I zigzag my way through the crowd toward Jaxon, and I’m telling myself it’s the polite thing to do to greet my captain, but the reality is I want to see her. It’s been two weeks since I last saw her, and every single day for the past two weeks I’ve had the intense desire to text her. Every fucking night, without fail, no matter where I was, if I was home or on the road. I would settle down and my heart would feel like it was being crushed when I thought of her about how I wished she was next to me so we could end our day together.
“Hey,” I say once I get to them, and she turns and looks at me. Her blue-gray eyes are flickering. “Thank you for coming.”
“This is great,” Ariella compliments.
“I heard some of the planning,” Jaxon says, looking around, “but this is?—”
“It’s all Jill.” I motion to Jill, who is going around taking pictures. “I gave her an idea and she ran with it.”
“Ball,” Jagger says, pointing over to the ball pit.
“Well, that is where we will live for the next hour,” Ariella deadpans.
“I’ll take him,” Victoria volunteers. “You guys do your thing.” She holds her hands out for Jagger. “You want to come with Auntie TT to see the balls?” she asks and he lunges into her arms. “Yeah, who’s your favorite?” She smiles at him.
“TT,” Jagger babbles.
“You all heard him say it,” she jokes with us before she turns and walks away. I watch her for longer than I should, then Kirby and Knox arrive with Lexi and Kylie.
I spend the next forty-five minutes making sure I see all the guys who are there. Looking her way every single chance I get to make sure she is still around. I still don’t see Cam anywhere. Then I see her walking across the field by herself, going inside. My feet are moving before I can stop them. At this point, I’m just torturing myself but it’s a torture, apparently, I can’t stay away from.
I step into the hallway a couple of seconds after her. The halls are quiet compared to outside, where it is filled with yelling and laughing. Kids are chasing other kids, while the picnic tables are filled with people mingling with each other. It’s exactly what I had in my mind when I brought it up. No one is talking the game, no one is concentrating on the stress of the press. It’s just a company party, families mingling.
I’m walking past my office when she turns around, hearing my steps probably. “Jaxon said I could use the bathroom inside,” she explains, pointing over her shoulder. “I just can’t find it.”
“You can use mine.” I point to my office, and she looks at me and then at the door. “It’s right in there.”
“I could use the public one,” she offers nervously, her head moves side to side as her eyes try to find a sign.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I assure her and hold out my hand for her to walk into my office. “It’s the door on the right.”
“How many doors are in one office?” she jokes over her shoulder, looking at me as she walks into the bathroom and closes the door behind her. I stand in my office and look up at the ceiling.
“Leave,” I tell myself. “Just walk out and leave her be.”
I put my hands on my hips, waiting for my feet to follow my head’s advice. The door opens and she steps out. “You didn’t have to wait for me,” she says, looking around. “I wasn’t going to defile your office,” she jokes as she looks around. “Though it could use some defiling, it looks very”—she turns her face back to me—“sterile.”
I put my hands in my pockets and look down, chuckling. “It is.” I shrug. “I don’t know if it’s on purpose, or if I think it’ll be easier to clean up if they fire me.” My eyes stay fixated on her as she looks around.
She laughs. “I mean, talk about a glass half empty.” Her laugh stops when she looks back at me. “I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s not that,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s your laugh.”
“What about it?” she asks me.
“It’s just…” I look down exhaling, my heart rate kicking up a million notches because I’m standing in front of her, and for the first time in I don’t know how long, all I want to do is jump off this fucking cliff with her. For the first time in my life, work isn’t enough for me anymore. For the first time in my life, all that matters is this fucking moment and what I do with it. I lick my lips, fighting it until I can’t anymore. “Fuck this,” I swear and then my hands are in her hair and I’m gripping her head. “I can’t stay away anymore.” That’s the last thing I say before my mouth crashes down on hers. Her breath hitches, giving me the perfect opportunity for my tongue to slide into her mouth. My other hand comes up to hold the other side of her face. I feel her fingers at the side of my neck. I kiss her like it’s the last time I’ll ever kiss her. I kiss her like I’ve wanted to kiss her each and every single time I’ve seen her and not been able to. I kiss her as if my fucking life depends on it. The hand on the side of her face moves to wrap around her waist and I pull her to me.
The sound of voices coming toward us makes the kiss stop. I don’t let her go though; I hold her close to me but step into the corner of the office. “Zane,” she whispers my name and I smile, feeling it all the way through my dick. “Let me go.”
I lean in, my lips going to her ear. “No,” I whisper in her ear. “Text Jaxon that you are leaving,” I tell her as I step away from her. “Now.” She tilts her head to the side, “or don’t, I don’t care.”
“You can’t leave the party, it’s your event.” She chuckles.
“I don’t care,” I finally say. “We need to talk.”
“We can talk, but we can do it after the event. The last thing you need is to Irish goodbye.”
“I don’t even?—”
