I swallowed, glanced at his chest, and managed, “Cute sweatshirt.”Oh, yeah, I was on a roll, all right.
Thaddeus glanced down at his—myold sweatshirt, and finally, a grin that actually met his eyes. “What can I say? It holds good memories.” He switched his attention tomyT-shirt. “I could say the same about what you’re wearing.”
I looked down and shrugged. “Just goes to prove we’re a couple of arses, right?”
A much longer silence this time, then?—
“Thaddeus—”
“Ryder—”
We spoke at the same time and then laughed.
I swept a hand in front of me. “Please. You first.”
Thaddeus nodded. “I didn’t see your texts until I’d left the meeting. When I did, I decided to take a chance and come straight here. I didn’t want to talk with everyone around. I hope that’s okay.” He winced. “The truth is, I didn’t want to reply and risk you sayingnoornot tonight. When you took longer than I thought to get back, I decided to sit on the front deck and wait.”
“I drove to your old apartment,” I blurted. “After the meeting.”
Thaddeus’s brows hit his hairline. “You did?”
I nodded. “I wanted to talk too, and I wanted to thank you for tonight. Some woman in your building told me you’d sold and that she thought you were moving to Auckland.”
Thaddeus was watching me closely as he said, “It’s certainly an option. I have an interview up there next week with a company working on green hydrogen as a renewable fuel. Theirsoftware engineer had to return to the UK due to a family issue. They need someone with skills in the electrolysis component.”
I bypassed the complicated reasoning and skipped straight to the important part. “If moving to Auckland is only one option, then that means you have others, right?”
He bit his lip and studied me intently. “I don’t need boots on the ground to do what I do. The majority of my work can be done with a reliable and fast internet connection and regular trips to Auckland.”
I took a small step forward. “But you sold your apartment.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up, and he mirrored my step forward. “I hated that apartment.”
I fought the hope growing in my heart as I took another step forward. “Where will you live?”
He took a lot longer to answer this time, finally settling on, “That depends.”
I took another step. “On?”
There was a glimpse of light in his golden eyes. “Well... I was kind of hoping you might help me figure that out.”
My heart thundered against my ribs. “I’d like that. I’d like it very much.”
Thaddeus’s shoulders dropped, and he took a sudden gulp of air. “That’s... good, cos I was thinking maybe I could look for somewhere close. An easy drive from the cottage?” His turn to take a step. “That is, if you can forgive the past mistakes of a man who is falling head over heels for you, who very much regrets hurting you, and who wishes with all he has that he could go back and change everything.” He frowned. “Except for the liking you part. And the Ziggy part. And, of course, the whole swimming hole incident, and the glow worm thing. Oh, and the sleeping with you part as well, cos the sex was kind of hot.” He bit back a smile. “I wouldn’t change any of that in a million years. But Iwouldchange the fact that I wasn’t upfront with you. AndI’d change how ignorant I was about some of the work I’ve done. And I’d promise that would never happen again.”
I closed the distance between us and scooped him into my arms, burying my face in his hair and drinking in his scent until it flooded my heart. “AndI’dtell you that I should’ve listened and not been so quick to judge. I’d tell you that I hated it when you left, and that all I’ve done since is think of you and wish I’d done things differently. I’d tell you that I ran too. That I was scared of letting you in and then losing you like James. And I’d tell you that I realised all of this and sent that first text before I even heard your speech.”
Thaddeus leaned back, his eyes wide in disbelief. “You did?”
I nodded. “It was during the break.”
Thaddeus beamed from ear to ear. “Thank you. That means so fucking much. Thank you for believing in me.”
“Shut the fuck up and let me kiss you.” I pressed my mouth to his, slow and gentle, just a brush of lips between hot breaths, a cautious coming home.
His hands grasped my hips and drew me closer, the contact firing a low thrum of heat in my groin—a need I’d spent three weeks pretending I didn’t have to meet. He arched his back, our cocks brushed, and his fingertips dug into my flesh, demanding more. Our tongues collided, and all decency was set aside. We devoured each other, hungry and desperate and aching to connect.
I fisted the back of his sweatshirt,mysweatshirt, and the world narrowed to a small bubble of blissful sensations—the brush of his moustache over my beard, the familiar scent of him crashing through my brain, his greedy tongue, his delicious taste, and those golden eyes locked on mine.
