Page 102 of My Office Rival

“I love you too,” I murmured the words into his neck. “I love you, Jason Elliott. I want all your fucked-up parts and your cooking skills and the hot stuff you like in bed. Give it all to me.”

“Good. It’s yours.” And then he kissed me—a soul-searing, heart-wrenching kiss—his lips slipping perfectly over mine, in tiny sips and then languid draws. His heart thumped against my chest, every steady beat reverberating through me. He cradled my face like it was precious, but the fervor with which he pressed his lips to mine said he was desperate for me. I pressed against him and kissed him back with equal ferocity. He inhaled at the contact.Mine, mine, mine. This beautiful, amazing man was mine.

63

JASON

Iwas the luckiest man in the world. My stupid plan had worked and now Cynthia was curled into my side on the couch in the house I had rented.

“I can’t believe you got an entire house for a month,” she said for the second time. “Way to go overboard.”

“I was panicking,” I grumbled. “I only booked the ticket yesterday. This was the only place I could get. And I had no idea how long you’d be here, or whether I’d need multiple chances.”

“So you were prepared to beg?” Her eyes glinted with amusement as she smiled up at me.

“I believe the word your friend Margo used wasgrovel.”

She laughed, her white teeth flashing above that perfect lower lip. I wanted to bite it. “So you’re saying I should have made you work for it?” she teased.

“Hell no.” I shuddered in horror. “I was physically ill for the past week from missing you.”

“So you talked to Margo? Is that how you knew where to be for the showing?”

“Yes, though she wasn’t happy to hear from me. Some guy convinced her to actually help me. Her boyfriend, maybe?”

“Andrew,” Cynthia confirmed. “He nearly lost her, so maybe he feels some sort of kinship with you.”

“Don’t say that.” The thought of losing her wasunbearable.I tightened my grip. “Do you want me to chain you to the bed?” I growled.

“Oh, yes, please.”

I hardened under my suit pants at her words. “It’s like you want me constantly aching for you.”

“I wouldn’t mind.” She grinned up at me and my heart threatened to beat through my chest. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for being brave enough to come here and chase me.” Her eyes were serious and deep. “Lucky for both of us that you did.”

“Lucky indeed,” I responded.

“Wereyou serious about wanting to live with me?” Cynthia asked, around a bite of rice and beans. She was cross-legged on a dining chair, hair piled on her head. We’d finished another round of ratherathleticsex, and I was starving for the takeout we’d ordered.

“Well, I probably can’t be here full time, but I should be able to swing a work-from-home arrangement, and I can come and go from New York.” I sipped my beer. I’d thought about it, and I wanted Cynthia with me as much as possible. Long distance wouldn’t work. I craved her on a bone-deep level.

She flushed. “You’d do that?”

“Absolutely. I want to be close to you.”

She looked pleased at that, but then she frowned. “What about your family?”

“I’d almost forgotten.” I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “Turns out they’ve never left the state. Miles and Jonah looked into them, and it’s all just empty threats.” I blew out a breath. “I feel silly, you know? I let them control me for years, and it was all a ruse.”

“We let our fears dictate a lot of our behavior. Doesn’t mean it’s reasonable. But it’s definitely human.” She gave me a half smile. “I assumed for years that my family would be lost without my support.Turns out they want nothing more than for me to be happy, and they don’t care if I support them.” She shook her head ruefully. “All those years I should have been living for me.”

“See, I told you to lean in.”

She grinned at me. “You were right.”

“Come again? I want to record that.” I made to grab my phone, and she laughed.

“So you’re going to be part-time here, eh? And after that year is up?” she asked. She looked vulnerable and I grabbed her hand.

---