*Brielle POV

"Are we still going to trivia?" I ask Lars, sitting in the passenger seat of his black car.

I love how he drives with one hand rested on my thigh and one hand on the wheel. There's something so sexy about a guy driving like that.

"I thought we could do pizza and a movie at my place?"

I gulp. 'I've never been to his place before.'

But butterflies and excitement take over, making me smile. "Sounds great!"

Lars grins and we speed off towards his place.

"Holy shit," I slowly say, mouth wide open, gaping at his apartment. "This place is giant, like huge, like giant..."

He laughs, "yeah paid a pretty penny for it, but it's worth it. I love unwinding here at the end of the day."

"I can see why," I agree.

All of the walls are ceiling to floor windows and you overlook all of New York. It's impeccably decorated, with a modern feel.

"So tell me....why do we ever hang out at my place?" I joke.

He chuckles, heading towards the kitchen. He pulls out two wine glasses and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. "I've been wanting to invite you over for a while now."

"So where are we getting pizza from?" I ask, taking a sip of wine.

Lars face looks amused, "you think we're ordering pizza? Hell no, I'm making it."

"I'm impressed," I mock his amused expression.

"Keep me company in here?" He asks, motioning for me to sit at the counter.

"So what happened today, that made you so angry?" I decide to ask.

His face tightens a bit, "incompetent people."

"That's your answer? Really?"

He sighs, "Caleb gave some of our products away to the wrong people. Our loyal customers are going to be very, very upset when they find this out. They're going to think we betrayed them."

I snort, "seems kinda dramatic. I'm sure they'll be understanding."

This time he snorts, "oh, I wish Brielle, I wish."

'Why would that be such a big deal?' I think to myself, before shaking my head, clearing my thoughts.

"Can I ask you about what happened today?" Lars hesitantly questions.

I let out a breath, not wanting to tell him everything yet.

"Well, I had an abusive ex boyfriend...he had bad anger issues..." I trail off, not wanting to go into detail.

Lars starts chopping the salad vegetables a little harder, clenching his jaw. "Somebody hurt you?" He asks, clearly holding back his anger.

"It's in the past. I'm okay. I'm alive and I got away from him, that's what matters," I reach out and touch his arm. "Just seeing you so angry, idk it's like a switch went off in my head."

"Have you had that happen before to you? The flashbacks?"

"Yeah, every now and then I'll have flashbacks. Sometimes nightmares. Hyper vigilance. Stuff like that."

Lars pauses what he's doing and grabs my face softly, making me melt into his hand.

"No matter how angry I ever get, I would never hurt you," he says seriously, looking into my eyes.

"I know," I say back, swallowing hard at how strong of a connection we have. We get lost in each other. It's like the whole world stops around us. It's insane.

"I promise over time, I'll tell you everything," I assure him.

"Whenever you're ready, I'm here." He answers sincerely and goes back to making our dinner.

After another glass of wine, and some harmless ragging on each other, dinner is almost ready.

"I'll go pick the movie," I offer, as Lars adds the finishing touches to our meal.

I sit down on his giant grey couch and look for the remote.

"Remote...remote...where would I be if I were a remote?" I mumble to myself, searching around.

I open the drawer to the coffee table, and freeze slightly at what is in it.

A hand gun.

"You have a gun?" I ask as Lars sets down our plates and takes a seat next to me.

"Of course I do, it's a big city. Are you okay with that?" He looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Honey, I grew up in the dirty south. We've always had guns around."

Lars laughs, shutting the drawer and opening the one next to it, grabbing the remote.

"Shall we watch our show?" Lars offers.

I smile and nod once.

He smiles back, "good."

*10 P.M.

We've been watching 'Arrow' now for a couple hours, cuddled up together, making comments about the show, and yelling at the characters.

"How about a glass of wine on the balcony?" Lars asks.

"Sure," I smile.

We sit down on his balcony on a giant chair.

The slightly chilly summer night air hits my skin and I shiver, causing Lars to pull me in close to his body.

I can feel the sexual tension in the air, and hear both of our breathing get a little heavier.

He moves my hair to the side, and plants soft kisses down my neck.

I moan and tilt my head further to the side to give him better access.

"I want to make you moan like that every day for the rest of your life," he growls at me.

"Then do it," I boldly say.

His kisses trail down to my shoulder and he slowly makes his way back up my neck. Reaching my ear, he slightly bites the bottom

of my ear.

"As badly as I want to," he pauses and takes my hand into his, before placing it over his pants in his crotch so that I can feel how hard he is. "And. I. Fucking. Want. To." He pauses again, "we've been drinking, and I don't want you to regret it. So we will wait."

I want to protest, but I know there's no winning this battle. "Fine, but I definitely would not regret it."

"Would you like to stay with me tonight?" He offers.

I smile and bite my lip, "I'd like that very much."

He grins, "good." And places a kiss on my cheek. "Let's go put on a movie and lay in bed."

I slip on a shirt he gives me, and slide off my jeans. I can see him checking me out, and approving of my appearance.

'Good thing I wore my cute black lacy panties,' I think to myself.

He also takes off his pants and then lifts his shirt over his head, leaving him in just boxer briefs.

'Come to momma,' I suggestively think in my head, almost making myself laugh out loud.

While I'm shamelessly checking him out, I see something that looks familiar on his back. I've seen a similar tattoo before somewhere.

*Authors Note: just imagine this without a background.

"That's an amazing tattoo," I comment.

He grins and winks, "Black Ink Enterprises....get it?"

"Ahhh!" I exclaim, understanding the meaning of the name of his business.

He laughs and motions for me to get into bed. Cuddled up on his warm, toned chest, I fall fast asleep.