Chapter 27 #3
Jack rolled his eyes. “Because I’m getting married tomorrow.
Because I want everything to be perfect for the woman I love.
Because if you’re standing next to me with my sister pissed off at you, or some scowl on your face, or waiting to have another fight in the bar—yes, Michelle told me, so don’t look so shocked that I know—that will make her unhappy, and that will make me unhappy.
And all I want is for her to be happy. So can you deal with this tonight, please? ”
“I was planning on dealing with it tonight,” I replied.
Jack clapped me on the back. “Good. Let’s go back, and you’re excused for the rest of the night. This is more important.”
I laughed. “Yes. It is,” I said, and all I wanted now was to take Casey in my arms and make her mine.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Jack said as we neared the veranda.
“I’m not even going to tell you not to hurt her, because I know you know better.
But remember this—Casey and Michelle are the two most important people in the world to me.
And you’re next. So treat her like she’s the world to you.
Or else the rest of our lives will be incredibly awkward. ”
“I promise,” I said, then an idea flashed before me. A brilliant idea. “Hey. You’re doing some work with European companies, right?”
Jack nodded.
“There’s something I need,” I said, then gave him the details.
“I’ll see what I can do after the wedding,” Jack said, then gestured to the rehearsal dinner. “Now go take care of business.”
But Casey was no longer at the table. My heart beat faster as I searched for her on the veranda, but I didn’t see the woman in the light-blue dress. I stopped by Michelle’s seat, bent down, and asked her if she knew where Casey had gone.
“She had to take a work call. She stepped out. She’ll be right back.”
Hopefully, she wouldn’t be right back. Hopefully, neither one of us would return tonight. I walked through the restaurant. The chef spotted me and tried to call me over, but I shook my head. “Another time.”
I made it to the doorway and found her outside, leaning against a palm tree, chatting on the phone. Her face lit up when she saw me, and I walked right up to her as she was saying, “Thanks, Sofia. Glad everything is all set.”
She ended the call and tucked her phone in her purse.
“Hi,” she said softly.
“Hi,” I said, stopping just a few inches from her. My gaze drifted once more to her collarbone, that spot that drove her wild, and me too. I met her eyes, her gorgeous sapphire eyes that I loved getting lost in.
“Do you forgive me for getting so mad earlier?” she asked.
I smiled as my heart raced just from being near her. “It’s not something that needs forgiveness. We’ve both gotten mad and jealous, and I love your jealous side, because it matches mine.”
“Good,” she said.
“Do you forgive me for being an ass about my ex-wife instead of just admitting to you that it hurts my pride to see her, but that’s all? Because I have no feelings for her. None whatsoever. I only have feelings for you. I have so many feelings for you, I barely know what to do with them all.”
“It’s not something that needs forgiveness,” she said, repeating my words. “But thank you for saying it.”
She closed the sliver of distance between us, dropping her purse to the ground, and placing her hands on my face.
“You taught me how to give up control, and you also taught me that you liked it even when I took charge, so that’s what I’m going to do right now.
Because I can’t go any longer without this,” she said, then planted a dizzying kiss on my lips, sending my head spinning and turning my world hazy, filled only with thoughts of her, of ravaging her, of sliding inside her and sending her into ecstasy.
I could barely believe I’d gone without touching her for five days now.
Those five days were hell and I never wanted to experience that kind of torture again.
No, I wanted to be tortured only by my lust for her, by my bottomless desire.
And though I never wanted this kiss to end, I had so much to tell her, so I cupped her shoulders and gently separated from her.
“I may have taught you how to give up control, but you showed me something even more important, and that’s how to feel again and how to love again,” I said, and the words were remarkably easy to say.
So much easier than I’d ever expected. “You’re the one in control of me now.
Because I love you, Casey. I am completely in love with you, and I want to be your friend, and your lover, and the man you love.
I want to be all those to you. I want to be everything to you because you’re everything to me. ”
She trembled, and ran a thumb along my jawline. “You are everything to me. You’re the man I love.”
My heart thumped wildly in my chest. I was flooded with happiness, and even though we were heading into the great unknown, I was finally ready for that journey.
Because of her. Because she’d stood by me over the years.
Because she made me laugh often, she turned me on relentlessly, and she showed me every day that trust didn’t have to be broken—it could be strengthened by the bond of friendship that turned into this beautiful love.
Because she was the only one I wanted—heart, body and soul.
She brushed her fingers across the buttons on my shirt. She was practically bouncing on her toes as she brought my mouth back to hers, stopping when I was millimeters away. “Show me how you kiss me now. Show me what it’s like to be kissed by the man I love.”
“Like this,” I said, crushing my lips to hers, and wrapping her so damn close that our bodies were nearly fused together. I kissed her hard, and passionately, and for a long, long time, savoring every second of her shivers, and her sexy sighs, and of the way she wrapped her leg around me.
Like she wanted me to take her right then and there.
I groaned as she brushed her calf against my leg, and that was all I needed to break the kiss, grab her hand, and lead our way to my villa.