Page 135 of Holding You
“I love that.”
I pull her back down the hall and across the open room to the hallway on the other side.
“Here is the office and bathroom for this floor.”
“Oh wow, this room is huge. You could get two, maybe even three desks in here. Which is good, considering how much you’ve been working lately.”
I know she doesn’t mean for her comment to hurt, but it does. I’ve been so head down trying to get this purchase done before Davenport Inc., that I haven’t given Ruby as much time as I should.
I’m slipping, and I hate it.
“Come see upstairs,” I say, not commenting on her remark.
“Do you have a lot of rooms up here?” she asks as we ascend the stairs.
“Just one.”
We reach the top, where there is a small platform that I plan to have a reading chair and some built-in shelves. Then we step through a double doorframe into the master bedroom.
She gasps.
“Declan, this is going to be … wow. I cannot think of another word right now.”
Standing in the middle of the room, you can see where the bathroom is being placed to the left and the large walk-in closet next to it. On the right, it has floor-to-ceiling windows with a balcony that looks out over the lake.
“This is the perfect place for a slow morning with some coffee and a book or my computer to work on some designs,” she says, walking up to the window. “This view would calm anyone.”
I step up behind her, my hand brushing against her lower back and slinking around her hip to pull her toward me. She twists in my arms and rests her palms flat on my chest.
“What would you say if I told you that you could have that?”
“Here?” Her eyes go wide.
“Yes.”
“In the mornings, I sleep over?”
“Or,” I say with a nervous grin, “because you live here.”
She steps back, her chest rising and falling on quick breaths.
“You … you want me to move in with you?”
“Yes, and Max, obviously. We already live together now, and if you haven’t figured it out yet, Ruby Asher, I'm obsessed with you.”
She laughs.
“It’s a little obvious.”
I chuckle and then press my lips to hers.
“Well?”
“Well … even though I can guess his answer, I need to talk to Max first.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
Our next kiss lasts only a second before she pulls back.
