Chapter 58
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
ROMAN
T here’s no knock on my office door before it flies open. I barely have time to stand and step out from behind my desk before Chloe is standing two feet in front of me, dripping on my carpet. Her beautiful ocean eyes search mine in fast, dazed flicks.
After delivering the early copy of my Forbes interview to her, I returned to the office, changed out of my wet clothes, and tried to distract myself with work. But I’ve been checking my phone every few minutes to make sure I haven’t missed her call.
Except she didn’t call. She came all the way here, in the rain.
My heart kicks hard against my ribs. She’s soaked through, her pale hair plastered to her head, her clothes clinging to her body. And still, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Through the open door behind her, I get a flash of Sophie standing in front of Chloe’s desk, a broad grin on her face.
“Close the door,” I bark.
Sophie scurries closer and does so quickly and quietly, though I catch a glimpse of that grin still on her face.
Once we’re alone, I focus on Chloe again. This woman ran through the rain to get here. Knowing that has my ribs constricting.
“I thought you might call.” My voice comes out unexpectedly gruff, a reflection of the tightness in my chest.
She swallows audibly, her throat working. “I needed to see you.”
I step closer, cupping her face and wiping away a stray raindrop with my thumb. When another one replaces it, I realize it’s not a raindrop. It’s a tear.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart.” I smooth away more tears, my thumb lingering on her cheek. “I want you to be happy. I want you to feel safe with me. And I’m so fucking sorry I ever made you feel like you weren’t. The interview… I needed to make sure you have no doubts about what you mean to me. How much I need you.”
She grips the front of my shirt, more tears spilling over. “But the EcoTech acquisition…”
I smile down at her. “The contract was signed this morning.”
Her eyes flash to mine. “Won’t Ellis be angry when he finds out about us?”
“He already knows. I told him before the legal documents were drawn up.”
Lips parting, she exhales a small gasp. “And he was okay with it?”
“I explained exactly how I feel about you. How damn happy you make me. I told him if he had a problem with the two of us, then perhaps we weren’t the right company to acquire EcoTech after all.”
This time her mouth drops open, disbelief flickering in her eyes, followed quickly by a blaze of hope. “You did?”
In answer, I pull her close and wrap my arms around her. “I did. Nothing, and no one, is worth giving you up.” I drop my head and breathe her in. “Ellis understood.”
“And Dad’s painting?”
I smile against her damp hair. “I loved it the moment I saw it, and now I understand why. It makes me feel like redefining ourselves is as easy as opening our eyes to a new day and embracing its opportunities. It’s what you and I are doing—what my family and the King Group are doing…” I shake my head, a faint smile tugging at my mouth. “It belongs where everyone can see it.”
Her lower lip trembles. “So everyone knows about us?”
I dust my thumb over her mouth. “Everyone important. I want to be with you, Chloe. Once I realized it’s as simple as that, it all became clear. I don’t want my father’s twisted lessons to destroy my future with you. I won’t let his ghost steal our happiness.”
Fresh tears overflow. “You want a future with me?”
Fuck. The thread of uncertainty in her voice is like a knife slicing between my ribs. It’s my fault it’s there. I hid her away when I should have been shouting to the world how I feel about her.
I pull back a fraction, wrapping my hand around her nape. “If I haven’t made it clear, I love you. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but if I had to make every single one of them again to end up here with you, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
Her lashes flutter closed. When they open again, her eyes shine so brightly I can barely breathe.
“I love you too. You made me feel secure enough to take risks, to ask for what I really wanted, to embrace the unknown rather than run from it.” She sniffles. “I don’t want a life that’s just about playing it safe. I want to color outside the lines, to take risks and create something new and unique. I know with you beside me, anything I create—anything we create—will be beautiful.”
I press my mouth to hers, pouring every bit of emotion that’s built up inside me into the kiss. Every ounce of longing and desire and love I’ve experienced since the very first time I saw her in that elevator. Her lips, soft and sweet, part for me, and when I slide my tongue between them to claim her mouth, she moans. We cling to each other like we’ve both been starved, heat and need crackling between us as we desperately try to get closer. We haven’t touched in four long, brutal weeks.
By the time we break apart, we’re breathless.
With her flushed cheeks and swollen lips, there’s no way I can hold off until I get her back to my place.
I stab the intercom. “Sophie. Make sure everyone knows we’re not to be disturbed, then head home for the day.”
She giggle-snorts in response. “Of course, Mr. King.” Her tone is mostly level as she addresses me, but her pitch rises as she says, “Chloe, I’ll talk to you tomorrow!”
Chloe covers her face with her hands. “Everyone will know what we’re doing in here.”
I hook my thumbs into the waistband of her damp yoga pants and peel them down her legs, then pick her up and deposit her in my chair. Bracing one hand on the back, I hover my lips over hers.
“Ask me if I care.”