I laugh, dropping the shirt on the end of the couch, and reach for her. I yank her off-balance as she catches herself with her hands on my chest, fingers curling into my skin.
“Your property, am I?” I ask huskily, and her grin widens. She pokes at the bite mark she left on my shoulder earlier.
“Uh-huh. I licked it, so it’s mine.” Lynley’s eyes are creased at the corners, no shadows darkening her eyes. She looks completely different from the woman I found lurkingoutside all those months ago, trying to convince herself to march inside and burn her world down.
“How long do we have the babysitter for?” I ask, my tone deliberately casual. Lynley eyes me suspiciously, like she can see through the facade to the uncertainty I’m still harboring over some unknown teenager looking after the kids. Lynley would never put Mase and Ginny in danger, but that certainty doesn’t soothe the uneasiness in my chest at the fact that they’re with someone I don’t know.
She shakes her head before checking the time. “Until five. We have a few hours left.”
I don’t look away from her, sorting through my thoughts, before deciding to bite the bullet. “Okay, good.”
“Good?” she asks, lifting her brows.
“Yeah. I’ve got somewhere I want to take you.”
Her brows lift, her eyes filled with curiosity. But all she says is, “Okay.” Her voice is so filled with trust that it takes me a minute to remember how to breathe.
I press a hard kiss to her mouth before letting her go and heading behind my desk to grab the gym bag I forgot to take home yesterday. There’s always a change of clothes in there, so I pull out a gray cotton shirt, aware of Lynley watching my every move with hungry eyes as I pull it over my head.
It doesn’t take me long to pack everything away. Just as I pocket my phone and snag her hand, making for the door, she pulls back, digging her heels in. “You forgot your jacket.”
I blink in bemusement, but her eyes are fixed on the way the cotton pulls taut across my chest. I smirk. “It’s not that cold out. Anyway, it feels like I have lava surging through my veins after my woman accosted me in my office.” I widen my eyes, giving her the most scandalizedlook I can muster. “I really hope Judith went home, or she might be scarred for life.”
Lynley’s mouth drops open in horror, her eyes fairly bulging. This time, the laugh comes from my gut, and she slaps me in the abdomen with the back of her hand. “You tease,” she accuses, but she can’t quite hide her own laughter.
“Maybe,” I murmur, my hand smoothing down her back until I find the garter belt, tracing the outline. “I also know what you’re wearing under this dress, so who’s the real tease here?”
Her cheeks warm to a rosy red, looking like ripe apples, and I can’t resist the urge to cup her face, planting another deep kiss on her lips. “I love you.”
Lynley sucks in a startled breath, her eyes flaring wide, locking with mine. I know why. She might be used to feeling it, but she’s new to hearing it. And the fact that she got there on her own, managing to surprise the fuck out of me…
It will be a memory I cherish forever—alongside the christening of my office, which I definitely hope happens again.
I know there was an element of her past with Christopher driving her today, almost like she was exorcising him from her life and reclaiming herself. I couldn’t help admiring the beautiful irony of her fucking her ex’s boss in the floor above his. It felt like poetic justice, and the smug asshole in me is pretty happy to have been taken along for the experience.
“Alright. Come on, then.” Aware of time ticking, I catch her hand again, dragging her from the office. I can’t stop the smile when she catches sight of Judith’s desk and heaves a sigh of relief.
It’s only just gone mid-afternoon and still busy enough that we get stopped by several people on our way down the elevator and across the lobby. I tangle our fingers together, keeping her closely tied to my side. More than a few people look askance at us, but if Lynley cares, she doesn’t show it.
It wouldn’t surprise me if more people knew about Christopher’s behavior, especially with his absolute lack of discretion, so the fact that Lynley traded up shouldn’t be a reason for them to judge her. If anything, they should judge themselves for not telling her before she found out the hard way.
We reach the front doors, and I tell her, “I’ll leave my car in the parking garage, and we’ll just take yours home.”
Her eyes glimmer at the wordhome—something that happens every single time, and something I’ll never get sick of. “How will you get your car?” she frets. “It’s Friday?—”
I lift a shoulder. “Don’t plan on leaving your side all weekend, so I won’t need it. You can play taxi driver for me.” I let my eyes go hooded, mouth tipping up suggestively. “Maybe we can pretend that I’ve forgotten my wallet.”
Lynley’s cheeks had returned to their normal color, but that has them flaming again, her eyes darting around to ensure no one’s listening. She doesn’t look totally averse to the idea.
She squeezes her fingers around mine without another word, leading me to where she’s parked her car. When she would have tried to shake me off, I grip her fingers tightly, holding my other hand out for the keys. Lynley hesitates, eyeing me through narrowed eyes, but then shrugs and drops them into my palm.
“I hate driving in the city anyway,” she says, her nose inching into the air.
“Of course, baby,” I agree. “And easier this way, seeing as you don’t know where we’re going.” Her head whips back my way, like she’s trying to gauge whether I’m teasing or not, but the corners of her mouth twitch up before she slides into the passenger seat.
I shove the driver’s seat all the way back before getting in, already having experienced the absolute claustrophobia of getting in at Lynley’s settings. She makes a low sound of amusement beside me.
“I’m really not that short.”
