“Proud of yourself?”
“Mm-hmm.” He ran his thumb over my wet bottom lip, his eyes heating. “I love when you make that growly sound. Reassures me.”
“How so?” I tilted my head, and his nostrils flared.
“That you’re just as into me as I am into you.”
“That was never in question, Connor,” I said softly.
He winced, but instead of stalking off or avoiding the chat, he nodded.
“I’m so sorry that I caused you to question us.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I’m working on changing everything. There’s a board meeting Wednesday that could be either really good, or really bad.”
“Bad… how?”
He dropped his hand from my face and pocketed it. The stiffness returned to his shoulders, and a muscle ticked in his jaw.
“My dad and Dennis are going to try and remove me as CEO.”
“What?” I blinked.
“It’s a real possibility. I’m sick of answering to them. I’mfucking over them coming between you and me.” His voice had a hard edge, one rarely used with me. Even now, he wasn’t angry at me, but I felt the lingering emotion in the air.
“I wasn’t sure about telling you because there are so many what-ifs, but we agreed on honesty.”
My stomach hollowed out, and I choked on my own breath.
His face fell, and he pulled me into a hug, completely misreading my reaction. We’d agreed on honesty, and I was hiding something major. My throat ached. He buried his face in my hair and inhaled, his muscles relaxing like breathing me in made him feel better.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything about the plan. This mandatory meeting threw me for a loop. I’m working on a backup plan, baby. If I have to start over, I’ll do it. I have good connections—”
“No, you can’t give in.” What about the baby? What about insurance? What about bills?
He knew nothing about those.
His frown deepened, and uncertainty clouded his eyes.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly, elongating each word and holding my gaze. Something swirled in his gray eyes—not quite confusion, but nerves, hesitation.
My guilt doubled over my omission, but I needed him to pick me. Holding off for thirteen days wasn’t that big of a deal. I ignored the twist of my gut and took his hand in mine.
“You’ve worked so hard to get where you’re at.” I smiled, meaning every word as I continued, “You’re not going down without a fight.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CONNOR
My breath caught in my throat at her words. When Laney was on my team, I felt invincible.
“I worked hard, yes,” I said, taking my time, studying her reaction. Her lips were slightly parted, and her face open, trusting. “But I want to work hard to keep you.”
She blinked, and a flash of something crossed her face. She masked it, and that gutted me. Despite the last few weeks of progress, she was still hurting. My continual choice of picking work over her had left scars.
“Come here. I want to show you something.”
“Wait, is this about your father trying to remove you as CEO?”
I shook my head and held out a hand. She placed hers in mine with a frown, that cute line between her eyebrows my undoing.
