“I don’t want to share it.”
I lick my lips and see a leap of sadness cross his eyes before he looks down.
“I give it freely. All of it. It belongs to you.”
His eyes flash to mine with a wide streak of desire coursing through him, with lust and hunger mixed in. I smile at the look, happy to see it on his face. ThatIput it there.
“Your mother might not give us the time you want, though.”
He barks out a laugh at my words, and I giggle as he nods. “You’re right. She’s probably picking out the china pattern already.” He lets go of my neck and runs his hand through his hair with a soft chuckle.
I stand up but then slowly sit back down, this time with a knee on either side of him and my hands wrapped around his neck.
“Am I hurting you?”
“You could never.” He smiles softly as his hands move up and down my cloth-covered thighs.
“You know I don’t care about that, right?” He tilts his head at my words. “The china and stuff.” I wave my hand around and hope he gets what I’m saying. “When I was a little girl, I never thought of a life outside of dance. When my parents died….” I take a second to swallow the emotion that bubbles up.
We still don’t know what part they played in this. I’m not even certain that I want to know. I’m sure Tommy and his brothers will find out the truth, or will try at least. But unless someone else was involved, everyone who might know the truth is dead. Digging it up won’t change the fact that it’s all in the past. A past that can’t change how I feel. Not anymore.
“When they died, I just hoped to make it to the next day. There was no future. But then you showed up and gave me everything missing from my life. Gave me a choice to keep the past and the present and still find a way to be me in both. I don’t care when we get married or how big and grand your mother makes it.”
Because I can already tell she will. The woman was practically salivating at the hospital, firing off question after question about what my favorite things were. Favorite foods, color, even if I like a certain song, no doubt putting all that information into a memory vault to use to make our wedding magical.
“I just want you. Only you.”
“And you have me.” He moves his hands up from my thighs, rounding my back and cupping me close to him. “All of me.” He leans in close. “Forever.”
His lips touch mine, and I open to him, giving him all my love. All my fears, hopes, dreams. Everything. If I have it, I give it to him. I’m no longer afraid to give this part of myself over to him. To explore it together and see where it leads.
I have him. He has me.
And there’s nothing else thatmatters.
Epilogue—Bobby
“Sir.”
Pushing the button on the intercom, I speak to my secretary. “What is it?”
“Your assistant called in sick,” Alfonso replies.
“Again? What’s the excuse this time?” I feel my anger rise above the surface and take a second to grab the stress ball on the desk to squeeze it instead of punching a hole in something. Again.
“Childcare, I think. Something about a sick kid or dog. Didn’t catch the details.”
Typical of Alfonso. Unless I ask about it, he really doesn’t give two shits what anyone else says or does. I appreciate his priority to me, but some days I could use a bit more information. Was it family or an animal? Some might treat animals as family, but they are not. A dog isn’t the same as a child. But that still doesn’t help me in my current situation of being down an assistant.
“Fire them. I’m not running a charity. If they can’t make the hours, they don’t get paid. This seems to be a repetitive thing around the office of late, and I’m tired of it. Make it known that I expect this job to come first. Family comes second.”
“On it.” I can already hear the click-clacking of him typing up the email for human resources to send out before the line clicks off. He knows never to let my rants go out tothe company without making sure the legal department covers my ass, to prevent unnecessary lawsuits from sensitive employees who care more about their feelings than the job.
“Why is it so hard to find decent employees these days?” I mumble out loud, but per usual, no one answers. My office is like my home, vacant of other people. If I need something, I go to them. Not the other way around. I prefer my space to be kept private in every sense of the word.
It also makes it easier to clean with only me being there to make a mess. Not that I do. Nothing is out of place, and the system works well for always finding what I need when I need it.
“Sir.”
