“How do you count four times?” I ask her.
“One was the day after the one-night stand.”
“How does that count? You left me, so you technically walked away from me.” I slip my hand into hers.
“The second time you saw me at the bar and got all jealous and showed up at my door.” She holds up another finger.
“I had to go to work, so no one walked away from anyone. So that is still zero for me and one for you.”
“Then I came here and you broke up with me.”
“I didn’t break up with you. You walked away from me.” Her eyes go into slits. “So it’s zero me and two for you.” I lean and kiss her jaw. “You walked away from me the last time,” I point out to her.
“Yeah, and why did I do that?” she asks, but doesn’t wait for me to answer, “because I said I was done with this casual thing.”
“Victoria, nothing between us has been casual, not once.”
“Whatever, Zane.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m here,” she says breathlessly, “and I told myself I wouldn’t be here unless you finally admit this thing isn’t just a hookup.”
“I already admitted it.”
“Really, when did you admit this?” she asks me. “I have been here for less than five minutes and I have not heard the words come out of your mouth. I’ve heard nonsense come out of your mouth, but not that. You have to say the fucking words, Zane.”
“I want you,” I declare. “I want you so much, you have no idea.” Her face goes soft. “For the past twenty-four fucking days, I’ve talked myself out of calling you over a thousand times.”
“Let’s not go to extremes.” She rolls her eyes.
“Whatever the fucking number is, it was every single day. I have no fucking idea what the hell I’m doing,” I admit to her. “I’ve never done this before. Never. Not with anyone but you, Victoria. My main focus was always my work, but with you… With you it’s just foreign. You make me smile after all I want to do is fucking frown. You lift me up when I get so down it’ll be hard to fucking stand. You make me feel that all of this is going to be okay and if it’s not, then that is okay also. All I know is I’m done fighting this thing between us. I’m fucking done not being able to touch you, call you. Talk to you, kiss you. I’m fucking done with it all.”
“Obviously, I’m unforgettable,” she retorts, flipping her hair behind her shoulder, and she makes me laugh. “We’ve established you aren’t going to find better than me.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” I mumble.
“So, does this mean we are doing this? Me and you.” I nod my head. “And we keep it to ourselves for now,” she clarifies. “We need time to figure shit out, and the last thing we need is everyone in our business. I don’t really need more opinions on this relationship when I’m still trying to convince you that we’re good together.”
I grin at her. “My job is a mess.” I pull her to me and wrap the arm that is holding her hand behind her. “I’m being dragged through it in the press,” I swallow, “and I don’t want you caught up in it.” I think about the scandal it could be if the press got wind of this. How they would spin it and might even blame her for us losing. There is no way in fuck I’m going to allow that to happen to her.
“We keep it between us, and we stay under the radar,” she confirms softly, “but I swear to everything, if you change your mind tomorrow—” Her look turns into a glare and I close the distance between us. “Things on you are going to hurt more than they’ve ever hurt before.”
“These past weeks have been torture for me,” I admit to her, as she puts her hands on my chest. “Fucking torture.”
“Well, you have no one else to blame but yourself.” She doesn’t even try to let me off easy. “This could have all been avoided if you took your head out of your ass”—her finger taps my chest—“and taken what you wanted.”
“You are one-hundred percent right.”
“I know,” she says, smiling up at me. “I’m usually always right.” I throw my head back and bark out a laugh. “This bodes well for our relationship if you admit I’m always right.”
“You are always right, Victoria,” I agree softly. “You’re beautiful, so fucking beautiful.” I kiss her lips gently and the kiss goes from zero to a hundred, and there—in the same room I’ve sat in for the last weeks thinking of only her—my thoughts become a reality.
twenty-two
Victoria
“I’m going to need you to do something for me.” My eyes flutter open after he stops kissing me.
“If you are going to say I’m going to need you to forget about this moment,” I hiss at him and his eyes shine even brighter than they have been during his whole speech. His cheeks go up and a smile fills his face. I remind myself to make him smile more often because he’s got one of the best smiles I’ve ever seen.
“No.” He shakes his head, and his hand comes to hold my neck. “I’m going to need you to take my car, go to your house, and pack a bag.”
