Page 166 of Boss of the Year
All thoughts of lodging fled my mind.
“What are you thinking?” He took my hand and ran his thumb over my knuckles. Then he pulled me close enough to feel the heat of his body. Sense the vibration that had been running through it since the café.
“I-I don’t know,” I said honestly, utterly transfixed by the intensity in those slate-blue eyes.
He slipped a hand around my back and under the hem of my shirt. His lips met mine in a kiss that seemed to be vying for control but quickly descended into heat and hunger.
“Fuck,” he breathed just before he plundered my mouth again. “I missed this. I missedyou.”
It was hard to speak. Every time he broke the kiss, I lunged for another. “It was only…only a few days.”
“Yes, but before that, it was ten years.” His tongue twisted around mine, urgent and deliberate. “And thirty more before I ever met you.” He broke the kiss fully then, taking a moment to catch his breath while he pressed his forehead to mine. “I think I missed you before I ever knew you.”
My heart caught in my throat, thumping hard and full.
Before I could respond, he launched another onslaught as he backed me toward the bed.
“Tell me you believe me,” he ordered as my heels touched the bottom of the platform. “Tell me you feel it too. Even if it’s just a little.”
I did. That was the problem. I felt everything.
But it was too much—too fast—too soon. We’d already made that mistake once in the alley.
My eyes popped open as his mouth traveled down my neck, his tongue twirling that familiar, maddening magic down my throat before his teeth latched in a gentle bite over my pulse.
It wassomuch.
Lucas. The gorgeous suite. The lavish gifts. His relentless pursuit paired with his touch, his voice, his words—oh, his words.
Even the ones that hurt.
And maybe the ones he didn’t say.
He buys everything. And now he thinks he’s bought you.The cold thought slashed through the heat he was cultivating like one of his fancy knives.You were just another thing he decided he wanted.
“Wait,” I gasped just as his hands slipped up the back of my shirt, ghosting over my shivering skin. “Wait, wait,wait.”
With a pained look, Lucas ripped himself away. “What is it?”
His breathing was labored again, like he was in the middle of a long race, and it was only when I took in the rumpled state of his shirt that I realized I’d been tugging at it, my hands in a death grip around the now-crumpled collar.
With immense focus, I released them. “I…I just need a minute.”
His brows twitched, like he didn’t quite believe me, but after a moment, he gave a curt nod. “Take all the time you need.”
I fled before he could see the panic that was undoubtedly on my face and slipped into the palatial bathroom, closing the door behind me. There, I splashed cold water on my face, allowing the water to run while I gripped the sink like it—or I—might shatter.
My skin burned; my thoughts spun. It was the same feeling I’d had at the club, except this time, I couldn’t blame a drink or drugs or even something as simple as fatigue. Lucas’s presence, the mere facts of his life, made me feel like I was being pulled in a thousand different directions. Logic, pride, longing, shame—all of them pointed back to him.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then another. And another, focusing on breathing so intensely that I didn’t notice the door had opened behind me until it closed with a loud click.
I opened my eyes to find Lucas’s reflection behind me, filling the space with his typical, solid quiet.
Slowly, he reached around me and turned off the water. Then kept his hands braced on the sink on either side of me, effectively pinning me to the counter.
Oddly, I didn’t feel trapped. Not with him.
Curious. Maybe it was the rest of it that felt so overwhelming. The money, the deals, the past, the family.
