I blinked, feeling a gush of emotions. He thought we were wonderful together.
I nodded. “I need to tell you something too. For the past few months, running the restaurant was getting much too stressful for me. And I realize now how much lighter I feel now that I don’t have to worry about its finances anymore.So, if you think the restaurant isn’t profitable anymore, then I understand. I trust you.”
“Thank you,” he said. “But I take full responsibility for that lie, you know. And I promise you, it won’t happen again. I will be completely honest with you in our relationship, Ava, going forward.”
“Relationship?” I whispered, blinking through my tears. “I thought we were a two-week fling?”
He grinned as the beeping elevator finally got to be too much to bear.
He took two steps toward me, and he was towering right in front of me. His hands clasped mine and placed them on the wall behind me. “I’m serious about you, sweetheart,” he breathed out heavily, getting his face close to mine. “To me, you were never just a fling.”
My heart started to race as I considered this. The idea of dating Desmond. Of being his. Maybe even taking a vacation together. A proper relationship.
His eyes were on my lips, and my heart started to race just as the doors started to close.
“Thank you for the cake,” I whispered. “It was delicious and wholly unhealthy.”
His lips slanted over mine as the elevator doors closed, and the searing kiss that followed was everything I wanted it to be. Breathless, fierce, and passionate. I could taste the desire in that kiss.
From this moment on, I wasn’t holding anything back with Desmond anymore.
Later that afternoon, during my lunch break, I took out the journal Desmond had given me and looked at it. I needed to heal my anger with Mom, and I needed to give Desmond’s suggestions a chance.
I poised my pen on the paper, but struggled with my emotions when I got a text from Desmond.
Desmond:I hope you’re prepared to spend the night at my place tonight.
I smiled, and the spark of excitement that Desmond’s text lit up in me made it much easier to put my words and emotions in his journal.
35
AVA
Sunlight edged in through the sides of the heavy curtains around Desmond’s room, reminding us that the world was up and about even if we weren’t. Desmond and I lay in bed, our feet tangled in one another’s. He pushed himself up on his elbows and leaned over me, straddling my legs between his before he bent down for an early morning kiss.
“I thought I’d never get to wake up like this again,” he said in between kisses. He pinned me down and kissed me like he was kissing the freaking daylights out of me, seductive, hungry kisses against luxury linen bedsheets.
I could feel his hardness against my stomach while his mouth teased mine open. I inhaled a deep breath when he came for air before he kissed me slowly this time, languorously. I knew this kiss. He was getting ready to make love again, and darn it if my traitorous body wasn’t responding to him.
“We can’t,” I said, remembering what we had planned for today.
His kisses moved down my neck, and he used his fingersto pull the strap of my camisole down, exposing my right breast and releasing one perky, rosy nipple.
He looked up at me, a wolfish grin forming on his lips. “Are you sure?” he asked, keeping his eyes on me while his tongue played with the nipple.
I groaned. I wished I didn’t have to be the practical one. “The leadership conference starts in an hour,” I said, and Desmond froze. “And you’re giving your keynote speech today.”
“Darn.”
He smiled at me while I slipped the strap back on. “Can I still see you this evening? And many more evenings?”
I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said, reaching up to give him a kiss. I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around myself before he could reach for my arm. “I’m meeting Rishi for dinner tonight.”
He groaned. “Well, stay over here this weekend then. I demand it,” he said as I got up. “I need to see you tonight anyhow. Can you?”
“Tonight and many more nights,” I said with a laugh just as I made for the bathroom door.
A few hours later,I popped into Employees Only, an upscale bar on Hudson Street, for a drink with Rishi. It had been ages since we’d met, and I’d missed him.
