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Piper glows. I wonder how long it’s been since someone trusted her with responsibilities other than parenting. How many years has it been since she was respected and heard? She gives me a quick nod and heads out the door. Her boys are currently enrolled in a day camp that Mia told us about. We were able to get them signed up at the last minute, which was fortunate because now Piper and I can focus on the project. She needs this—we both do.
Once the door closes behind Piper, Grant clears his throat. “I hired a new foreman for the project,” he tells me. “He’s on his way.”
“Okay. You want me to meet him?”
Grant won’t meet my eyes. He rubs the back of his neck. “You already know him. The thing is, Georgia, I’ve got a lot of projects going on right now. I need the help. If you don’t want to work with him, I understand, but we’ll have to delay the project a couple of weeks. My other crews aren’t as experienced, and the foreman I was going to use here just broke his leg.”
I frown. Grant finally lifts his gaze to mine and lets out a long sigh. He opens his mouth—
And the gallery door opens.
Sebastian Finch stands in the doorway, silhouetted by the summer sunshine. His eyes cut to mine, blazing. He’s wearing an old, soft-looking button-down shirt that’s open at the collar. It’s dark blue, and even from across the room I can tell it brings out the color of his eyes. His long legs are clad in jeans that fit his strong thighs perfectly.
All the while, his gaze consumes me. I feel alive for the first time since that night at Taqueria.
I missed him.
In the tension-filled stillness, Grant’s phone starts ringing. He glances at the screen and sighs. “I have to take this. It’s one of my new hires on another project.” He opens his mouth, looks at the two of us, then stalks to the front door without saying a word.
Sebastian takes a step to the side to let him exit.
The door closes with a soft latching sound, barely audible above the thumping of my heart. With an easy flick of his fingers, Sebastian locks the door. The movement sends terror and excitement racing through me. I feel cornered, like I’ve accidentally entered a great beast’s cave.
A knot unravels inside me. Ilikethis beast’s cave, I realize. I want to be cornered.
His boots echo on the subfloor as he approaches me. Slowly, step by step, he erases the distance between us.
When he’s three feet away, I find my voice. “I thought you left.”
“I came back.”
My heart speeds up. “Why?”
The corner of his mouth hitches. “Unfinished business.”
I don’t know how it happens, but suddenly I’m in his arms. A forearm is banded across my back, and a palm is tilting my face up. Sebastian isn’t wearing his hat, and his hair is tousled, touchable. His stubble looks rough and delicious, and my hands fly up to touch it without my permission.
“You feel that?” Sebastian says, his voice low, his head dipping toward mine.
“Feel what?” I answer, breathless.
“You in my arms. Where you’re meant to be. Where you’ve always been meant to be.” His words ring with truth, conviction, and certainty. Then he kisses me.
Our first kiss was shocking, sizzling me down to my toes. Our second kiss was all-consuming, mind-melting. This is different. Deeper.
He parts my lips and kisses me in long, smooth strokes. He holds me against the hard breadth of his body, caging me in, not giving me an inch of space. He tears my world apart with his lips and his tongue, leaving me breathless and trembling, clinging to his body like he’s my lifeline in a storm of his own making.
Protests die on my tongue, devoured by his lips. My pride falls away. My anger dissolves like cotton candy on my tongue, as if it never existed in the first place.
There’s just the warmth of his skin beneath my hands, the beat of his heart against mine, the feel of his lips as they kiss and kiss and kiss me.
“You’ve pushed me away long enough,” Sebastian growls against my lips. “And I’ve let you do it.”
“I do have a say in this whole thing,” I answer, breathless. “If I push you away, it’s because you deserve it. Because that’s what I want.”
“No.” He tugs me closer, fusing our bodies together from chests to knees. “You’re so used to being in charge that you’ve forgotten how to let go, Georgia. You’ve forgotten what it feels like to give up control to someone you trust.”
I scoff, but it comes out more like a gasp. “And I’m guessing you’re the one I should trust?”
