Chapter 40 #2
Clay’s eyes were the brightest I’d ever seen them. I stared, getting lost in a color that reminded me of the grass when the spring rains started. Lush and full of promise for the season to come.
“Say it again?”
Maybe I’d hallucinated. I’d spent so much time over the past week with his voice in my head, telling me exactly what I wanted to hear, that I may have made everything up.
Clay didn’t hesitate. “I love you.” A sly smile took over his face.
“I’m not sure when it happened, probably sometime between that sassy-ass attitude on the phone and you attempting to give me a concussion in the truck, but I fell hard.
I may not have realized what it was, but I knew what I wanted.
” The green darkened, and I knew I was about to get sexy Clay. “You. Under me. A feast for my senses.”
I may have panted a little, the arousal so strong flowing through my body.
“But it’s not just the sex, though I’m taking the liberty to speak for both of us when I say it’s phenomenal. Talking with you, arguing with you, dreaming with you, it’s more than I ever expected and nothing I knew I needed.” He smoothed back my hair, the move gentle and familiar. “I’m sorry.”
His words held such sincerity, I couldn’t do anything but believe them.
“I’m sorry for even having the thought of taking this property from you.
I’m sorry for not telling you I would ensure that didn’t happen.
I’m sorry for not telling you what was happening with Conti-Montgomery.
I’m sorry for not protecting you from Reginald and giving you a reason to doubt me.
” He cupped my face, tilting it up so I couldn’t do anything except look him square in the eyes.
“What I’m not sorry for is falling in love with you.
You make it sort of hard not to, Little Trouble. ”
I scoffed at that. “Yeah right. Tell that to all my ex-boyfriends.”
Clay growled, like an honest to God growl.
“We’re not talking about any of those men.
They didn’t understand the gem they held in their hands, which is lucky for me.
” His lips claimed mine again, and everything shifted into place.
“I see you, Reese. I see how you try to protect yourself with sarcasm or sassiness, but you don’t have to protect yourself from me.
I want it all. I want what those men didn’t because they were too weak to handle you.
” Wickedness oozed from the grin that tilted up his lips.
“There you go; you were never too much. They were too weak. I like the sound of that much better.”
“What does that make you?”
This game of tit for tat we had since that first call never failed to invigorate me.
“It makes me perfect for you, just like you’re perfect for me.”
I loved the idea of being perfect for him. For years, I thought I’d never find the missing piece to my soul. Now he was here, but while we were perfect for each other, not everything was perfect.
“So, you sure you want to work with me?” I asked cheekily.
“You sure you want to work with me?” he countered.
“I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else. I love my family, but not even they get me like you do.” It was a heady feeling.
“Then it’s settled.” His lips found the curve of my neck as his hands flexed on my hip.
“Um, there is a slight problem.”
“I’m not inside you? That’s the only problem I can think of right now.” He rocked against me, his cock proudly displaying exactly how ready he was to reconnect.
“That is definitely a problem, and one I intend to rectify soon, but I was thinking of something else.”
Clay groaned. “Do we have to?”
“How are we going to make this work? Henley Falls isn’t exactly a big city, and I’m not leaving,” my words rushed out. I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d do if this was a deal breaker for him. “I can’t go. I know we’re working together, but I’m not leaving my home.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to.” He kissed the tip of my nose and some of my worry leeched away. “We’ll figure it out. Admittedly, right now, I have to be in Manhattan most of the time. I need to right the ship.”
“Of course.” I knew that, but I couldn’t help the little bit of disappointment settle in my stomach.
I didn’t want to be apart from him now, when we’d barely gotten back together.
Still, I couldn’t be anything but thrilled that Clay was finally realizing his own dream.
If time apart was the sacrifice we had to make, I knew it would reward us in the end.
“That’s your company now.” There was so much more I wanted to know about what happened with his stepfather, but none of that had a bearing on us right now.
“It is, and I can’t tell you how strange and exhilarating that feels.
” Brushing my hair back, he framed my face.
“Reese, I would never make you give up your home. This is where you belong. I can work from damn near anywhere, Henley Falls included. Who knows…” He paused and smirked down at me.
“Maybe I’ll pick up another jet and make getting back to New York a little easier. ”
I rolled my eyes at his suggestion. “Yeah, it’s going to take me a while to get used to the money thing.”
He tugged on my earlobe. “I’m going to enjoy spoiling you with it.
” Raising back up, he stared into my eyes, the playfulness of seconds ago gone.
In its place was the serious Clay. The one I first met.
The one who moved me before I even realized what was happening.
“If you want me, want this, as much as I do, I’ll do anything—move any mountain—to make it work. ”
Just remember, you can never have too much of a good thing, and some trouble makes life worth living.
Gramps may have been on to something.
“You have yourself a deal, Clay Montgomery.” Twining my arms around his neck, I winked at him. “However will we seal it?”
“I’m sure I can think of something, my Little Trouble.”
“I’m assum—”
“Logan, unless you want to hear really loud make-up sex, you best leave,” I called to my brother standing in our kitchen as I dragged Clay into my bedroom.
“Annnnnnnd I’m out.”
The front door slammed at the same time I shut my bedroom door and turned to the man who had somehow stolen my heart when I wasn’t looking.
Grams had always said that’s when it happens, but I didn’t believe her.
For years, I’d convinced myself I wouldn’t have what they did, and now, I couldn’t help but think maybe it was possible.
After laying down a few ground rules.
I turned away from the bed and toward him.
“No more lying. Not even by ‘omission.’” I did the air quotes and everything.
At Clay’s nod, I continued, “As we’ve established, I’m not moving but I definitely plan on spending some time in New York.
” I seriously hadn’t gotten enough of that apartment.
Another nod of agreement. “I may even want to go on a business trip with you.” I’d never left the country, but the thought of seeing the world by his side made me want to jump on a plane.
But I’d always come back.
“We’ll get you a passport as soon as possible. Name the place, and I’ll take you.”
“I know this is quick. I know we can still fuck this up, but I want a love like my Grams and Gramps.”
Clay shook his head, and my heart sank. “Their love was unique because they were unique. Just like Father and Mother’s and your own parents’.
I can’t promise you a love like theirs.” He lifted my hand to his chest, over where his heart lay.
“But I can promise one that’s uniquely ours.
You don’t get a copy of someone else’s love story, Reese; you’ll have your own.
” I didn’t realize I was crying until he used a thumb to wipe away a tear.
“It won’t be easy, because what in life that’s worth it ever is?
It will be ours, and that’s the most perfect thing in the world. ”
My breath caught in my throat, but somehow, I found enough to get words out.
“Make love to me.” I watched him grin, the dimple coming out full force.
“You know, when I said those words on your balcony, it was the first time I’d admitted how I felt.
I scared the shit out of myself, but I think it was worth it. ”
“I had a bit of a jump on you. Your dad, that day after our presentation, said, ‘ain’t love grand?’ as he walked away from me, and the words just felt right.” He dragged his hands up my arms, tunneling his fingers through my hair. “You just feel right. In every sense and in every way.”
We stripped each other slowly, like that night in his apartment.
Sitting on the bed, I pulled him down next to me, luxuriating in the feel of his weight on me.
It wasn’t even a week apart, but it had felt like forever.
Time seemed to still as we explored, our touches gentle and tinged with feeling.
There was no need to rush, because we had nothing but time now.
Not simply hours, but months and years ahead of us.
Life was fickle, and something could change, but in my heart, I didn’t believe that would happen.
Everyone had their person. Sometimes they met, sometimes they didn’t.
Sometimes it lasted forever, and sometimes it was only for a moment.
I’d met mine in the most me way possible: trying to scare him off with sarcasm. Fortunately, it didn’t work. I chuckled at the thought.