I smack his chest playfully, laughing. “I hope you’re joking!”
His expression grows serious, eyes darkening. “Nothing I say is a joke right now. Come on, Lucy, you’ve met Maggie and my nephews. Isn’t it time you started telling some people?”
Suddenly he rolls, pinning me beneath him against the picnic blanket. He gazes down at me, his muscular frame pressing against my softer curves. His face is just inches from mine, his minty breath warm against my skin. “And it’s time you let me tell people you’re mine,” he murmurs.
I bite my lip nervously. “I’m just scared… in case it ends and then everyone knows I slept with the boss.”
He brushes a strand of hair from my face, his eyes tender. “That won’t happen.”
My breath catches. “How can you be so sure?”
He holds my gaze. “Because I love you. I’m all in, Lucy. I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work.”
My pulse spikes. “You… you love me?”
“I do,” he murmurs, his brown eyes fixed on me. “I’m not expecting you to say it back yet. Just know I’m in this for the long haul.”
His eyes bore into me with such intensity I swear he’s staring into the depths of my secrets.
Overcome with emotion, I knock off his baseball cap so I can run my fingers through his silky locks. He comes down to press his lips against mine. My hands roam urgently over the muscular planes of his back, pulling him closer. His body presses harder against mine.
We melt into each other, our kisses growing more heated, more consuming. I wrap myself around him, craving no space between us. Hands roaming everywhere like we have eight of them. Breathing ragged.
This is it. This is the kiss I’ve been waiting for. A kiss that tastes undeniably of love.
FORTY-FIVE
JP
“JP, this isn’t something you’re obligated to do,” Killian protests, spinning in his chair to fix his penetrating gaze on me.
“Or to be precise,” Connor interjects, heaving a tired sigh, “we’d prefer if you didn’t. Our gaming license is locked down. How you managed that with the gaming commission is beyond me.”
His tone, laced with a hint of begrudging respect, brings a fleeting smile to my face. Being aware of who the top dogs’ mistresses are comes in handy, as does subtly hinting I may gather them all for a soiree.
“There are zero logical reasons for you to step down,” Killian argues, his voice bouncing off the sleek, minimalist walls of our executive boardroom. The one with the twenty-foot window overlooking the Manhattan skyline. I’ll miss this view, that’s for sure. “This is your company. You built it with us. Without you, we wouldn’t be taking in more money than any other casinos in the country.”
His argument hits home. The logical, ambitious part of my brain is screaming bloody murder, pleading with me to cling to this empire I’ve shed sweat, tears, and blood for. Turning my back on it feels like amputating a limb. As I was mentoring my enthusiastic successor this week, it all surged back—the thrill of the casino floor, the electric buzz in the air, the dizzying wave of power that washed over me whenever I walked through those doors. I’ve spent more time on those casino floors than in my own home.
Maybe she’s a lost cause. Maybe this grand gesture is me pissing my legacy away on a love doomed to fail. It wouldn’t be the first time I lost it all on a bad bet.
“I have to do this,” I reply, my voice calm but firm. Because this is the only way to show Lucy I’m in this for real. Vegas has been my lover, my life, for the longest time. But Lucy needs to see that she’s taken that place now, whether she accepts it or not.
Sure, the wellness resorts are little more than a pipe dream at the moment. A billionaire playboy like me might keep Vegas buzzing, but no sane person is going to look for peace and detox at a wellness center run by a casino mogul playboy.
But I can’t keep running the casinos. Not if I hope to convince Lucy of my sincerity.
We’re just about to kick off our monthly staff-wide assembly, and I have a rather significant disclosure to make.
Just then, Killian’s PA, a young woman who always appears on edge around us, knocks and enters. “Sorry to intrude. The staff is assembled.”
“Are the video links to the other branches ready?” I ask.
She nods, her voice filled with nervous energy. “The staff here is congregated in the Grand Conference Hall.”
No turning back now.
I return the nod and we stride toward the hall, the only space vast enough in the entire structure to accommodate the throng of employees waiting for the impending news.
