Chapter 16 #3
‘Hey you,’ he muttered, a slow grin spilling across his face lazily as I opened the door to greet him.
Since we’d last seen each other, he’d grown out a bit of facial fur, which really suited him actually.
He was dressed rather formally; wearing a pair of grey suit trousers paired with a crisp white shirt and matching grey blazer.
‘Your office has you working on a Saturday?’ I said, as he walked through the hallway, caught sight of Toby and gently picked him up to pet him. By now, Toby had become used to Theo coming to the flat, and had become quite taken with him, much to my relief.
‘Nope,’ he replied, putting Toby down and making his way to the sofa. ‘Just thought I’d be professional, you know. You are, after all, a client of mine. I thought it would be good to be formal.’
He must have been taking the piss. Surely.
‘Um … OK? Would you like a drink? I’ve got wine, Sprite, tea … coffee …’ I responded, confused. I’m pretty sure he was doing this to spite me. Touché.
‘I’ll have a glass of wine, thanks.’
We made ourselves comfortable on the sofa after I served him his drink. The air was thick with tension; not necessarily bad, just awkward. I decided that it would be best to just confront the elephant in the room.
‘Theo … I missed you,’ I started, turning to face him.
He was already facing me at this point, his eyes turned downwards as he listened quietly.
‘This whole “formal client” thing you’re doing?
I get it; you’re trying to make a point.
And look, I understand that I was the one who brought up the whole thing about you breaking your boundaries in the first place, but things changed, I guess.
And you were so adamant about keeping your work and personal life separate, that I just wanted to respect that too, you know? ’
‘I missed you too,’ he began. As he turned to face me, he held my hands in his – très romantic.
‘Look, I know. I was really clear about my boundaries at the beginning, especially when it came to clients. But something changed that night in the Uber. I don’t even know exactly when it happened …
I just know you’re different. You’re not like anyone I’ve met in a really long time, and it caught me off-guard.
It’s not just the sex – though that’s honestly incredible – it’s the way I can’t seem to stop thinking about you when we’re apart.
I love how quick you are, how you never let anything rattle you.
You’re beautiful, but it’s more than that.
It’s the way you carry yourself, how sure you are.
Most women either put me on a pedestal or keep me at a distance, and it gets …
lonely, sometimes. But you? You meet me eye to eye.
You challenge me. You make me feel seen.
I guess … I just wanted to hold onto that a little longer. ’
I stared at him, open-mouthed, completely blindsided.
No one had ever seen me like that before, let alone said it out loud.
For a second, something inside me – something I thought had long since gone numb – began to thaw.
All I wanted in that moment was to fall into him, to kiss him, to lose myself and not think about anything else.
But I couldn’t shake it; the sharp, unwelcome voice in the back of my mind, hissing, ‘What would your friends say? What would your family think?’ It clashed painfully with the part of me that just wanted to be selfish, to reach for something that felt real.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t know which side of me was going to win.
It was as if Theo could read my mind. Without a word, he set his wine glass down on the table, his eyes never leaving mine. In the next breath, he closed the distance between us and swept me into his arms, his mouth finding mine in a kiss that was all heat.
I melted against him instantly, my hands gripping the fabric of his shirt as if grounding myself, almost as if to make sure he was really there. His kiss deepened, desperate; tasting of wine and something sweeter I couldn’t put my finger on.
He pulled back just enough to look at me, his forehead pressed to mine, his breath ragged. For a long moment, we just stayed there, suspended between sense and surrender. His hands slid up my back, slowly, as if memorising the shape of me.
When he kissed me again, it was slower and more deliberate. His fingers threaded through my braids, tipping my head back so he could trail kisses along my jaw, down my neck, leaving a blazing path in their wake.
I could hear Toby meowing in the background, probably pissed off that I wasn’t giving him any attention just then. Cuddles would just have to wait, my friend.
All of a sudden, Theo picked me up and backed me towards the wall, pinning me there with the weight of his body, and I let him, heart hammering against my ribs.
His hands slid down to my hips, gripping hard enough to almost bruise, and I arched into him, craving more, craving everything.
‘God, you drive me crazy,’ he muttered against my skin, voice rough, before again trailing a line of frantic kisses down my neck, my collarbone, anywhere he could reach.
His hands were everywhere; my waist, my thighs, my back, touching like he was afraid I might slip away if he stopped for even a second.
When he finally lifted me, I wrapped my legs around his waist without thinking, clinging to him as he carried me towards the bedroom, his mouth never leaving mine for long.
Every kiss, every touch, every ragged breath between us screamed of something bigger than lust – something urgent, desperate and real.
And for once, I didn’t think. I didn’t question.
I just let myself fall.