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16. Conquest
Jules
I navigate work in a nervous, exhausted daze, almost as if I’m back in my apartment the morning after he left to tell his wife he wanted a divorce. I can’t concentrate worth shit. Fear twists my insides, and the oatmeal I ate for breakfast threatens to come back up. I can only imagine what a loved one’s attempted suicide can do to someone, how it can mess with a person’s head, causing them to take stock of their life.
What if he realizes he’s still in love with her?
The more time that passes, the more I’m consumed with negative thoughts. What if he chooses to stay because of what she’s going through? If I know one thing about Cash, it’s that he’s an honorable man, despite the fact that we haven’t been able to keep our hands off of each other.
By the time the lunch hour arrives, the atmosphere at Mont Center is downright morose. The news of Monica’s attempted suicide and subsequent hospitalization hit the media after Cash left the building. To escape the melancholy, I decide to spend my lunch hour down the street at the deli I frequent during the workweek. I’ve just settled in, prepared to spend the hour working to keep my mind off of Cash and what Monica’s return might mean for us, when my phone dings with a text message.
Cash: Can you meet me at your place?
I raise a brow at that, and awareness tingles down my spine. The illogical sensation that everyone in the cafe knows exactly what’s going on between my boss and me prickles the back of my neck. I peruse the tables nearby in search of accusatory gazes.
Of course, there are none. I’m not even on the radar of these people. I’m just another face in a crowd of cardboard cups, open laptops, and soups and sandwiches.
And I’m guilty and without shame for wanting to go home in the middle of a workday and get Cash naked in my bed, circumstances be damned.
Me: You want me to meet you there now?
Cash: Yes, I’m already here.
The sharp fear in my gut takes another slow turn, jabbing deeper. This seems…urgent.
Me: Is something wrong? Is your wife going to be okay?
Cash: She’s okay. I just need to see you.
I gather my stuff and text him that I’m on my way as I leave the cafe. But I can’t help but wonder why he needs to see me now. I’m relieved Monica Montgomery is going to be okay, but I’m also terrified that for whatever reason, Cash changed his mind and can’t bring himself to leave her. The woman is in the hospital after trying to kill herself, and all I can think about is how it will affect my relationship with Cash.
Yeah, I’m definitely going to hell.
My pulse reaches an anxious speed before I’ve made it a full block down the road. The weather is on the chillier side today, since the city is under the cover of clouds, but my skin is flushed, my palms sweaty. Equal amounts of excitement and apprehension rush through my veins. Ten short minutes later, I reach my building, and I don’t know whether to beg him not to go back to her, or jump him right there in the alley.
The instant our eyes meet, heat flares between my legs. He’s incredibly sexy in his charcoal suit, hair mussed from the autumn breeze, eyes gleaming like polished pewter as he takes me in from the blond waves falling down my back to the sandaled heels on my feet. There’s no disguising the desire in his expression.
“Come here,” he says, reaching out a hand.
I slip my hand into his, and he’s as urgent as I am, lacing our fingers together and ushering me up the stairs. I barely have my door unlocked before his mouth descends, tongue subduing mine in a play for power. He groans into my mouth as we stumble inside, nothing but a tangle of lips, limbs, and lust.
The door slams shut, enclosing us in coveted privacy, and Cash pushes me against the wall, pinning my hands above my head. The bulge in his pants grinds into my belly.
“God help me, but I need you right now.”
I release a shaky breath. He studies my face, no doubt searching the lines of uncertainty I’m sure are there, because I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“I was scared.”
A furrow creases his brows. “Of what?”
“Almost losing her like that…I thought you’d change your mind and go back to her.”
The confused lines of his face smooth out. “That’s not even a remote possibility.” He wedges a thigh between my legs. “And neither is another interruption. Nothing and no one is getting between us again.”
“How can you be so sure?”
