Chapter 11
Atlanta
I click off the Zoom call, the snow falling heavily outside. It’s three days until Christmas, but I’m not feeling all that festive.
Maynard swirls around my feet, his sable fir comforting me as I stare at the dark computer screen. The offer from Stellar Design Group is a shock to my system. I asked for a day to consider the terms, but really, I don’t want to move. I’d miss it here. Hope Peak has become my home.
And I’m in love with Holden.
Even though he says the wrong things, does the wrong things, and is completely self-absorbed.
But Ms. Chen said he gave me a glowing review. As lead designer. She said he was emphatic about not wanting to lose me, but that his loss would be their gain.
I’m not sure what to do with that.
My cell buzzes, and when I look at the screen, it’s Holden.
Holden: Can you talk?
I ignore the text, like the twenty before it, and pick up my cat, needing his comfort. His subtle purring starts as I nuzzle into his fur, fighting back tears.
Holden: I know you’re home.
I roll my eyes, swiping the tears with my sleeve. Maynard jumps off my lap and runs to the ledge by the front door, his favorite swiping spot.
I swing the door wide, not surprised to see my former boss standing in front of me, snow melting in his hair, his breath visible in the December air between us.
“Hi.”
“Why are your eyes red?”
“Eyelash.”
“In both eyes?”
“What do you want, Holden?”
“Please. Just give me five minutes.”
I step back, and Maynard immediately hisses at Holden from his perch. Not intimidated in the slightest, he reaches out and picks up my cat, whose shocked golden eyes plead with me to help him. I reach out and pat his head, then head to the living room, leaving both boys to their fate.
I don’t even care that I look ridiculous. My top half is dressed for work, a sleek black blazer and white blouse, with Christmas leggings and mismatched socks on the bottom half.
“Your five minutes start now.” I cross my arms, but my words feel empty. I’m tired of being mad at Holden.
He hands me a folder. “This is your promotion packet. Effective immediately. Vice President of Interior Design, Big Sky Architecture. Full benefits package, your own team, your own projects, and a salary to reflect the position. Everything you’ve earned and should have had months ago.
Carter and I met about it and are in agreement. ”
I stare at the folder but don’t open it. “I’ve been offered a job in Seattle.”
“You deserve it. You deserve everything, Atlanta, including a boss who isn’t a selfish prick.”
“Holden—”
“Let me finish. Please.” He runs a hand through his dark hair. “I held your promotion over your head like a bargaining chip even though you’d already proven yourself a hundred times over. I was selfish and manipulative, and I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
My eyes hold unshed tears, and if I blink, I know they’ll spill. I don’t dare speak because I can’t let him see me cry.
He swallows hard, his jaw working as he struggles to maintain composure.
“Please know that the promotion was never contingent on helping me with the curse. It was never contingent on anything. You earned it the day I hired you, and I was too scared of losing you to admit it. I thought if I kept you close, kept you in your current role, you wouldn’t leave like our last lead designer did. ”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“I know.” He takes a step closer, still holding Maynard, who is now purring.
The traitor. “But I was terrified. Because somewhere along the way, you stopped being just an employee. You became the reason I looked forward to work every day. The person I wanted to share every success with. The woman I—” He stops, his words stripped of all his usual confidence.
“The woman you what?” My voice is barely a whisper.
“The woman I fell in love with.” The words tumble out of him like a truth he can’t cage a second longer.
I suck in a breath, my hand flying to my mouth.
“I’m in love with you, Atlanta. And I handled it in the worst possible way because I’m an idiot who didn’t know how to separate what I wanted from what was right.
” He gestures to the folder. “Take the Seattle job. Take the promotion here and then leave anyway. I don’t care.
I just need you to know that you are brilliant and talented and deserving of every good thing, and I’m sorry I ever made you doubt that. ”
A tear slides down my cheek. “You’re a dunderhead.”
“I know.”
“You held my promotion hostage.”
“I know.”
“You kissed me and then brought up the promotion like it meant nothing.” My voice breaks. “But earning it on my merit was everything to me.”
I open the folder finally, scanning the documents inside. The official promotion letter. The salary increase. The benefits package. The memo from Carter outlining my qualifications as a new VP.
“This is dated two weeks ago.” My eyes snap to his.
“I finalized it last night, but I started the paperwork two weeks ago. After the hardware store. After watching you shine and acknowledging that I was the only thing holding you back.”
I search his face, a knot in my throat. “Why didn’t you give this to me then?”
“Because I’m a coward.” His shoulders drop, all the fight gone out of him. “But I can’t imagine my world without you in it. Even if you go, even if you move to Seattle, I need you in my life.”
“Holden.” I set the folder down on the coffee table. “I applied for the Seattle job because I was hurt. I’m not taking it. I’d pretty much decided it during the interview.”
He takes a step toward me, setting Maynard on the ground.
“But I’m not sure about being a VP. I want to meet with you and with Carter first.”
He pulls out his phone. “Done. Carter will be here in an hour.” He steps close, his thumb tracing my jaw. “But if you decide it’s a no, I understand.”
Tears stream down my cheeks, and pulls me close. “I love you, Atlanta Creekmore. You’re honest, loyal, hard-working, sexy as fuck, and never gave up on me. I want to spend the rest of my life proving just how much you mean to me.”
I take his hand and lead him to my bedroom. “You can start now. But we only have an hour.”
Our mouths crash together, desperate, rushed, and weighted with everything we couldn’t say before.
The years of tension snap loose between us as he kisses, his fingers sliding into my hair as if he’s been dying to touch me like this.
I clutch his coat, pulling him closer until our bodies align perfectly.
He yanks it off and tosses it on the floor before pulling me closer, his erection pressing against my belly as a low groan escapes his mouth.
“I’m so in love with you, Atlanta,” he whispers against my lips.
Our tongues glide together, the rhythm intoxicating. “Show me.”
Those two words undo him. He lets out a low growl before lifting me, his hands framing my hips with a reverence that feels like worship and want tangled together.
My legs wrap around him instinctively, my body arching into his as he presses me against the wall of my bedroom.
The way he looks at me… he’s been starving and finally gets to taste the one thing he’s always denied himself.
I’m done for anyone else.
His lips travel down my throat, slow and claiming, drawing a gasp from me that makes his grip tighten. “Atlanta,” he murmurs against my skin, voice rough, “I’m never letting you go. You hear me?”
“Yes,” I breathe. My hands slide under his shirt, fingertips brushing warm skin. “Please.”
He carries me to the bed, kissing me while he walks, and by the time he lays me back on the comforter, my heart is pounding.
“I need inside you, Atlanta.”
“I need you to fuck me, Holden.”
We yank off our clothes, and when he lifts me onto the bed, Maynard hisses from the floor, but Holden doesn’t stop.
I grab a condom from my bedside table, which he rips a open in record time.
He slides it over his dick, long and thick and perfect.
He teases my entrance before sliding into me slowly, reverently, his forehead against mine.
The love I feel for him is all-consuming, mixed with a level of passion I’ve never experienced. I wrap my legs around his waist, pulling him closer as he fills me completely, our bodies slick with sweat as we move together.
The afternoon light filters through my bedroom window, casting us in soft shadows, the outside world disappearing. I’ve never felt so wanted, so completely seen.
Holden’s mouth finds my neck, sucking and biting gently as his pounds into me again and again, bringing me to the edge. I flip our positions so I’m on top, sliding down onto his length while his hands cup my breasts, thumbs teasing my nipples as I ride him.
“You like that, Red? You like me playing with your gorgeous tits?”
I like dirty Holden. Reaching up, I hold his hands against my full breasts in answer. When our eyes lock, the intensity in his gaze nearly undoes me.
He slides his hands down, gripping my hip with one hand as he thrusts deeper, his cock filling me completely while the fingers of the other trace circles on my clit.
“Oh, gawd, Holden.” I throw my head back, giving into the building sensation at my core. “I’m coming.” My words are gasped, my pussy pulsing around him as waves of pleasure crash through me.
“Fuck, Atlanta. Fuuuck.”
His hips jerk as my nails rake down his sweat-soaked chest, then he pulls me down into a searing kiss as he climaxes right after me.
“I need to taste you.”
He flips me over, sliding down my body, his mouth leaving a wet trail as he positions himself between my legs, his eyes dark with need. He removes the condom, tosses it in the wastebin, then pulls my hips forward with a rough urgency.
Pinning my thighs wide, his tongue circles my drenched folds, the stubble of his jaw grazing the sensitive skin of my inner thigh. I shiver at the friction, gripping the comforter as he licks me with long, languorous strokes.
When I writhe in frustration at the sensation, he laughs low in his throat, the vibration traveling straight through my bones. He drags the flat of his tongue up and over my clit until I’m gasping, my hands fisting in his thick hair, holding him to me.
Just when I think I can’t take any more, two of his fingers slide into me, curling as if beckoning, stroking as his tongue laps greedy circles over my clit. I buck against his mouth, every muscle taut with pleasure as my orgasm explodes, the force of it leaving me almost dizzying as I come apart.
His eyes never leave mine as he rises to meet me, and I see in them everything I’ve been searching for. Truth, reverence, and love. He pulls me close, whispering my name against my skin like it’s sacred, and I know in that moment that I’ve finally found my home.
“Merry early Christmas, Atlanta,” Holden whispers.
I smiles against his chest. “Merry early Christmas, Holden.”
Outside, the snow stops, and somewhere in town, I’d bet money that a certain Santa in a red suit is making a final mark in his notebook.
Three good deeds completed. One curse broken. And one architect finally learning that the best things in life can’t be designed or controlled. They can only be enjoyed.