Текст книги "Suite 269"

Автор книги: Christine Zolendz

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

23

Lexa

“The jig is up!” @Kavon #PeekABoo #UmSurprise

The chaos around us crashed to a screeching halt. People stopped in mid sentence, paused in mid stride, and everyone’s eyes snapped to me.

“How can you be Alex Kavon?” Remington demanded.

“Unscramble the letters, sir. Alex-Lexa. Kavon-Novak. It’s me. I tried to tell you. I emailed Remington dozens of times.” I shrugged and threw my hands up into the air. “Why open an email from some meager little fact checker, right?”

“There’s no way,” James said, standing up from his chair and leaning his palms down flat on the table. His face turned menacing. “Regardless of the unprofessional activities that have run rampant in this building, this is a business. People’s livelihoods are at stake here. The games need to stop. Alex Kavon is a brand worth millions. He’s been established for years. It can’t be you.”

“It was just a scrambled profile name. I started blogging when I was fifteen. It’s really easy to be someone else behind the cover of a computer screen, sir.”

“She’s a liar,” Sophia cried out, but Kevin shoved his hand over her mouth and urged her to sit down quietly. I watched their motions. She flung herself in defeat, collapsing against the chair. It rolled with the momentum and spun her around. Everyone else just watched me.

“So you could have saved us all this grief? This whole time?” James asked low.

“I sent your father everything, I…” I plopped myself down in the nearest chair, not able to stand under James’s scrutinizing stare any longer.

“You could have just scheduled a meeting and told me,” Remington growled.

“I did everything I could to make you see…”

“No you didn’t,” Remington spat.

I stood up so fast the chair rolled out and swung against the wall. “The problem is that no one in the entire building ever listens to one another.” I glanced between James and his father. His head was now leaned back against the wall and his eyes screwed tightly shut. “I’ve been here, right in front of you the whole time. You never knew. I asked repeatedly for you to read my work. All you wanted was the brand and the following. You didn’t want me.”

“You did try to tell me,” Jameson’s voice was soft, low.

Shaking my head, I made my way to the door, but he was right behind me trying to pull me back to center stage. I didn’t want to go and there was no way I was going to be humiliated again in front of everyone. Tripping over my own feet, I staggered ungracefully into the hallway. James followed me out and slammed the conference room door behind us.

His voice hissed in my ear, “All that time I was trying to tell you to be open and I couldn’t hold up my end of the bargain by listening. No wonder you hate me.”

I snapped my head back and looked at him over my shoulder. “I would never hate you. Never.” I turned to face him. “You showed me the most amazing three weeks of my life.” My hands turned clammy and my heart sped faster. It was now or never. “I told you I wanted to fill in Alex’s place. I wanted to show you my work, but you told me you couldn’t settle for me. You made me feel like you wouldn’t settle for me at work or anywhere else.”

“No. I didn’t mean to—”

“It doesn’t matter! I don’t want someone to settle for me. I want to be wanted more than anyone else. That I fucking deserve.”

“Tell me want you want me to do,” he said softly.

“No. You make up your own damned mind about what you want to do,” I said.

“Just say it,” he demanded.

“Are you really going to California?” I asked in a shaky whisper.

“Yes,” he said immediately.

I took a step away from him and shook my head, “So. It wouldn’t matter what I would say. It would just make me look foolish. Enjoy California.” I jogged away from him down the hallway, brushing my fingers along the walls silently, making my way into the bathroom. I needed to leave—pack my desk and leave. Start over. Go somewhere where people didn’t form ideas of you because of your age or your gender. A place where I could find someone who thought I was worth sticking around for.

The bathroom was quiet, deserted. In the mirror above the sink, my face looked pale. Bright red spots covered my cheeks and rimmed around my eyes like I’d been crying for days. My heart pounded painfully fast inside my chest as I leaned over the sink. I needed to get out of here without anyone noticing.

Taking in a deep breath, I turned the faucet, ran the cold water over my hands, and pressed them to my face. I wish it hurt less. I wish it wouldn’t have been so personal. But it was, wasn’t it? It was. I fell for Jameson Holt in the worst way.

Grabbing a few paper towels from the dispenser, I dried my face and evened out my breathing. When my pulse slowed down enough, I peeked my head out of the restroom and snuck silently back out into the hallway. I jumped into an empty elevator and descended to the dungeon to gather my belongings and leave.

It might be foolish of me to run, but what did I have to fight for? Jameson was going to be heading the offices in California—there was nothing worth spilling my guts over. He was choosing to leave no matter what.

24

Jameson

“Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I just spent 3 hours Googling fun with bacon. So that’s where I am in life right now.” @Kavon #WhenYouHaveBaconYouAreNotAlone

“Have you heard from her at all?” Evan asked, raising his glass to his lips and scanning his eyes around the crowded bar.

I hung my head down and rubbed the back of my neck. “No. She won’t answer any of my calls or texts.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Does she know you’re back?” His eyes darted nervously around.

“I don’t think so. Why would she?”

He shrugged again. “Thought you were pissed at her. Figured you were going to stay in California and get some west coast pussy. Why are you even here?”

“I’ve been gone for a month and forgot how crude you are,” I said, shaking my head. “I just wanted to get back here. And you said you were here when I called you. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, man. I just have…I have a lot of things to do.”

“Yeah, you look real busy sipping that beer,” I said. “So how…uh…how is she?”

His eyes surveyed the crowd quickly as he scratched the scruff along his jaw. “Who?”

I scrubbed my hand over my face and sighed heavily. “Lexa? How is she?”

“Oh, yeah, right,” he said, frowning. He gave me a hard smile. “She’s been great for the magazine. Pretty classy woman if you ask me. Putting aside all the stupid bullshit you and your father put her through. This month’s ratings went through the roof, I hear.”

“Yeah,” I murmured.

“Well, it was stupid to come back if you’re thinking of messing everything up again with your dick. You got what you wanted, right? Alex Kavon is writing for InTrend. You should turn around right now and just head back to California.”

Why was he trying to get rid of me?

“Right now?” I said stunned. “You said that like you want me to leave right this minute.”

He grunted low. Then his eyes focused on something at the far end of the bar near the front door, and his lips curled into a wide smile. What the hell? “What are you smiling at?” I asked, turning my head to look behind me.

Mandy had just walked in.

My stomach dropped. It actually dropped. I’d never felt that before. Was Lexa with her? Would I get to see her tonight?

Next to me, Evan shot up and waved to Mandy like a lovesick puppy. What the hell happened while I was gone?

She moved through the crowded bar with a huge smile on her face, and when she reached Evan, he wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her for a good five minutes. Awkward.

“Do you guys need me to get you a room or something?” I offered, throwing a wadded up napkin at them.

Mandy’s head snapped around and her eyes widened as soon as she realized I was sitting there.

“Jameson Holt?” she said.

“The one and only,” I replied.

“Well, thank God for that,” she sneered as Evan pulled out a chair for her to sit down.

“Ouch,” I cringed. “I guess I deserved that.”

“When did you get back?” she asked.

“About an hour ago,” I said.

“And you came here to a bar with Evan?”

“No. I just called him to talk…what the hell, come on… How is she? Where is she? She hasn’t answered any of my calls or texts.”

“Why should she? It’s not like you had any feelings for her—why would she want to give you the time of day?” Mandy snapped.

Ouch. That burned. If only it was true though. If only I didn’t have feelings for her—it would make the crappy depression I was rocking go away.

“I think we both needed some time and space to think things through,” I said.

Mandy’s lips twisted into a devilish smirk. “Good thing too. Since she finally got a chance to move on.” She turned her eyes on Evan and her smile softened. “Babe, could you get me a margarita?”

He leaned over and kissed her again. “Sure thing. I’ll be right back.”

Mandy watched him walk away.

“What the hell did you do to him? You broke Evan.”

“And you broke Lexa!” she fired back.

“Oh yeah, sure. Her indifference and unreturned calls really show me how much she misses me. I’ve spent the last month begging for her to talk to me or message me.”

“You made her feel worse than Trager did,” Mandy said.

“That’s a shit thing to say. Where is she?” I said, bolting out of my seat.

“Why?” she said, arching an eyebrow at me.

“Because I fucking miss her and I came back here because being somewhere without her is killing me. I’m fucking miserable.”

Mandy’s expression thawed and her eyes turned sad. “That’s too bad. I think you’re too late, Holt.” She shook her head and waved to the door. “You should leave. She just walked in.”

My head snapped to the front of the bar, heart racing and mushrooming with warmth. She was here? Lexa was here?

Without thinking, I pushed through the bar toward the door. My thoughts raced and my chest tightened. The first thing I needed to do was apologize. Then I was going to kiss the shit out of her.

And then she was standing in front of me, stunningly beautiful. Her hair was a sexy mess, her eyes were wide, and the brightest blue I’d ever seen.

“Lex, I need you to just listen to me before you walk away—”

“Jameson…” she stammered, face blanching.

“Yeah, baby, it’s me,” I said, feeling like it was the first time I took a deep breath in over a month. We both stood there staring at each other. “God, I missed—”

“Lexa? Is there a problem here?” a deep voice cut in.

My vision shifted a few inches to the right of Lexa and noticed a man standing next to her. Not just next to her, he was practically on top of her, clutching her arm possessively.

“What the fuck?” I asked.

“James. Hi. Wow. Are you visiting? It’s so nice to see you,” she said softly.

She was lying. This wasn’t nice. Whatever this was—wasn’t nice—and it kind of sucked rancid cock.

“Um, Jameson Holt, this is Spencer,” she offered me a tight smile and then looked up at the fucknut standing next to her. Her smile brightened and softened at the edges, making me want to break him. “Spence, this is James.”

“Hey. Wow. Jameson Holt—from Holt Media? Great to meet you,” he said, extending his hand out for a handshake. I didn’t reach out my hand; there was no way I could touch him without squeezing his hand and breaking every bone in it.

Lexa’s eyes darted between Spencer and me quickly. “Well, okay then. It was nice seeing you Holt. We’re supposed to meet Mandy and Evan for dinner soon so we have to find them…So, yeah, nice seeing you.”

She stood in front of me stiffly, waiting for me to say goodbye, and I couldn’t even form words in my mouth. The only bodily functions I could perform at that very moment were rapid blinking and shaking of the head.

Holy shit.

Was that her date? Her boyfriend? Someone she was sleeping with? She couldn’t be sleeping with him, right? A sharp burning sensation slashed deep inside my chest and zigzagged across my stomach. Visions of his tongue thrusting into her mouth and her hands shoved down the front of his pants had me clenching my jaw painfully. She couldn’t have fucked him. There was no way. He looked like a cartoon character. And what kind of name was Spencer?

She couldn’t have moved on.

It’d only been a month.

Black spots dotted my vision as I stood there practically snarling as I thought about him flat on his back while she rode him slowly.

I stepped back as if she’d punched me and almost lost my footing.

How could she have forgotten about us? How could she have not been as miserable as me?

This hurts.

This wasn’t happening.

“Are you okay, Holt?” she whispered with a sad smile. She reached her hand out but yanked it right back and tucked it against her chest instead of touching me. “We…uh…we have to meet…we’re just going to meet Mandy and Evan. It really was nice…to see you again,” she stammered, trying to get away from me.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let her walk away again.

Not without letting her know.

“Oh, yeah? That’s great news because they just invited me to join you all for dinner. This should be fun.”

25

Lexa

“I’ve been waiting for THIS ever since I read my first Fairy Tale.” @Kavon #HappyEndings #AndTheDishRanAwayWithTheSpoon

What an arrogant asshole. James actually had the audacity to lead the way to where Mandy and Evan were sitting, waiting for us.

“Thanks so much for the invite Evan, I think I will join you all for dinner,” he said, pulling over a vacant chair and plopping his pompous ass into it. I folded my arms across my chest angrily. This couldn’t be happening.

Mandy choked on her drink and glared at him. “What?” she said, coughing and gasping, “Really?”

James gave her a wink. Ugh, I hoped his eyeballs popped out of their sockets.

She shook her head and raised her drink back up. She nodded her chin approvingly at him. “This is going to be fun.”

Spencer—who as soon as he heard was about to share a meal with the demi-god of Holt Media, acted like a complete schoolgirl in front of him. Spencer just left me standing at the table as he pulled out a seat for himself next to James and sat down, shooting hundreds of questions at him like speeding bullets.

“I read in Publisher’s Spot that Holt Media just bought into Lifestyles Production Company…” Spencer said excitedly. Did no one see how uncomfortable I was? It was like I turned completely invisible.

The only other empty seat was on the other side of James, in the corner.

I huffed loudly, stomped around the table, and collapsed into the chair.

Spencer continued to fire questions at James.

James immediately slid his hand under the table and onto my knee.

I kicked him.

He gripped my knee tighter.

I dropped my hands on his and tried to twist his thumb off.

He chuckled.

Spencer still talked.

Evan and Mandy ignored everyone else and played an intense game of tonsil hockey.

James shifted his hand up over my knee and under the hem of my skirt, digging the pads of his fingertips into my lower thighs.

Was he crazy? A burst of heat erupted along my collarbone. I slid a bit down in the chair to try to shake his hand off me, but to no avail. My mouth instantly dried and my throat felt parched. I grabbed a bottle of water that was on the table, not even asking whose it was, then opened it and gulped.

James’s hand slid further up my thigh and began softly massaging my skin. I squeaked out a gasp—again, nobody seemed to notice.

His fingers crept up higher. They had to be feeling the heat between my legs. Any higher and that stupid, cocky man would find out how wet he was making me. I leaned my elbows on the table and hung my head in my hands, grasping hard at the roots of my hair. The urge to spread my legs wide and feel him touch me again was unbearable. On the few dates Spencer and I had, we hadn’t gotten physical yet. Honestly, I just wasn’t feeling that way about him. He was far from being anything like James. I guess that was the reason I had agreed to go out to dinner with him. But right then, sitting so close to James with his hand between my thighs under the table, I found myself so totally turned on I could have gotten off right in front of everyone.

I clamped my knees together and tensed my legs, forcing them to stay shut. What was wrong with me? How could I possibly let him make me feel like this? I started sweating. Everyone around the table was involved in some sort of discussion about the publishing world and I was trying desperately not to have an orgasm.

That’s when the tips of his fingers reached higher and slid over the bottom of my panties. The moment his fingers felt the state of the material, his head snapped in my direction. “Lex…”

I jumped up, slamming my bag down on the table and tried to flatten my skirt down at the same time. “Excuse me,” I stammered, “I have to use the restroom.”

“I’ll walk you,” James said.

“No. You stay here,” I whisper-yelled.

He leaned in close to me. The smell of his shirt made my head spin. “No chance. You’ll climb out the bathroom window before you let me talk to you,” he murmured.

“Stay here. Please,” I hissed, walking away from him.

I shifted through the crowds of people at the bar, everyone waiting patiently for a table for dinner in the back, just like us. But even though the place was packed with people, I still felt him right behind me. The memories of us together pressed against my back like a living, breathing thing. From the weight of his body on mine to the way his hands roamed every inch of my body, had me tripping over my own feet. My face flushed from the images in my head. Shivers and sparks of heat slowly crawled up my spine as I tried to move faster through the sea of bodies.

“Lex,” he whispered as I stepped out of the throng of people and into a dimly lit hallway, hesitating briefly. A lone person stood at the end talking in low murmurs into her cell phone. She rolled her eyes and faced the wall when she saw me, not once stopping her conversation. Ignoring her, I reached for the handle of the bathroom door.

“Lex. You can’t hide from me in there. I’ll just follow you in,” his voice said behind me.

I forced myself not to look in the shadows behind me as I swung the door open and stepped inside. But his presence seemed to pulse around me, edging closer, surrounding me. If I wasn’t careful, it would consume me.

“Lex, turn around,” he said, tugging at my waist. But I pulled away and walked to the sink, putting my hands down flat against the cool tile of the counter.

“Get out. I need to pee and get back to my date,” I said, lifting my eyes to the mirror to meet his.

He reached for the doorknob and just when I thought he was going to pull it open to leave, he turned the lock instead. A bolt of electric heat surged through my body.

“You are the biggest Alpha-hole in the world. Just leave me alone,” I said a little breathlessly.

His eyebrows arched up comically. “Alpha-hole?”

“What do you want, Holt?” I asked, glaring at his reflection.

He took a step closer and slowly reached up and swept my hair over my shoulder, exposing my neck. His gaze roamed over my skin; I watched it in the mirror as it traveled over me slowly. My hands clenched into fists. Every muscle in my body tensed with hurt, with anger, but most of all, with pathetic goddamn stupid hope.

His lips parted slightly and touched down along the curve of my neck. They tenderly grazed up to right under my ear, making me shudder. “I missed you.”

I clenched my fists tighter, trying desperately to remain calm and composed, but the increasing rise and fall of my chest was every indication I was not. “I’m on a date, Holt.”

“Leave with me,” he whispered into my ear.

“Are you stupid? Are you deaf? Blind?” I ground out. “I haven’t seen you in a month. You come back for a little visit and what? You’re horny? You see me and bam; you think I’ll just fuck you again. No, Holt.” I shoved my shoulder back, trying to knock him away, but he reached around me, putting his hands on the counter on both sides of me and trapping me between his hard, muscular chest and the sink.

I hung my head down and shook it back and forth, “Just let me move on, James. What we had was so…amazing. I will always remember the way you made me feel.” I tilted my face up to look at his reflection again. “But let’s leave it there, as a good memory.”

His eyes darkened. “Is that what you really want? Tell me what you really want, Lex.”

I swallowed hard and stared at him—my heart pounded in my chest hard and fast.

“Say it,” he whispered. “Just say it. Say what you want.”

A wave of tears stung at my eyes but I fought them back. “I can’t.”

“Why?” he asked, leaning his body gently against mine. The heat of him made a small gasp escape my lips and I needed to look away for a moment to hide from the intensity of it.

He pressed harder against my back.

A wave of iciness crept up the front of my body and I was suddenly struggling to breathe. Anger exploded red-hot in my brain. My muscles quivered and my pulse sped. “You really wanna know why, you big dick? Because I don’t want to ever feel that gut wrenching feeling again when you walk away. I don’t want to look in your eyes and see you staring back at me with that empty look because you don’t want me.” I choked on my words and my voice shook. “Just go back to California. Our three weeks is over. Find someone else to play with.”

He pressed harder into me. What the hell? Now it was starting to get uncomfortable. I was getting ready to hit him.

“Now you’re going to listen to me. You don’t have any clue how I feel or what’s going on in my head. You never did.” He took a deep breath and grabbed my chin to tilt my head up to look at him. It wasn’t hard, he was gentle, but the intensity of his eyes made a sob rip out of my chest. I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. He left me. He hadn’t wanted me.

“I left because I was angry. You lied to me. I wanted to talk to you…and I called. I called again and again, and I texted. I needed to go to California for my father. And when I got there I thought I would just let you go, let you go without ever telling you how I really felt.” His breathing faltered and the pressure of his hands tightened around me. “But… I woke up the first morning without you and I couldn’t breathe. The thought of you not being there, me not able to reach out and touch you—hurt.”

Good. I was glad it hurt. “You’ve been gone for a month. I’m sure you got over it,” I snapped.

“No. See, Lex, that’s the thing. I thought I could, you know. I thought it would be like every other relationship I had…forgettable. But the next morning when I woke up I grabbed for you, and when I realized the bed was still empty, it hurt even more.”

I pressed my hand to my chest to try to stop it from cracking open.

“I told you I never felt it before with anyone. I never knew if I could. Love? I didn’t know what it was, Lex.” Then suddenly his arms dropped and he stepped back. The places where his hands were still felt a ghost of his touch and made me swallow hard.

“Love was just a confusing, empty word to me,” he shrugged, “until you made it mean something.”

I covered my hands over my mouth as my skin tingled from head to toe.

“I didn't even have a choice about falling in love with you. You walked down a hotel hallway and that was the first time I remember ever feeling anything. It was the first time I ever felt—alive inside.”

“And then you found out I lied to you—” I said, spinning to face him.

“I lied to you too,” his voice was low, dark. Harsh.

I looked away quickly—couldn’t raise my eyes to meet his. I didn’t want to get hurt. What could he have lied to me about?

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. I tried to focus on it, but it blurred around the tears that fought to break free.

“This is your list,” he whispered hoarsely, holding out the paper between us. The walls instantly felt like they were closing in on me. Closer and closer, they seemed to move. “Number ten,” he whispered, “I did it. Fuck, Lexa, it was the first thing I did on your list.”

The ground seemed to pulse and give out under my feet and my eyes shot up to his. His eyes went wide for a second and then he looked down at his hand and the note that still lay folded inside of it. Taking a quick, deep breath, he flattened out the paper and brought it closer to me.

“You changed everything. Everything I ever thought was important, everything I ever wanted got questioned the minute I saw you in that hallway.” He nodded his head at me, “Cheesy line coming—I realized the only reason I looked up from that miserable hump of snacks, the only reason I was out there in the hallway at three in the morning, was because it’s where I was meant to be. I was meant to be with you. Now, tell me what you want, Lexa.”

“You,” I whispered. “I just want you.”

The note fell to the floor, fluttered and flipped like a weightless feather, and landed right side up as he reached his hand to mine.

#1 Be Dominated and ravished—spanking included

#2 Make a sex tape

#3 Have a stranger watch me have sex

#4 Watch another couple

#5 Have sex in a cab

#6 Go to a strip club with a guy

#7 Use sex toy

#8 Anal

#9 Have an orgasm from someone’s mouth

#10 Have someone fall madly-desperately in love with me

The slight contact of his fingers on my skin spread heat through my veins until I was gasping for breath. He entwined his fingers through mine and my heart thumped hard and fast in my chest and pulsed into each of my nerve endings, until I felt as if I were made of heat and light and sound.

He didn’t speak. He stood there and stared at me with parted lips and bated breath. Slowly, he blinked and pulled me closer. He pressed his forehead to mine, fingertips reached up to hover gently over my face. His voice shook in a rough, heart-wrenching ache, “I am completely and utterly in love with you, Lexa.”

His words made me tremble, tiny wracks of shivers that started somewhere deep in my chest and traveled out over every inch of my body. I loved him too.

My head stupidly nodded as the words jumbled and collided with the huge knot that seemed to lodge itself in my throat. Something weird like, “I…rov…eww,” tumbled and spilled from my lips, but I knew he understood. I knew he did. His lips opened on a sigh and both his hands reached out to pull me in. He stepped into me, breathing hard, hands sliding up my throat and wrapping around my neck. I grabbed onto his arms and his muscles instantly loosened. With something that sounded like a small whimper, he pressed me into the wall and slammed his mouth hard over mine.

The kiss was frantic—our bodies shaky and uncontrollable. His hands slid up my arms and curled under the straps of my top, yanking them down to my wrists in a desperate, heady move that tugged my shirt completely off my breasts and made me moan out his name. He stared into my eyes and slowly ran his fingers back up the side of my arms. “Tell me again.”

“I love you,” I gasped.

His lips tugged up into a smile and his hands softly brushed over my uncovered breasts until his thumbs circled and circled over my nipples. The sensation made them ache and grow heavier.

“Tell me what you need right now, Lex.”

My body trembled more and I struggled to think clearly and find my words. All I thought was please, please, please. “Everything. James…I want everything,” I said as I arched my back, pushing my breasts closer to him.

A growl rumbled out low from deep inside his chest as he closed his lips over my right nipple and sucked hard. The feeling sliced through my middle and slammed me with heated throbs between my legs. He tugged on my nipple until it bounced out of his mouth with a loud pop then he flicked his tongue over it quickly. So fast and wild that my sex clenched with every stroke.

“So all this time, I’ve been actually sleeping with Alex Kavon?”

“Why yes, yes you have,” I laughed.

His body shifted, and suddenly there was a crinkled sheet of paper pressed into my palm.

“What’s this?” I said, lifting it up.

His eyes heated. “My list of fantasies. Thought you’d like to see the things I want from you. Wrote them the first night we came back from our un-honeymoon.”

He nuzzled his nose into mine and lifted up my skirt, scrunching the material up over my waist. His hands slid my panties down my thighs until they dangled from one ankle. Then he quickly unzipped his pants and pulled himself out, sliding his warm, hard length against me.

“Read my list, Lex,” he said breathlessly. “Read all the things I want,” he said as he slid inside me.

I moaned loudly as I felt him fill me. I couldn’t concentrate on reading anything as he slowly pushed himself deep inside me.

“Read it,” he whispered, stopping all movements. His forehead leaned against mine and his cocked pulsed and throbbed inside me.

I brought the paper closer and a rush of warmth spilled out across my chest. There was only one thing neatly written across the small piece of paper.

#1 Spend the rest of my life with someone I could share all my fantasies with.

“So what do you think?” he asked as he began rocking his hips into me.

“What about California?” I asked, grinding and tightening my muscles around him.

“It’s a nice place to visit. But I’m right where I want to be.” His fingers lightly cupped my face. One thumb reverently traced my bottom lip. “Tell me we could turn three weeks into a lifetime. Say yes, Lex.”

I reached up and touched his face. “Yes, James. I’ll make all your fantasies come true.”

“Thank God,” he said as he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine.

The End