His smile spreads like royal icing on a sugar cookie. Joy pulses in his gaze. “What you said earlier about not knowing how to put your feelings into words? You were wrong.” His thumb caresses my cheekbone. “That was the best thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”
His gaze drops to my mouth. The delight slides from his brown eyes, replaced with something more intense. His lashes lift as he pins me with a look so acute with longing, I feel it in the core of my being.
“May I kiss you? Please.”
I barely nod before his mouth descends. It’s a good thing I’m holding on to his shirt, or my knees would have given out on me, washed away on the wave of feelings surging through me. Love, desire, joy, passion, contentedness, belonging.
His arm wraps around my back to support me further. My lips have taken on the vocation of cartographer. I map each ridge and crest of his lips. Record the way he moves above me. The push and pull. Give and take. I’m sure I could explore his kiss for the rest of my life and still learn new things each time. A challenge I willingly and ardently accept.
I can feel his mouth pulling away from mine, but I’m not finished cataloguing the security of his arms around me or the way his teeth deliciously but gently scrape across my bottom lip. I chase him as he pulls back. He chuckles and rewards me with another kiss.
Click. Swish.
The elevator doors slide open.
Applause erupts from the office. Someone whistles. Jeremy grins against my mouth. Slowly, he lifts his head and shifts his body to shield me from our spectators.
I’m a deer caught in headlights. Waiting. Frozen.
Jeremy kisses the corner of my mouth. My jaw. The lobe of my ear.
Like butter on warm toast, I melt.
“Your choice,” he says for my ears only. “Face them now or later? I’m with you either way.”
With me.
Jeremy is with me. While I know he’s not a magic pill that will cure me of every and all social anxiety from here until eternity, having him beside me does buoy me with strength.
“There you two are.” Sofiya places one foot in the elevator and keeps the other in the office, blocking the doors from closing. “It’s time to make my announcement.”
She ushers us into the center of the room, effectively stealing the choice Jeremy had given me moments before. He squeezes my hand as he smiles down at me. He’s telling me everything will be all right.
He’s right. It will be all right. Because Sofiya can’t take away the choice we’ve both already made today.
Each other.
28
Sofiya is ignoring me. I’m staring at the back of her head like my eyes have the power of touch, and she has yet to turn around. She continues to have a conversation with Derek and Annabelle, a fried chicken drumstick in her hand. I’ve already told her I won’t take the promotion if she offers it to me, but she didn’t seem to take me seriously. I need to tell her again. Preferably before she gets everyone’s attention and makes her announcement. I don’t want to make a scene.
Jeremy’s hand moves from my back to my waist. His fingers curl around my hip to draw me closer to his side. He hasn’t stopped touching me since we were caught making out in the elevator. Little touches. Connections, really. Pinkies hooked together. A light graze of our arms. Every caress and surreptitious smile is a reality check. This isn’t one of my daydreams. I’m not going to blink and find I’ve imagined the whole thing.
“I’m not taking the promotion.” He says it for my ears only, but he’s lifting his hand in greeting to Lincoln and his wife, who have just arrived.
“You have to,” I say around my forced smile as I wave as well.
“It’s not happening.” His face is placid and pleasant. No hint that we’re having a disagreement.
I want to stamp my foot. “Yes, it is.”
Keri strides up with a cup of ponche in her hand. The drink is bright red from the hibiscus flowers, a variety of fresh fruits floating in the cup. “Congratulations.” She envelopes me in a hug. “Attention training?” she whispers in my ear. “I shouldn’t say I told you so, but I did.” She pulls back. Looks between me and Jeremy. Her brows pucker. “There’s tension here, and not the kind I was expecting. What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Jeremy and I both mumble.
Keri’s brows jump. A grin blooms on her lips. “Are you guys having your first fight as a couple?”
I don’t look at Jeremy to see his reaction, but if it’s similar to mine, he’s grinding his teeth.
