actually asked for her to stay the last two nights, and man, what a feeling that was. Things were going well, really well, and she was happy as a clam.

  Feeling all sexy and sore, she looked at the screen to see that it was Elli.

  Why was she calling?

  Sitting up, she answered. “Hello?”

  “Hey, did I wake you?”

  “Yeah, I was sleeping in, but you’re fine.”

  “Oh, good, because I need to see you today, at noon.”

  Brie paused. “Oh? Is everything okay?”

  “I’m not sure yet, but I need to see you.”

  “Oh, okay, I’ll be there.”

  “Great, see you then.”

  Then the line went dead. “What the fuck?”

  Vaughn placed his hand on her back as Tricksie wiggled up the bed to her, licking her hand. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Elli wants to see me,” Brie said, her heart picking up in speed at the uncertainty, and it made her uneasy. She usually didn’t get called in to Elli’s office. It was usually Russell’s office, but since Rodney had been better, she had been on her game. Kicking ass at work. The special that she and Vaughn had done aired, and everyone loved it. They’d even trended on Twitter, so she wasn’t sure what could be wrong. But before she could say anything more, Vaughn’s phone rang. She looked back as he reached for it, answering it. “Hey, yeah. No, I’ve been awake, just being lazy. Oh. Am I in trouble? Okay, we have an issue. That’s not good, boss lady. No, I hear you. Yeah, I’ll be there. Okay, bye.”

  Meeting Brie’s gaze, he said, “Elli wants to see me at noon.”

  Her heart dropped. “Me too.”

  He looked away and muttered, “Fuck.”

  She could only nod. “Yeah, fuck.”

  “What do you think?” he asked, and she shrugged.

  “I was gonna ask you that.”

  “Fuck,” he groaned as he got out of bed, naked as the day was long, before he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Her heart just dropped. If he was nervous, then that wasn’t good at all. Looking over at her, he said, “I put toothpaste on your toothbrush.”

  “My hero.”

  He laughed at that, but all she could do was sit there as she racked her brain for what Elli would want to see them both about. Maybe she had found out about them. But would that require a meeting? Why would she care but to be happy for them? Elli did not sound happy on the phone. Shit, things had been going so damn great.

  Rodney was doing awesome. He was home, he was happy, and damn it, so was Brie. The Assassins had won their game her first night back. They had a game tomorrow that Vaughn was confident they would win, and she was excited. Their Stanley Cup run was going well, and they were battling the Hawks for the number one spot. Above all that, they were happy.

  The last three days had been almost a fairy tale. They’d spent every waking moment together. Since he was letting her sleep with him after she basically forced herself into his bed, they never left. Tricksie was there, and it was nice. Just them…and Jensen, who bitched a lot about how loud they were. Not that Brie cared. Nor did Vaughn. If anything, he got louder just to piss Jensen off. But even that couldn’t make her smile as she got up and went to the bathroom.

  As she reached for her toothbrush, Vaughn covered her hand with his. “I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t worry about it.”

  She held his gaze in the mirror. “Hard not to.”

  “Yeah, but we’re good. So it doesn’t matter.” Leaning over, he kissed her lips but then pulled away quickly, scrunching up his face. “Brush your teeth.”

  Grinning up at him as he passed by, she watched while he went to his closet. He was right, they were good.

  Really damn good.

  But were they good enough to handle whatever Elli had to say?

  “Mrs. Adler, Vaughn Johansson and Brianna Soledad are here for your noon meeting.”

  “Okay, go to lunch, and lock up behind you.”

  Brie looked to Vaughn, and he sucked in a deep breath.

  That wasn’t good.

  “Have a seat,” Elli’s assistant said.

  They did as they were told, and when they sat, Brie’s leg started bouncing like crazy as he played on his phone. Cool as a cucumber, no cares in the world. “Why did she send the assistant to lunch? Because of us?”

  He shrugged. “Not sure.”

  “Why aren’t you nervous?”

  “’Cause there isn’t anything I can do until I get in there.”

  “I understand that, but what could this be about?”

  “I have no clue,” he said, looking up at her. His body was stretched out in the chair while she was wound so tight she could scream. “But, I mean, I’m sure it’s fine. Elli isn’t an asshole.”

  That was true, she knew that. Yet, it didn’t calm her at all. When the door opened to Elli’s office, Brie almost came out of her seat as Elli filled the doorway. While she looked like a billion bucks in a pair of jeans that were rolled up at the ankle with a long, expensive-looking blue sweater along with gold jewelry and gold pumps that probably cost more than Brie’s apartment, when Brie made it to her face, her stomach dropped.

  Elli was not happy.

  Vaughn must have noticed it too because he turned on the charm quickly. “Ever so gorgeous. Have you lost weight?”

  She scoffed. “Actually gained it, but thanks, come on in.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked as he passed her. “You look thinner than when I saw you a couple weeks ago.”

  “I’m sure. It’s the sweater, hides the weight.”

  “Pfft, you don’t need to hide anything.”

  “Ha. Have a seat, Vaughn. Brie.”

  Brie was silent as she walked in, sitting beside Vaughn as he leaned on his knees, looking over at her and sending her a wink before looking back at Elli. “Is that a new picture of Quinny? He’s so cute. Though, Shelli is growing into a little lady.”

  Elli smiled as she sat slowly. “Stop, Vaughn.”

  Vaughn choked a bit. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re rambling.”

  “Oh, am I?” he asked, looking to Brie, and she nodded quickly.

  “Just a bit.”

  “Oh. My bad.”

  Folding her hands together, Elli looked out at the both of them. “I’m sure you two are wondering why I called y’all here.” When they didn’t answer, she went on. “I’m actually surprised I didn’t walk out there to you two taking digs at each other.”

  Brie pressed her lips together as Vaughn glanced over at her and then to Elli. “I guess we’ve worked out our differences.”

  “Oh, have you?” she asked, lean