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Tilly just stared, didn’t have words. She had to pry Luke away from work, and here Gage came simply because it was important. How the hell did she stay mad? Her voice softened, “I can’t tell you what that means to me. I really can’t.”
“You don’t have to tell me; you could come here and show me by giving me a kiss.” Gage winked at her.
Tilly thought about that for exactly two seconds, even taking a quick glance around. She was at her daughter’s school. To hell with it, she stepped into him, her arms going around his neck as she lifted her head and smiled. “I can do that.”
Gage closed the distance between them, his head bending to touch her lips. His arms went around her waist when he deepened the kiss. The world around faded away, both forgetting their surroundings and any consequences that could follow their actions. Their need… their want becoming so strong for each other that both were going the distance to exploit themselves at the hand of their obsession for one another.
Tilly didn’t want to, but she pulled back from Gage. Her tongue ran over her lower lip to savor his taste. “I have to get back inside.” Her voice reflecting the struggle because all she wanted right then was to stay right where she was. “Thank you for…” she stopped herself, lacing her fingers at his neck, and kissed him again, her lips lingering when she added, “So fucking good to see you.”
Gage laid his forehead against hers. “Two days is a long time.” He kissed her then told her, “Go.” Even though the words hurt when he spoke them. He didn’t want to watch her walk away…again. Because as many times as he did, it never got any easier.
She started walking backwards. “I love why you came...I love that you’re here.” She stopped, moved back to him, kissed him, letting it linger for a second. “I love you,” she whispered.
Gage enclosed his arms around Tilly’s waist, again. “I love you,” he told her and kissed her firm on her lips. He looked into her eyes a beat before he admitted, “I don’t wanna let you go.”
“I don’t want you to let me go. Two daysistoo fucking long. Even just this little bit of time with you, I really needed it.”
Gage brushed his lips across Tilly’s, once more, their mouths opening ever so slightly, brushing tongues before breaking apart. Their breaths coating a warmth between them. “I have a full schedule tomorrow, but Christmas Eve morning, let’s meet at the Hyatt in Philly, yeah?”
Her kids would be home, and Luke and his new lease on life, but Tilly would figure something out. She wanted time with him, real time, not stolen moments. “I’ll be there.”
Gage kissed her again, his lips lingering on hers as he held her firm to his body, a hand moving down to graze across her ass. “The room will be under Tillian Sutherland.” He grinned at her. But fuck, the sound of that. The way it felt on his tongue was almost as sweet as the taste of her pussy.
Between his hand on her ass and hearing him say Tillian Sutherland, she bit her lip, “You’re making it very hard for me to walk away.”
“You’re making me hard,” Gage teased.
It was freezing outside, but Tilly was burning up. “I’m leaving or I won’t be leaving, and we’ll be explaining ourselves to Luke tonight.” And even as she said it, it took effort to move away from him, looking as he did. He was the only thing she wanted for Christmas, the only thing she wanted period. It scared her a little at how much she was willing to give up for him. Even now, risking getting caught, knowing someone could stumble onto them...including Luke, but a part of her didn’t care. Like the blood coursing through her veins, Gage was a part of her, and every day her need for him grew. He was becoming so vital to her she didn’t know how she’d ever functioned without him.
Gage stood, watching Tilly walk backwards, her arms folded over her chest, hands rubbing her biceps for warmth. He took in the long black skirt with buttons running down it, and the dark purple cable knit sweater she was wearing, wanting to be there when she dressed, to be there at night to help her take her clothes off, to be there to spend an hour in a hot tub, taking the chill of the day away. But all he could do was watch her walk away and hope that one day he’d get to do just that with her. She was steps away; the distance grew farther, but their eyes still held one another. The words fell from his lips before he had a chance to stop them. “I’m gonna marry you one day, Tillian.”
Tilly stopped moving. At his words, love didn’t rush through her, it moved slowly, claiming her as it went, filling her completely. He was going to marry her one day. Tears hit her eyes, a happiness she’d never felt, one that he upped every time she was around him. How the hell did she walk away, how did she go back to her life when what she wanted was right in front of her? She wanted to close the distance, wanted to feel his hard body against hers again, but she didn’t. She didn’t make a move to walk away either, she just held his gaze, tears filling her eyes and made a vow of her own. “I’m going to hold you to that, Gage.”
Gage’s lips tipped up on one side when he replied, “And I’m gonna hold you forever.” He winked.
How she stayed where she was, surprised her, because all she wanted to do was run to him. Instead, she touched her lips to her two fingers and blew it to Gage before she reached for the door. “Christmas Eve.”
Gage made like he caught it and tucked it into his pocket, grinned and repeated, “Christmas Eve.” Gage watched her disappear inside the door. He wanted to follow, even if it was to stand in the back of the room and watch Ashley. And watch Tilly see her girl on the stage, and the happiness it brought her. And he would have, if her husband wasn’t inside. But watching them would only crumble the lightness Gage was feeling. Instead, he jogged to his truck, hopping inside, starting it up and blasting the heat. He drove home. He hit snow on the way causing the two-hour ride to take three. When he got home, it was close to midnight, and when he slipped into bed that night next to his wife, he thought she was fast asleep. She wasn’t.
Tilly walked back inside. She’d heard the expression floating, but she never understood it until that moment. She was floating, a smile curving her lips, hearing Gage tell her he was going to marry her one day. How a person could go through life thinking they were complete only to learn a part of them was missing. They were the lucky ones, they found each other. He was going to marry her.
“Tilly!”
Tilly jerked, her focus shifting to Luke who was standing at the door. Gage’s words were still playing in her head, so it took her a second to realize he wasn’t irritated, like she’d come to expect from him. He looked worried. Guilt pushed through the happy. He strolled to her, his voice soft when he asked, “Are you okay?”
Only then did she realize he could have walked outside, could have seen her with Gage. Regret and pain twisted through her because, though there was a part of her that wanted him to know, lately, he had been more like the man she married. She didn’t want him to find out about Gage that way.
“I’m okay.”
He studied her, her red cheeks and glazed eyes. “You were outside.” He wasn’t asking.
That guilt grew, seeing his genuine concern and knowing what she’d been doing outside. Her voice wasn’t very strong when she replied, “I was.”
“Why?”
Her mind worked overtime, thinking of excuses and rejecting them. Part of her just wanted it to be done. To look him in the face and tell him he didn’t make her happy. That she wasn’t in love with him, but there was a little voice she hadn’t heard in a long time that called her a liar. Her stomach twisted, and her heart ached. “I was feeling warm.”
He understood and the fact that he did was another hit. He’d been so absent, so disinterested, but here he was seeing her…after so long, he was finally seeing her again. “You okay?”
