“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me. She was too upset about everything. I did put some feelers out. I even called the asshole from Astor Conglomerate and asked what she was interviewing for.” I wince at the memory of that conversation. “He didn’t want to tell me at first, but when I told him I loved her and I wasn’t letting her go without a fight, he finally admitted that they want her as a liaison between hotels and guests. We don’t have anything like that. I think after the move we could go to the board and create the position. Especially if I could prove that it would benefit the company.”
“We can do it together. We won’t lose her,” Mason promises me.
Before I can say anything, there’s a knock on my door.
“Someone’s here,” I tell them.
Before I can even stand, I hear the keypad, then the lock turning. There’s only one person who has a code besides me.
Iris.
“I gotta go. I’ll call you later.” I hang up before any of them can say anything.
I turn back to the door and stand as she slips inside.
“Iris.”
She freezes, like she wasn’t sure I was home. “Hi. I hope it’s okay that I’m here.”
My heart clenches as I watch her shift from side to side, her anxiety clearly getting the best of her. It’s so unlike her that I don’t know what to think.
“You are always welcome in my home. If you’d move in, I would make space for you right now. I owe you an apology. I fucked up. I didn’t want to tell you like that.”
Iris shakes her head, making my heart drop to the floor.
“Stop talking,” she says, making me shut up.
I watch as her shoulders roll back, like she’s bracing herself for something.
Oh god. This is bad. So fucking bad. She’s going to leave.
With a determined look, she walks over to me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
Instead of answering, though, Iris reaches up and grabs me by the back of the head. She presses her lips against mine as my hands find her hips.
This.
This is how I thought it would be when I confessed my feelings. Maybe the guys were right, and we can find our way back from my blunder. All I know is I’ll never tire of having her lips against mine.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
IRIS
I knowwe need to talk, but I couldn’t help it. He was standing there looking so unsure of himself. It was like he was that man from ten years ago. The one who would physically shake before any speaking commitment.
He’s not that man anymore, nor am I the same woman.
We have grown up together. We are better people now.
I couldn’t let him keep doubting himself.
Pulling away from his lips, I look up at him.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for? I thought I was in the doghouse,” he whispers.
