Chapter 40
CHAPTER
FORTY
TESS
A fter a month of not seeing him, I thought I’d exaggerated how attractive Scott was in my mind.
Nope.
Stupid hot.
That had been my first impression of him, and now I was reminded why. His blue eyes set against light brown hair. His chiseled jaw. His sexy beard. And oh my God, he could wear a suit like no other man I knew. Today’s was especially well-tailored. A three-piece gray that wrapped around him like a glove.
But the most beautiful thing about him at the moment was his new title—VP of public integrity for Sebastian News Corp. This was why Kendra wasn’t wearing her ring, wasn’t it? This was why Teyana was here. This was why Scott’s text had said It will all be over soon .
Still, I was a little gun-shy. Afraid of getting my hopes up, and even though the expect-t-to-get-it mantra was standing as living proof right before me, I refused to let myself get carried away with what Scott’s new position might mean.
I would listen and wait and see.
Teyana was not on board with that approach. Leaning toward me, she whisper-hissed, “Oh my God, Tess, did?—”
“Shh,” I cut her off.
“But—”
“Shhhh.” This time I added an elbow to her ribs for emphasis.
I was having a hard enough time concentrating on Scott without her buzzing at my side. What was that he’d said about the timeline? And the documentary? And why had he yet to look at me?
My phone buzzed on the table in front of me, causing a few sideways eyes from others in the room. I picked it up and threw it in my lap without looking at it so any further buzzing wouldn’t be a disturbance. The text was obviously from Teyana because even though I’d missed watching her type anything into her own phone, she was now staring at me with that don’t-you-dare-ignore-me look she was so good at giving.
Giving in, I picked up my phone and read her text.
Did your guy just quit his job for you?
It sure looked like he had.
For US.
This meeting was about the DRF, after all.
Uh-uh. The DRF had a deal when he was still at SIC. This is all about you.
Breathing felt shaky, like my insides were twittering too much to draw in the right amount of air. This was all about me. This was all for me.
Nope. Nope. Not getting my hopes up. I texted back.
Maybe he got fired.
This earned me a kick to the shin, which I thought was uncalled for. It was a fair concern because what if he did get fired? What if all of this was his attempt to salvage a bad situation rather than making a situation where he could be with me?
Maybe it was dumb to nitpick about it, but now that I’d gotten hung up on wanting to be put first, I wanted to really be sure that I had been.
I gave Teyana a glare, hoping to communicate all that, to which she responded by rapidly typing into her phone.
But I was done with the conversation. I powered my phone off and tossed it back in my lap. Pointedly, I angled my chair so that it was harder to see Tey in my periphery and willed myself to focus on Scott’s words, which was easier said than done with how distracting his lips were.
“One of the hang-ups we had with the SIC contract was the distribution schedule,” he was saying now. “We’ve firmly put that in place in this version with a lump sum delivered at the beginning of each year so that the DRF can plan their budget accordingly. Furthermore, we have added a clause binding SNC to at least the first three donations of the five-year contract.”
Five years!
An annual lump sum!
A clause binding SNC to the payment!
Scott had addressed every issue I’d had with the previous contract and more. My salary was, as Peter had suggested, outrageously generous. The commitment to outreach on SNC’s part had been doubled. The documentary budget had been increased and now would be debuted exclusively on one of SNC’s primetime networks. I’d seen most of the contracts that Kendra had eventually settled on, and I could say without a doubt that this was Conscience Connect’s best deal ever.
Which was probably because of me but also would be understandable if he was still engaged to Kendra, and seriously, I was going to die before this meeting was over and I got to talk to him alone to find out.
After what felt like ages, the pens came out, and the final contract and all its copies were passed between Peter and Scott and signed by both.
Of course, then someone mentioned we should get pictures for publicity, but Scott (thankfully) quickly nixed that. “I’ll have my assistant set up a photo shoot where we can stage another signing. Better quality than phone snapshots and all that.”
Still, people lingered. Everyone, it seemed, wanted a moment with Scott, which was maybe the downside of being the man in charge. I stood waiting not-so-patiently, pretending to play on my phone while eavesdropping on Teyana and Kendra.
“Does this mean you’re not engaged?” Tey asked.
“Definitely not engaged.”
My belly fluttered so dramatically, I thought I might throw up.
But had it been Scott who broke it off or Kendra? Did it matter?
“What does this—” Tey said behind me, interrupting my thoughts.
At the same time, Kendra said, “Do you think?—”
Awkward apologizing ensued, followed by a ridiculous back and forth of you go first, no you.
It was Kendra who won the right to speak. “Do you think you would be willing to talk sometime about what it might look like if we were...openly...together?”
“I’d be willing, but I can already tell you what it would look like. It would look like this.”
They stopped talking, and when one of the old stuffy lawyers made a face, my curiosity forced me to turn around.
I found them in a lip-lock so heated it made me blush.
When they finally broke for air, Kendra was blushing too. “People are watching.”
“And neither of us burst into flames,” Tey said. “Weird how that didn’t happen.”
“Real weird.” Kendra pulled my friend back in for another kiss.
“Get a room,” I teased, but I kind of half meant it because I’d noticed the crowd in the room had dwindled in size, and I was mildly afraid the two of them would suggest we all go out to lunch when I very much wanted to only be with Scott.
“Your place or mine?” Kendra asked.
Tey rolled her eyes like she was ridiculous. “Yours, of course.” She called to me over her shoulder as she left. “Don’t wait up, honey. I’ll be home late.”
“If she comes home at all,” Kendra added.
“So Teyana and Kendra,” Scott said behind me as the conference room door shut behind the women.
I turned around and realized everyone else had gone. It was just me and him now, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk about Teyana and Kendra when I was already wondering if the conference room door had an automatic lock.
“You’re not engaged,” I said rather than asked.
“I’m not engaged.”
We were separated by several yards and a wall of pure heat, but the only thing that was keeping me from running to him was a tiny strand of willpower.
There were things that had to be said. Things that had to be asked. Things that had to be sorted, and all of those things required talking, which wasn’t generally the activity the two of us were drawn to when we were together.
As demonstrated with the way he was prowling toward me.
“And you no longer report to your dad.”
A simple shake of his head. Another prowl-like step in my direction.
“So...how did all that happen exactly?” I asked, keeping my feet planted.
“Well. After my grandfather reminded me that I was thinking too small and a reminder from Brett that there was more than one Sebastian corporation with power, I approached my uncle Samuel and just asked.”
“Asked for…?”
“The sponsorship. A job. He created the position just for me, at my suggestion. He jumped at the idea because who wouldn’t? I mean, I’m a catch. At work and otherwise. But also because he knew it would piss my father off. Uncle Samuel is not a fan of Henry Sebastian. And even if I decide to leave him and find a job that’s not Sebastian-related at all—which is an option I’d never considered before, a really freeing option—the DRF will still be funded so we don’t have?—”
I cut him off, needing to stick to the most important details since my restraint was wearing thin. “You quit your job. For me. You chose me.”
I didn’t need a response—not that I had the strength to wait for one, anyway—I ran into his arms, my mouth crashing against his with an intensity that made Kendra and Tey’s make-out session look like a peck on the cheek. His arms wrapped around me, and within seconds we were grinding against each other in the not-suitable-for-work way we generally did whenever we were together which was often, ironically, at work.
That was the way with us, though. Fireworks and heat.
There was substance too. A connection that went beyond lust. One that we could explore and strengthen and grow now that we didn’t have any stupid restraints on our relationship.
But first, after a month of not touching, there needed to be a lot of it to make up.
Except, we were barely breathless and our clothes were all still disappointingly in place—damn the outfit I’d chosen, Kendra was right!—when Scott pulled away.
Instinctually, I followed after him, my lips chasing him as he drew back, until he cupped his hands on my cheeks and held my face in place.
“Hey,” he said. “I always chose you. From the very beginning. Over and over, I never stopped choosing you.”
Whether or not it was technically true, it was a sweet thing to say, and I was happy to accept it for that and get back to the physical stuff, but something about the sincerity in his eyes made me stop and actually think about it.
And realized he was right.
He had chosen me. Over and over. He’d chosen me on that rooftop. He’d chosen me again when I’d showed up at his office with my pitch. He’d chosen me when he let me push the foundation I wanted SIC to support. He’d chosen me when he’d gotten Tey a specialist and when he’d introduced me to his grandfather and when he decided he had to stay engaged to Kendra in order to get the DRF sponsored.
“You did choose me,” I said, letting it really sink in.
“It just took me a minute to realize I also had to choose myself.”
Huh. Seemed we’d been on the same spiritual journey this past month. I was excited to continue it with him at my side.
I pushed forward out of his grasp so I could brush a kiss across his lips. “I choose you back, Scott Sebastian, man that I love.”
“I love you, Tessa Turani.” He pulled me tightly against him, the mood quickly reverting to the lust-filled one from before our declarations were made, the thick bulge in his pants a sign of where things were obviously going. “Now if I could just figure out how I’m going to get my cock inside your pantsuit…”
“You’re a man of resources. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”