Page 64 of The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

“I can’t believe it. Just like that? You’re giving it to me?”

“I’m giving it to you. We can draw up the paperwork next week. Well, the office is closed next week for Christmas. How about the week after?”

“It’s a date,” she said, bouncing lightly on her toes.

“You’re one of those, huh? Not letting me ask you on a date first?”

She smiled and Xander felt like something broke open in his heart, spilling out nothing but pure joy. “I don’t want to rush, but I don’t want to waste any more time,” she said.

Xander wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, gently weaving his fingers through her hair. “Well, then, I’ve been waiting too long for this.”

Without waiting for whatever snappy response she might have, Xander closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers. He could feel the shock in her body as she stilled, the only movement her soft lips against his own.

It had been fifteen years since his last kiss and for Xander, this felt both new and like pure instinct, flowing straight from the feelings that were currently tearing through him with the force of a hurricane. Despite the powerful feelings that pushed him, Xander let her responses guide the kiss, and she was careful, hesitant, slow.

He was lost in the heady sensation of her skin next to his, her hands in his hair as she reached up to mirror the way he held her. Heat filled his chest and blazed through him like fire. It took a momentous amount of control not to unleash the passion he felt. But he would not rush her very first kiss. He would do what was best for her. Always.

As her soft lips moved under his, Xander felt something deeper stirring within him. He had been aware of it all week—how being around Cynder felt so right. It was so much more than a simple kiss or a physical connection. The kiss only confirmed what he felt below the surface, an echo of something he had felt before in a completely different way, with Sarah.

He never thought he would feel that way again. He had been so afraid to open himself to that kind of feeling again, fearful of being hurt or of betraying Sarah somehow by moving on.

As Cynder’s kisses grew more sure and the kiss deepened, Xander realized that he had been so wrong. Sarah’s memory was still right here, but there was no sense of guilt, no comparison. His love for her remained while something new and special bloomed right alongside it.

He treasured every tiny movement of Cynder’s lips, every second that her hand wound into his hair, fingertips tracing down his neck. Time was precious. She was precious. So precious that he needed to stop. Unleashing passion could come later, when she was ready. Maybe when she was wearing his rings and a wedding dress. The thought absolutely thrilled him.

Xander pulled back slowly, tracing a hand down her cheek. “Hey, beautiful,” he said.

Her face was flushed, her eyes bright, smile wide. “Hey,” she said.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for that,” he said.

She tilted her head and wrinkled her nose in thought. She looked completely adorable and Xander had to hold himself back from covering her lips again. “We just met last week. Is that a long time for you?”

“No, sweetheart,” he said, gently cupping his hands around her cheeks. “I’ve been waiting fifteen years for this.”

Xander closed the distance between their lips again, relishing in the feeling of a love that was completely worth the wait.

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