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She gets up and I watch her go to the bathroom, so I excuse myself. I wait outside the bathroom and when she walks out, I push off the wall.
“Corbin, what the hell?”
“Is it that you hate me or you hate the idea of Leah being with me?” I ask.
She steps back, crossing her arms. Her red hair falls around her shoulders as she shrugs. “You caused her years of hurt, hatred, and stress. You mocked her, treated her like she was beneath you, talked shit about her and her shop. You made her question the way she acts because you labeled her as a spoiled princess. You’ll never know how many nights I sat up with her when she finally let the anger go and the tears flow. You made her miserable and now suddenly you want me to believe you’ve changed how you think of her and treat her, so drastically that you guys are in a relationship? The only thing that’s going to happen is that you’re going to break her heart because when she’s in, she’s all in. When you’re done fucking around with her and making her believe there’s something more there, you’ll walk away, and she’ll be crushed. So, to answer your question, I hate you and I hate the idea of Leah being with you.”
She goes to walk away, and I gently grab her arm. She raises an eyebrow and I let go, nodding. “You’re right. I was an asshole. I treated her badly. I made things harder for her. But I did it because from the second my eyes landed on her; I wanted her. Her loud contagious laugh. Her bright brilliant tattoos. Her perfect body. Her undeniable talent. Her ability to talk to someone like she’s known them her entire life. Her generosity, compassion, and gentleness. The way a room lights up when she walks in. The way everyone turns to notice her. I know I fucked up treating her the way I did, just like she knows she fucked up treating me the way she did. I’ll continue to make her see how wrong I was, and I can only hope that you’ll see it too. I don’t need your blessing, but I know Leah will. So, what do you say, can you try to see the better side of me?”
She sighs and shrugs. “If you hurt her, I will personally make sure you suffer the rest of your life.”
I stick out my hand and nod. “Deal.”
She shakes my hand, and we head back to the table.
Everything she said, as painful as it was to hear, was right. Leah and I need to talk. I want her to understand that I know I fucked up.
I don’t want to lose her before I even have her.
Because as far as I’m concerned — she’s mine.
Chapter 9
Leah
We’re at Corbin’s place again working on our design. We spend most of our time here because it’s really the only place we can be alone. Now that our friends know, they are constantly interrupting us if we are trying to work at either of our shops. Not to mention we almost got caught a few times while we were having sex.
Today though we are finishing the design. Lucas will be here in the next day or so and this has been put off too long. Sabbath Ink is having one of their private parties, which Arya and Fay are at. So that means Corbin and I will have no interruptions.
I’m leaning over the counter, putting some color into the feathers, eyes, beak, and feet. We decided that having a light blue background, mimicking water, was a great contrast to the mostly gray and white falcon. I convinced Corbin to let me do just a bit of random color and if he hates it, we will continue to work it out.
I feel him step up behind me and I smile, loving how close we’ve gotten in the last few weeks. It’s hard to believe he’s the same guy that I thought I hated so much.
He places a soft kiss on my bare shoulder, and I turn my head. “You aren’t supposed to look until I’m done.”
His strong arms wrap around my waist as he pulls my back against him. “I’m not looking at the design, I was looking down your shirt.”
I laugh, swatting his arm. “Yeah right.”
He chuckles and moves his hands up to cup my breasts over my shirt. “You’re right, I was peeking but now I wanna look down your shirt.”
I turn around and wrap my arms around his neck. “Focus for a minute. This is a big deal for both of us.” He nods, grabbing onto my ass. “Look at it with color. It brings it to life.”
He glances behind me and releases me quickly to pick up the drawing. He studies it and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I think it’s absolutely perfect and I’m hoping he feels the same.
He turns around staring at me and I bite my lip. His eyes are bouncing between mine as he steps closer, holding the sketch paper.
“Leah, I don’t like being proven wrong, but you seem to do that over and over lately. This design, our styles combined as one, is fucking amazing. This is it, baby. This is the design.”
I smile jumping into his arms. “It is fucking amazing.”
He places the paper on the counter and walks us over to the couch. My body is burning with want but when he sits down and holds me closer, I wonder what the hell is going on. He’s not tossing me on the couch or pushing me against the wall. He’s not ripping my clothes off or trashing another thong.
He lifts my chin, forcing me to look at him and I tilt my head slightly. “What’s going on?”
He clears his throat as his hands move up and down my back. “When I first saw you walk into J.R.’s shop, I thought to myself, damn that girl is a pin-up model.”
I smile and go to speak but he quiets me with a quick kiss.
