Chapter 15
GINNY
I’m lying. And I know Everett knows I’m lying.
There’s no getting over this. There’s no getting this out of our systems. And I know that actually sleeping with him is going to make my feelings for him even stronger.
But I just don’t care anymore.
I can’t fight it. And the truth is, I trust him. I trust that my job and professional integrity are secure, and that we can both keep them separate.
He’s not like my past bosses or boyfriends. In fact, he’s not like any man I’ve ever known. Except maybe my dad and brothers. He has integrity and honor, and he truly loves me. He won’t hurt me.
I believe that.
And that is why I am willing to step over this final line. For better or worse.
Everett doesn’t say anything. He just lifts his hand in the air, summoning the waiter.
“I’m sorry to do this,” he says when the man approaches. Then he shoots me a glance. “Actually I’m not sorry at all. We are going to need to take our dinner to go.”
The waiter looks from Everett to me, then simply nods. “I will package everything up when it’s ready. What room can I have it delivered to?”
I grin. The man just scored himself an enormous tip.
Everett looks at me. “Which room?”
“Yours.” My suite was supposed to be for Graham and Margot. It’s beautiful and romantically set up, but it’s not ours. I want to be in Everett’s room.
Everett gives him his room number, slips him a few bills, then stands, offering me his hand.
I let him escort me out of the restaurant. Quickly.
I’m giggling by the time we get to the elevator.
We step inside, and as the door slides shut, Everett turns to me with a predatory look. “You find this funny?”
“No.” I shake my head and step close, sliding my arms around his neck. “I’m just happy and can’t contain it.”
The heated look in his eyes doesn’t dim, but his lips turn up in a smile. “You have from this moment until we step off the elevator to change your mind. Once we are in my suite, I’m not letting you go ’til morning. Maybe not even then.”
I tip my head back, offering my mouth. “I hope not even then,” I say softly.
He slides his hand up the side of my neck to cup my face, gazing at me with a mix of wonder, love, and desire so obvious it nearly buckles my knees.
“This won’t get you out of my system.” His voice is rough. “You’re not just in my system. You’re in my bones, Ginger. You’re in my cells. You’re in my soul.”
A shiver of pleasure and joy goes through me.
“I’ve been stupid to think that I could resist this,” I admit. “In the beginning, I really thought I could. By the end of Thanksgiving, if I’d been honest, I would’ve realized I was a goner. Definitely by the time you left after Christmas. I’m sorry I made us wait.”
The elevator arrives on the top floor, sliding to a smooth stop, and the doors glide open.
A sly look replaces his softer expression. “Make it up to me now.”
Oh, I intend to.
I step out of the elevator, catching his fingers and tugging him after me. Not that I expected he would be anywhere but right on my heels.
The way this man is clearly as obsessed with me as I am with him is empowering, while it’s also humbling.
This is really the difference. I realize now that the other men in my life didn’t put me first because they didn’t love me more than anything else.
I believe Everett does. He’s an intense person who has had a life that seems full of luxury because of his parents' status and money, then his own. But he’s done without a lot of very important things.
Things money can’t buy. And he realizes that and appreciates what he has now: Friends.
Family. Stability and foundation. People he can trust. A future where he is in control of his happiness.
And I believe him when he says that I am a part of that.
Because I have always had all of those things from my family and friends, including unconditional love and support, I can recognize them from Everett. And trust it all.
Tonight’s meeting with the Albrights sealed it.
Everett let me talk. He looked just as impressed as they did.
But he was also proud of me. He let me shine.
He didn’t add to anything I said. He didn’t take away from any of my ideas or proposals.
He didn’t try to prep me beyond the information I asked about the brothers.
It was clear, to me and to the other men, that he trusted me completely.
We were the perfect team for this meeting.
And I know we’ll be the perfect team for everything else in life.
He loves my family and friends, and they love him. He values roots as I do. IES is important to him for the same reasons I’m passionate about it.
And I’ve never met a man who can make me so hot with a simple look or touch.
He lets us into the massive suite, but I don’t even pause to take in the artwork, or the gorgeous furnishings, or the view.
I don’t stop walking until we are next to the gigantic bed.
In this room, we’re surrounded on two sides by windows filled with New York City lights and I don’t even bother to turn on a light beyond the soft glow from the one bedside lamp.
This suite doesn’t have rose petals, champagne, or chocolate-covered strawberries. But we don’t need any of that. All Everett and I need is each other.
I turn to face him at the foot of the bed and drop his hand. I shrug out of my blazer, tossing it onto the armchair near the armoire.
I bend over and unzip both boots, toeing them off and kicking them aside. Then I straighten, lifting the skirt of my dress and reaching for the top of my stockings, slowly rolling them down.
I watch Everett watching me. His jaw is tight, his eyes hot. He’s barely blinking. I’m not sure he’s breathing. The way he looks at me makes me almost as hot as when he’s touching me. Almost. I am dying to get his hands on me.
I toss my tights to the side, then tug on the tie that’s keeping my dress together at my waist.
“It’s me that’s been keeping us apart,” I say. “So you get to call the shots here. Tell me how you want me.”
He sucks in a breath, his nostrils flaring as my dress loosens, and I open it and let it slip off my shoulders and drop to the floor, leaving me in only my bra and panties.
He stands staring at me, his gaze raking up and down my body.
My nipples bead and my clit is already throbbing.
“Everett?” I ask.
“So many fucking ways, Ginger,” he says, his voice gruff. “Give me a second to decide where to start.”
I smile and reach behind me for my bra hooks.
I let it land on top of my dress. “Just pick one.” My thumbs tuck into the top of my panties, and I slide them down my legs. “We can do it all.”
I am now completely naked in front of him, while he’s still wearing everything, including his shoes and tie.
I should feel vulnerable, exposed. But I only feel hot. Vulnerability with this man is sweet, not dangerous.
I feel like a temptress, fully in control, definitely with the upper hand.
I take a step forward, but he says, “On your back.”
I quirk a brow.
His hand goes to his tie, loosening it. “Spread open. Where I can get at every inch of you. Where I can feast on you.”
Of course, he doesn’t want me on my knees pleasuring him. Of course he’s not going to immediately fuck me, even though I’ve been making him wait, holding him at arm’s length. Oh no. He’s still going to make this about me. Pleasure me. Worship me.
Heat cascades through me from my scalp to my toes. But it’s not just lust or desire. It’s love. It’s comfort. It’s joy. I will be completely cared for by this man.
I don’t say anything. I just back up to the edge of the bed. I sit, then scoot up to the middle of the mattress and lie back. I’m his. Whatever he wants.
His jacket hits the floor. He kicks off his shoes and undoes his belt, sliding it through the loops and tossing it aside.
Then he crawls up the bed, still mostly dressed.
His tie is loose around his neck, the top button of his shirt is unbuttoned, and his sleeves are rolled up on his forearms, but otherwise his shirt is still even tucked into his pants.
I wiggle. This makes it even hotter. He’s all about me.
As always.
I flash back to our first night together on Halloween in Denver.
The same thing happened. He was the one who stripped my clothes off, but I was still fully naked before he took even one article of clothing off. His mouth was all over my body before I even touched bare skin other than his face and neck.
He braces his hands on either side of my head and stares down at me. “I love you.”
I nod. “I know.”
That clearly pleases him.
“I love you too,” I tell him.
The flashes of emotion that go through his eyes nearly undo me.
Pleasure, joy, relief, and an even more intense look of love.
“This is not a one-time thing,” he says. “This is not one night. There’s no ‘getting it out of our systems’. There’s no more staying apart.”
I nod again. “I know.”
“It’s going to work out. Do you trust me?”
There’s only one answer to that. “Of course.”
“And IES needs you,” he says. “That doesn’t change either.”
I believe him. “Okay.”
“Spread your legs and hold on.”
My whole body seems to melt into the bed, but I do what he says. My hands fist the duvet, and I spread my thighs for him. There is simply no other option.
He just kisses me first. Our mouths are hungry, but it’s a slow, deep kiss. A kiss that says it’s been way too long. Our first kiss after saying I love you.
It doesn’t feel new. I think we’ve both always known that this—we—were inevitable.
He drags his mouth to my ear. “You can be as loud as you want to be here. We’re the only room on this floor.”
I suck in a breath and let it out. “Why do you think I wanted to come to your room?”
He chuckles, and the vibration rumbles through me.