Chapter 30
Grafton
There’s no salvaging my shirt, the material soaked through with perspiration. I peel the fabric off, looking up as Lynley steps out of the private bathroom attached to my office, amusement gleaming in her stormy eyes.
Much to my regret, she’s already got her dress on and has patted her mussed hair back into place. Her lips are still swollen, the lip gloss long gone. She looks perfect.
“You can’t go outside like that,” Lynley warns me, but she’s grinning. “That’s my property, which means you’re not allowed to show it off.”
I laugh, dropping the shirt on the end of the couch, and reach for her. I yank her off-balance as she catches herself with her hands on my chest, fingers curling into my skin.
“Your property, am I?” I ask huskily, and her grin widens. She pokes at the bite mark she left on my shoulder earlier.
“Uh-huh. I licked it, so it’s mine.” Lynley’s eyes are creased at the corners, no shadows darkening her eyes. She looks completely different from the woman I found lurking outside all those months ago, trying to convince herself to march inside and burn her world down.
“How long do we have the babysitter for?” I ask, my tone deliberately casual.
Lynley eyes me suspiciously, like she can see through the facade to the uncertainty I’m still harboring over some unknown teenager looking after the kids.
Lynley would never put Mase and Ginny in danger, but that certainty doesn’t soothe the uneasiness in my chest at the fact that they’re with someone I don’t know.
She shakes her head before checking the time. “Until five. We have a few hours left.”
I don’t look away from her, sorting through my thoughts, before deciding to bite the bullet. “Okay, good.”
“Good?” she asks, lifting her brows.
“Yeah. I’ve got somewhere I want to take you.”
Her brows lift, her eyes filled with curiosity. But all she says is, “Okay.” Her voice is so filled with trust that it takes me a minute to remember how to breathe.
I press a hard kiss to her mouth before letting her go and heading behind my desk to grab the gym bag I forgot to take home yesterday. There’s always a change of clothes in there, so I pull out a gray cotton shirt, aware of Lynley watching my every move with hungry eyes as I pull it over my head.
It doesn’t take me long to pack everything away. Just as I pocket my phone and snag her hand, making for the door, she pulls back, digging her heels in. “You forgot your jacket.”
I blink in bemusement, but her eyes are fixed on the way the cotton pulls taut across my chest. I smirk.
“It’s not that cold out. Anyway, it feels like I have lava surging through my veins after my woman accosted me in my office.
” I widen my eyes, giving her the most scandalized look I can muster.
“I really hope Judith went home, or she might be scarred for life.”
Lynley’s mouth drops open in horror, her eyes fairly bulging. This time, the laugh comes from my gut, and she slaps me in the abdomen with the back of her hand. “You tease,” she accuses, but she can’t quite hide her own laughter.
“Maybe,” I murmur, my hand smoothing down her back until I find the garter belt, tracing the outline. “I also know what you’re wearing under this dress, so who’s the real tease here?”
Her cheeks warm to a rosy red, looking like ripe apples, and I can’t resist the urge to cup her face, planting another deep kiss on her lips. “I love you.”
Lynley sucks in a startled breath, her eyes flaring wide, locking with mine. I know why. She might be used to feeling it, but she’s new to hearing it. And the fact that she got there on her own, managing to surprise the fuck out of me…
It will be a memory I cherish forever—alongside the christening of my office, which I definitely hope happens again.
I know there was an element of her past with Christopher driving her today, almost like she was exorcising him from her life and reclaiming herself.
I couldn’t help admiring the beautiful irony of her fucking her ex’s boss in the floor above his.
It felt like poetic justice, and the smug asshole in me is pretty happy to have been taken along for the experience.
“Alright. Come on, then.” Aware of time ticking, I catch her hand again, dragging her from the office. I can’t stop the smile when she catches sight of Judith’s desk and heaves a sigh of relief.
It’s only just gone mid-afternoon and still busy enough that we get stopped by several people on our way down the elevator and across the lobby. I tangle our fingers together, keeping her closely tied to my side. More than a few people look askance at us, but if Lynley cares, she doesn’t show it.
It wouldn’t surprise me if more people knew about Christopher’s behavior, especially with his absolute lack of discretion, so the fact that Lynley traded up shouldn’t be a reason for them to judge her. If anything, they should judge themselves for not telling her before she found out the hard way.
We reach the front doors, and I tell her, “I’ll leave my car in the parking garage, and we’ll just take yours home.”
Her eyes glimmer at the word home—something that happens every single time, and something I’ll never get sick of. “How will you get your car?” she frets. “It’s Friday—”
I lift a shoulder. “Don’t plan on leaving your side all weekend, so I won’t need it. You can play taxi driver for me.” I let my eyes go hooded, mouth tipping up suggestively. “Maybe we can pretend that I’ve forgotten my wallet.”
Lynley’s cheeks had returned to their normal color, but that has them flaming again, her eyes darting around to ensure no one’s listening. She doesn’t look totally averse to the idea.
She squeezes her fingers around mine without another word, leading me to where she’s parked her car.
When she would have tried to shake me off, I grip her fingers tightly, holding my other hand out for the keys.
Lynley hesitates, eyeing me through narrowed eyes, but then shrugs and drops them into my palm.
“I hate driving in the city anyway,” she says, her nose inching into the air.
“Of course, baby,” I agree. “And easier this way, seeing as you don’t know where we’re going.” Her head whips back my way, like she’s trying to gauge whether I’m teasing or not, but the corners of her mouth twitch up before she slides into the passenger seat.
I shove the driver’s seat all the way back before getting in, already having experienced the absolute claustrophobia of getting in at Lynley’s settings. She makes a low sound of amusement beside me.
“I’m really not that short.”
I scoff. “You might as well be a smurf when you’re next to me.
” It’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s worth it when her laughter fills the car.
As I ease into traffic, she starts talking about her plans for The Sterling Thread, and how she’s been chatting to a new artist, Halsey Ward, who has recently moved into town and wants to partner with her.
It’s her first artist to sign up, and the excitement in her eyes is undeniable.
“It still feels surreal,” she finishes, eyes focused through the windshield. “Halsey is amazing, Graft. Like, so talented, and I’m sure if she lets me exhibit her work, other people will follow.” The confidence and enthusiasm are contagious, and I reach over, resting a hand on her thigh.
“I’m sure Halsey is fantastic, but it’s you,” I tell her. “People gravitate toward you, knowing without a doubt that you’ll follow through on your promises. You’re genuine and trustworthy, and it shows.”
She hums, not disagreeing but not looking convinced. “I keep thinking the other shoe has got to drop, or something else is going to happen. It doesn’t feel like it should be this easy.”
I squeeze her leg before sliding my fingers under the hemline of her dress, finding the spot where her stockings end, and I can trace my fingers over warm, silky skin. She shivers under my touch, her flesh pebbling with goose bumps.
“You deserve easy, darling,” I tell her firmly. “And you’re untouchable now. Who would dare come after you?”
She twists her fingers together in her lap. “Caroline and Mom didn’t think that a couple of weeks ago.”
There’s a low pulse of anger at the memory, but I slide my hand further under her dress, savoring her gasp of surprise when my pinky finger rubs against the damp fabric of her panties.
Just like that, the anger fades to a muffled whisper, and I exhale softly.
“They might have been brave enough then, but they wouldn’t be now. ”
I keep my eyes on the road as Lynley swivels to stare at me, her mouth parted. I look her way as I come to stop at a light, and I can see the questions flickering through her eyes… But then it’s chased away with resolve, her jaw setting stubbornly.
Good girl. If she asked, I’d give her the truth. The day she called me to help her leave her mother’s house, Lynley firmly sliced her family from her life. She hasn’t contacted them once since, and, as far as I know, she hasn’t thought much about them, either.
Lynley is warm to her core, but she can be icy when the situation calls for it, and she coldly cuts the rot out of her life with barely a second thought.
It’s never going to be something I need to worry about, but I love that she has the ability, especially with people who aren’t worth the air she breathes.
I wasn’t lying when I told her that she no longer needed to worry about her mother and sister.
Knox and I made sure that no one within a five-hundred-mile radius would hire either of them.
And then we circulated some fun rumors within their social circle, ensuring no one would want to be caught dead in their company, including the sister’s waste-of-space husband.
It was just unfortunate that photos and videos had been—anonymously—uploaded to the internet, showing off Caroline at her absolute fucking worst. And everyone knew that kind of shit never went away.
“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Lynley murmurs, and I look over to catch her devious little smile.
I shake my head. “That’s not possible, baby. I’ve only got one side, and it’s yours.”
Her hand drops to cover mine, and we don’t say much else until I pull into the hotel parking lot, stopping at the valet stand. I get out, handing the keys and a generous tip over to the waiting valet before rounding the car to help her out and taking her arm.
Lynley frowns as she takes in where we are. “We have to be back by five,” she reminds me, a hint of disappointment in her voice. I immediately start making plans to organize an overnight date in our near future, but stall when I realize it means leaving the kids alone.
Maybe we’ll do it when I take her to Florida to meet my parents. They are safe enough to leave the kids with…although they did raise Thatcher.
Filing the problem away to figure out at a later date, I focus on Lynley.
“We’re not staying. I just want to show you something.
” Her dark eyes flicker downward, and I laugh.
“You’ve already seen that,” I say wryly.
“But I’m always happy to show you again.
” I slide my hand down over her ass to emphasize the point, squeezing her firmly.
We walk inside, but I turn away from the front desk, urging her to the left. I called ahead while she was in the bathroom in my office, warning the manager I was coming by. Lynley’s quiet as she matches my steps, her arm looped through mine.
It hits me again how easily she seems to have gifted her trust to me, especially after everything she’s been through.
I’ll prove to her every day that she’s not wrong for giving it to me, treasuring every piece of her that she gives me—especially when there was a time when I thought she could never be mine.
We stop just outside a set of ornate double doors, gilded in gold. Lynley blows out a shaky breath as recognition settles into her stare. I reach out, resting a hand on one curved handle, giving her a moment to steady herself, then push the door open, my other hand gesturing for her to precede me.
If I weren’t watching her so closely, I might have missed the hesitation, but she tips her chin back, walking forward.
I follow her, stopping just inside the doorway as she heads for the middle of the room, her head turning as she takes everything in.
Her arms are loose at her sides, the slightest tremble to her fingers before she tucks them into tight fists.
Finally, she turns, eyes locking with mine.
I smile. “And now we’re back to where it all started.”