I shook my head and brought my glass to my lips, trying to hide the warmth creeping into my cheeks from that smile.
“So, that’s my sad little story,” said Chandler before reaching for a file and scanning it over, as if trying to distract the weight of my stare and the sadness it held for him.
Itwasa sad story. It made me a little more understanding of the asshole he was, but also unlocked a new version of him. One that was willing to open up, no matter how much it hurt. One who cared more than he would ever admit. I wanted to hug him, but I knew it would make him feel weak.
“It’s made one hell of a man,” I said, offering him a small smile.
He looked up from the file in his hands and smiled back. For the first time, it wasn’t a smirk. It was real and it had my stomach doing somersaults.
Chapter 16
Chandler
I looked at Gabriella sitting across from me, feeling the smile across my lips and knowing she had put it there, even after I had talked about some of the darkest parts of my life. She had really listened. She didn’t pry for more. Instead, she simply absorbed what I said and instead of making me a sympathy case, she built me up. It was a softer side of her I had never seen. Or deserved.
For a second, I felt a flicker of guilt for taking a job that was so rightfully hers. Anyone with eyes could see it, which was probably why most of the employees here resented me. Either that, or because I was an asshole. I could admit that. It was just how I had always been. Had always run things.
But here, in front of me, was the rightful person for the job, and for some reason I had gotten it instead of her. She knew every employee and little details about them that weren’t in their files. She had taken the time to get to know them, whether they’d beenhere ten years or five minutes. I was amazed at her memory and care. I could see why she was so insistent on me easing up on everyone.
It was clear that this company meant a hell of a lot to her. It was her family’s legacy. It was supposed to be hers.
I could see the look of hurt in her eyes when she told me how her father had passed up on her. I knew it went deeper than the CEO position. There were some deep-rooted issues the whole thing had caused between a father and his daughter, and I couldn’t help but feel like I had caused some of it. Though it was completely unintentional.
“You know I didn’t mean to take it from you,” I said softly, looking around the office that would have been hers.Shouldbe hers. That wasn’t an easy thing for me to admit, even to myself. It was just proof that Gabriella had a way of getting to me. Of making me softer. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or hated it.
“I know,” she said, looking down at the glass of bourbon in her hands.
The liquor had been a good idea. It had been the little bit of liquid courage we needed to put aside our differences, though they had been the things keeping us apart the past few weeks. At my suggestion, we had stayed away from each other as much as we could. Texts, emails, and calls were really the only way we had communicated, and it had not been easy.
I hated to admit it, but I missed her. Missed the shit-talking. The tension. The passionate despise we held for each other. It was laughable how bad of a foot we had gotten off to since meeting at the coffee shop.
I looked at her now, captivated by her beauty. In the warm glow of my desk lamp, her skin seemed to smolder against the cream dress she wore. Her golden brown hair fell over one shoulder in waves, framing her heart-shaped face. Her rosy lips wrapped around the rim of the glass tumbler in her hand, and I watched the length of her neck contract as she swallowed the amber liquid. These were all things I had tried to ignore since we had sex at the gala. All the things that had me recklessly pulling up her dress and finding my way inside her. All those things, and her fiery spirit that took no shit.
“What?” she asked, looking at me from under her dark lashes.
“Nothing.” I shrugged, not sure how to put anything I was thinking into words.
“Come on. We’ve both opened up tonight. Why stop now?” She nudged gently.
“You’re just…different from I thought.”
She squinted her eyes, as if unsure if that was a compliment or not. “Different,” she said slowly, as if learning a new word.
“In a good way,” I said quickly.
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She scooched closer and reached for the bottle of bourbon at my side. Just being that close to her, it felt like I couldn’t breathe. Her hazel eyes locked with mine as her hand wrapped around the neck of the bottle, and it was as if everything paused.
I leaned in, my nerves dancing in my stomach as I wondered if I would be met with her lips on mine or a slap to the face. This felt so different from the impulsive desperation the night of the gala, but my nerves turned to liquid as she closed her eyes and tilted her chin up. I cupped her face with my hand and brought my lips to hers.
She released her hand from the bourbon and brought it to my neck, where her fingers gently wrapped around me. I felt her melt into me as I ran my tongue across her lips, eager to taste her again, and she was just as sweet as I remembered. Our tongues massaged against each other slowly, our breath beginning to sync together.
My hands eased down the soft skin of her bare shoulders and moved to the back of her dress. My fingers found the zipper and I ran it down slowly. She pulled away from our kiss and looked up at me, her eyes searching mine. I wondered what she would hope to find in them. Afraid she would stop what was happening between us.
She must have found what she was looking for because she reached up and slid the straps of her dress off her shoulders, until the fabric fell to her waist. I sucked in a breath at the white lace bra that cupped her full breasts. It was the same one I caught a glimpse of through her coffee-soaked blouse weeks ago.I leaned in and placed a kiss against the top of each mound of perfect flesh.
She gently pushed me back, her fingers trailing the collar of my shirt until they reached the buttons. She undid each one until all she had left to do was peel the shirt from my body. Her eyes darkened slightly as they met my bare skin, my shirt tossed to the side. She ran her hands up my abdomen to my chest, where she circled her fingers there softly, making my cock twitch in my pants that I desperately wanted off.
As if reading my mind, she moved her hands to my hips and pulled me up to kneel in front of her. I held my breath as she undid the waistband and zipper, pulling my pants and briefs to the floor. Her eyes fell to my cock, hardening even more with each second. She got to her knees and shimmied the dress the rest of the way off.
