“I know that now,” I say quickly. “And ultimately, you showed me that very first day how much you believed in me.”
“Of course I believed in you,” he says, tucking my hair behind my ear. “It’s impossible not to.”
“The point is, Will. If you don’t think I’m a fraud,” I say, grippinghis arms, “then maybe I’m not one. You were the first man to see every messy part of who I am and believe in me anyway.”
Will pulls back just enough to show me his irises, burning firelight blue with understanding. “I want your messy parts.”
“I want yours, too. I want your list of worst things and I want your biggest regrets. I want your bad days. You’re not just a good person, you’re a good-for-me person. And you make—” I break my stride for a deep breath. “You make me feel like I’m worth something more valuable than my actual net worth.”
“Josie,” Will murmurs, his hands on my neck, in my hair, lips on my collarbone. “I love you. I am head over heels in love with you.”
“I love you, too,” I say back, just before he kisses me. We’re helpless.
It came out so simply. His call, my response.I love you.
In this bed—in this city—we found and claimed each other. My heart feels like it’s transforming into something different—bigger and more vulnerable, easily punctured, but better for Will to hold.
He kisses me deeply. Our chests thud in a silent rhythm.
Will’s thumb passes back and forth over my breast. His mouth catches mine on a tiny gasp while my body arches toward him. Quickly, he divests me of my T-shirt, kisses and sucks along my cleavage. It’s just as electrifying as the first time. A month ago, now.
A month of this. A lifetime, if we can earn it.
I tug at his waistband and feel his erection beneath my hand. He groans into my mouth and pushes me back against the mattress, crawling up my body with the stealth of a jungle cat. Using all the familiarity of two people in love, he pulls down my underwear and pushes into my body, quick and seamless and intimate. We both sigh at the feeling, too exquisite to name. Somehow, it gets better every time.
His elbows land on either side of my face. Will’s body starts to move—gentle but firm thrusts I meet as best as I can—and hecontinues to murmur, “I love you, I love you.” It’s almost inaudible, incredibly disjointed. But the words send me to the edge. I come before him, as always, and he huffs an incredulous laugh, as always, and adds afuckingin the middle of his nextI love you.Twice.
I fucking love you,he says. And then, after a few more seconds while his speed picks up:I love fucking you.
I struggle to keep my eyes open, so enveloped by the feel of his body pushing mine to the brinkagain,but he’s watching my face like it’s the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen, his eyelashes framing his beautiful blue eyes. I try to keep hold of them.
My hands pull against the planes of his chest as my body starts to lose control. It’s in Will’s hands now. Part of my control has been inhishands since that first day. We rock against each other, his hips working hard now, brokenI love youson each of our tongues, and just before my body contracts around him, I think to myself,This is the happiest I’ve ever been.
That’s the exact moment I should have remembered: something still needed to give.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Here’s what’s funny about crises at work: they never wait their turn. When one comes, the rest follow, like eager little chicks trailing after the mother hen.
The article comes out on Friday, around ten o’clock in the morning:The Truth About Josephine Davis, Revenant’s Reclusive Founder and CEO.
Written by Nora Lindberg forForbes.
I don’t see the piece right away; there’s a lot going on. Derrick is coming into town next week ahead of the B Corp review, so I’m scrambling to get my odds and ends taken care of. Not to mention Camila’s wedding is in two weeks, and our South Congress store is scheduled to open in one hour.
One. Hour.
Cami is already there, making sure every box is checked with the social media and sales teams, ready to go as soon as the doors open at eleven. I’m wrapping up a meeting when I spot Eugenia through the glass wall. She’s aiming me a shifty look.
She’s had some trouble with that freckled intern lately. Read: she fell in love with him, and frankly, I’m not that alarmed by her expression consideringheis in the meetingwithme. When we finish up and Eugenia hands over my belongings so I can make a quick exit from the building, she says, “Is everything… okay?”
“Uh, yeah?” I say. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“N-Never mind,” she stutters, falling into pace with me as I head for the door.
“Do you want to come with me?” I ask. “It’s going to be great. Cami texted me there’s a line already, which shouldn’t be a problem because I wasso paranoidabout not having the right inventory selection this time I told our new director to seriously overcorrect—”
“I can’t, we have an intern thing,” Eugenia interrupts.
