Page 73 of Until Next Time
He uses his index finger to lift my chin towards him. He looks deeply into my eyes. That kind of eye contact that makes your panties surely melt. He stays there before sinking his lips into mine, and giving me the most life altering kiss I’ve ever had. Tender, deep, soft, yet hard, laced with so much desire. My knees about buckled.
We come up for air, noses still touching, “Are you asking me to move in with you or something, because that’s a little soon.” I say, with a wink.
He leaves a peck on my nose before taking my hand in his.
“Nope, not yet. But, I figured you will need a key to your office.”
He starts pulling me toward the back hallway near his bedroom, that I have had many daydreams about since I was last in there.
“My office? What do you mean?”
Dawsen just laughs, like he has absolutely no concern about my lack of concern and unemployment. “I’m serious, Daws! What is going on?”
We are standing outside of a door, to a room I’ve never been in, but it’s directly across from his bedroom. He pushes me closer to the door, then turns my body to face it directly. He angles himself behind me and reaches around to cover my eyes with his hands. His lips are close to my ear again, sending full body shivers straight to my core.
“Open the door!” He says in a hushed tone, I can feel his energy vibrating off of him.
I push the door open and step inside. He removes his hands from my eyes and gives my arms a gentle squeeze. “Surprise!” He says, sounding almost a little bit nervous.
I look around for a moment, and it takes me a minute to realize what I’m seeing. The room is a dark shade of green, and I can tell it’s freshly painted. The smell is still in the air. There’s floor to ceiling book cases against one of the walls, and I see some of the shelves already have some of my favorite books on them. There’s a beautiful velvet wing back chair in the corner, with a bronze lamp to the side, and a beautiful oak desk in the middle of the room. He’s missed no details. Down to the perfectly matching rug, lamps, and small accents he’sput around the room, it’s the dreamiest looking office I’ve ever seen. And my heart pangs that he did this for me. In fact, I’m speechless.
“Do you like it? If you don’t like the color or want to change out anything, I’ll do whatever you want—this is your space, I want it to be exactly how you want. Somewhere where you feel inspired.” Dawsen is standing there, his hands are in his pockets, and he’s started to rock back on his heels a bit, probably waiting for some sort of reaction from me.
I walk over to the desk where there’s a beautiful leather desk chair with a sheep’s skin draped over the back. I pull out the chair and sit. I look at the desk in front of me which has a brand new laptop sitting there. Beside it is a gift. Wrapped in the same brown paper as the homemade book he gave me on Christmas Eve.
I point to it and say, “May I?”
“Please.” He gestures.
I tear the paper and it reveals a book that I know all too well.
“I asked Mira if I could buy the last copy. She was reluctant but I told her it was for you, so she decided to part with it.”
I pick up the Post Secret book and bring it to my chest, clutching it. I look at the man standing before me, in this beautiful office, that he made for me. I don’t know how to function, this has all been a lot to take in, but I know one thing for certain. And that is—
“I love you.” It basically just falls from my lips. There was no thought, no warning, just the most natural thing I’ve ever said.
His face turns, and his smile spreads across his face.
“Sorry, I know that’s probably sudden. But, It’s actually very long overdue.” I add, because now he’s silent—he paces towards me, and turns my chair around to face him. He crouches down so that we’re eye-level, his hands have slid onto my thighs and he’s looking at me more intensely now.
“Birdie, I’ve loved you every minute of every day since I’ve met you. And I wish I could say that was an exaggeration but it’s really not.”
I lean down and interrupt his sentence to kiss his forehead. This man, everything about him is so damn kissable. Like, his forehead? Sexy. A must kiss spot.
“Baby, I love this office, but I—“
Dawsen interrupts me this time, “So, that’s the thing. I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had. Southbound could really use a designer on staff to help with new label designs, packaging, and promotional stuff. I was hoping you’d let me hire you. You could work from here, the workload wouldn’t be anything crazy, and then you could work on your book here whenever you want. I’m going to give you a bonus up front as well for you to use as a down payment on an apartment, or whatever you want.”
“No, there’s no way I’m letting you pay me for that, Dawsen! I will gladly help with all of that stuff, but no, I cannot accept a job offer from you. You’ve already payed me way too much for the mural and I can’t let you do this too.” I think I’m sweating now.
Dawsen laughs and straightens up. He props himself up against the desk and crosses his arms across his chest. His muscles perfectly accentuated in the soft black tee he’s wearing.
“I know we’re new to the wholeusthing, but let me just set some things straight. First, I’m going to take care of you. You’re my first priority. So, that means I’m going to provide whatever you need, and right now—it’s a job. Second, you are so extremely talented and I’m not just giving you a job because I’ve got a crush on you—it’s because I value you as an artist and I am going to compensate you accordingly. And lastly, because I love you, I’m going to do everything I can to watch you achieve and chase your dreams. So, all that being said, you’re not going to talk me out of any of this. You’re just going to have to accept it.”
I’m just smiling from ear to ear. My jaw hurts from it, and I can feel the heat in my cheeks. I stand up and push the chair back dramatically. Because this man needs to be thanked properly. I push him back a bit so that he’s seated on my desk and I stand between his legs, my hands splayed across his strong chest.
I look up into his eyes and then back down to his lips. Our bodies are fully pressed together and I’m standing wedged between his thighs.
