The couple looked so in love as they sat, hands touching, so close to each other that I felt a pang of longing when I witnessed their love for each other.
A fierce sense of awareness crept through me as I took in the way they looked at each other. Like they never wanted to look anywhere else.
I feel the same about Jonah, I realized with a shock.
Shit.
I love Jonah.
I had been so lost in the whirlwind of attraction for him that I never considered the implications of what could happen when we spent so much time together. In the past, I’d met with Jonah because I wanted to live a little. To find some part of me I’d repressed. But I found something entirely unexpected.
Love.
And I didn’t know what to make of it.
I was fully, deeply in love with him. And I had been for the longest time.
48
LEXI
Jonah dropped me home after work on Monday evening, and got out after me when the car stopped at the curb.
“I don’t want to let you go,” he murmured, as he closed his arms around me, before slanting his mouth over mine and kissing me deep and hard. His tongue thrust into my mouth, as he ran his hands over my hips and down to cup my butt, and squeezed. I was losing my mind, and if Jonah had suggested we make love right here against the car, I might’ve agreed.
It was as though a fire was burning between us, and we devoured each other, aching to fill each other up.
Some people whistled in the distance, while someone else shouted, “Get a room, you two.”
When we broke away, we held each other’s gaze for a long moment. His eyes were filled with lust and an emotion I couldn’t quite place. I took a good look at the man who believed in me, trusted me, like no other person in my life.
“Lexi, there’s a promise I made to my father a while back,” he said. “That if I was ever serious about a woman, I’d let him know.”
I swallowed.
“There’s a private gathering on one of my dad’s yachts this weekend,” he murmured against my lips. “And I’m taking you there.”
When he let go, he trailed kisses on my cheek, giving me a playful nip on the ear before he stepped back.
“How public will this event be?” I demanded, wondering if he was aware of what he was asking of me. “Am I meeting just your Dad or will there be anyone else there?”
He held my gaze. “It’ll be an intimate gathering, so there might be a few friends of his, but no one from the board. I’ll introduce you to my dad.” He paused, then added, “And I’ve been assured Cora won’t be there.”
I gulped. This wasn’t a vacant gesture. He was announcing to his family that we were together.
“Are you serious?” I asked, ready to pull my hair out in frustration. “I don’t want to jeopardize the CEO vote for you.”
His gaze held mine, probing, reading me. “You’d never ruin anything for me, Lexi. You’re a part of my life now, and I won’t let anything come between us. But we have to think about Evie. I can only imagine how the media might spin things, and she doesn’t deserve that. So yes, we can take it slow for a few more weeks.”
I was in my eleventh week of my sixteen-week internship. I wasn’t sure what would happen when it ended, but it seemed like I wasn’t the only one counting down. I bit my lip, afraid of going there, afraid of scaring him off.
He must have seen the look on my face, because he paused.
His mouth lifted just barely, but it didn’t last. “I know what people will say about the age gap and you working for me. About how I should know better, but I can’t stay away from you anymore, Lexi.”
My chest ached. It wasn’t about the age gap. It never was to me anyway.
“When you were ill from the flu,” he continued, “I felt all sorts of things. Things I’d never felt for any woman before. Like wanting to protect you.” He turned his gaze to me, sharp and intense. “It’s safe to say I’ve caught a lot of feelings. You’re coming to the party with me, and I’m going to introduce you as my girlfriend.”
