“I’m sorry about what I said. I was an ass to diminish this amazing opportunity for you. Instead of criticizing, I should've congratulated you. If I did, we would’ve never gotten into the fight and you would never have questioned how proud I am of you.” I said, my chest heaved up and down beneath the weight ofElise’s stare as I waited to see what the fate of our relationship would be.
“I understand where you’re coming from. Titan does have a bit of a reputation when it comes to women. It's not easy for any man to know his woman is going to be around a man like that. But if we’re going to be together, I need you to trust me.”
“I trust you, cupcake.” I sure as shit didn’t like it and I would definitely be at every fucking show of the tour though.
“Then apology accepted.” The words barely left her mouth before I crashed my lips onto hers.
Satisfaction laced through me as Elise wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her chest against me. “And there is noif,”I told her after pulling away. “We’re together. I’m not letting you go.”
“Never?”
“Never.” I confirmed before brushing my lips against hers one more time. “And you know why, Cupcake?”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.” The words slipped out before I could stop them. I hadn’t planned on saying them like this. But the second they left my mouth, I knew they were true. Knew they’d been sitting on the tip of my tongue, waiting for the right moment.
And somehow, this was it.
“I should’ve said it the night you told me in Disney, but I was scared. I knew if I said it back, there’d be no pretending anymore. And I’ve never had anything I couldn’t walk away from... Not until you, Cupcake. I love you.”
“You had me at the first I love you,” Elise giggled before tightening her hold around my neck. “I love you too.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you. I love—”
I kissed the rest of her words away, slow and deep, backing her toward the bed until we tumbled onto it together in a tangle of limbs and laughter. Elise squirmed beneath me, her breath catching as I pressed soft kisses along her neck, pausing where I knew she liked it most. The moment my lips found that spot, she let out a soft sound that sent warmth flooding through me.
God, I loved her.
All I could think about was holding her close, skin to skin, until nothing existed but us.
“I need you,” I murmured against her skin.
Elise shivered, her fingers curling around my neck. “Not here.”
I nuzzled her jaw, barely suppressing a groan as I pressed against her. “What’s wrong with here?”
She bit her bottom lip, breathless. “Kelsey’s room.”
I let out a quiet curse. “I’ll buy her a new bed.”
Elise gasped, caught somewhere between a laugh and a whimper, but I didn’t let her speak. I kissed her again, gently this time, savoring the way she melted into me, her hands finding mine.
And by the time the sun rose, I had spent the entire night wrapped around the only woman I’d ever love, showing her, in every way I could, what she meant to me.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
NATHAN
BEING WITH ELISEhad me doing things I've never done before. Like leaving the office early. Not because there wasn’t a mountain of work waiting for me, but because the thought of stealing a little more time with her was worth whatever piled up behind me.
I used to look forward to late nights at the office. The silence after everyone left. Now, I was walking out in the middle of the day, ignoring the looks that followed me to the elevators, because for the first time, quiet wasn’t where I wanted to be.
I leaned against the Maserati, arms crossed careful not to crush the bouquet of tulips in my hand as I stood outside the dance studio waiting for Elise. She emerged from the front door a few minutes later, laughing at something that Kelsey said, her bag slung on her shoulder and hair pulled back in a ponytail.Even in sweatpants and a crop top, she still managed to be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.
And she's mine.
