“And I took you at your word. I married Jasmine for the same reason. But here we are. Nothing and no one standing between us. If we can make this work, I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Neither of us spoke for a moment. The air between us was thick with a tension that was once unspoken but always there. Before I had to ignore it. Because she wasn’t mine to have. Now,wecould choose to give into it.
“I need time to think about this,” she said.
Swallowing hard, I lowered my head as heaviness settled over my body. Because I’d never push her. I wouldn’t make her feel like she had to choose me. No matter how much I wanted her to. “Okay.”
“Spence?”
Glancing up at her, I forced myself to smile. “Yes.”
Then, her lips were on mine, shocking the hell out of me. She pulled back before I was ready to let her go. Smiling, she said, “I thought about it.”
I laughed. “That fast, huh?”
“I’ve been thinking about it since the playground.”
Pulling her to me, I brushed my lips over hers again. Then, once more before deepening the kiss.
Damn. Everything about her was perfect, everything about us was right—her fingertips against my jaw, the feel of her nose bumping mine, the way she groaned when I dipped my tongue inside of her mouth.
“Oh. My. God!”
Des’ voice broke through the fog, and Alaiya jumped back so hard her chair tipped over and she toppled to the floor. Jumping into action, I helped her up. It took us a moment to get ourselves together, but once Laiya was on her feet, we turned to face Des.
“Mom!” Des screeched, her gaze flitting from me to her mother rapidly. She squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them again, they connected with mine. “Mr. Spencer! You kissed my mother.”
Alaiya stepped forward. “Technically, I kissed him first.”
I scratched my temple. “But it was a mutual thing.”
“How long has this been going on?” Des asked.
“Today.”
“Forever.”
Our simultaneous responses kind of drowned each other out, but I glanced at her. “Really, Laiya? Today?”
She shrugged. “Yes.”
“What she means is today is the first time we acted on it,” I explained.
“Ever,” Laiya reiterated. She rubbed Des’ shoulders. “We’ve known each other for a long time, you know that. And …” She looked at me, eyes wide. “Spence, please?” She mouthed, “help me.”
Taking her cue, I pulled out a chair. “Have a seat, Des.”
Des seemed to consider the offer to talk, but she didn’t move. “I don’t need to sit,” she said. “And you don’t need toexplain yourselves. I just need to drink a bottle of wine, take a nap, and start over.”
“Babe,” Laiya said.
Des held up a hand. “No. No, Mom. I just need a time out.” She turned to me. “I’m gonna go. I’ll email you the final menu later.”
I nodded. “It can wait ’til the morning.”
A few minutes later, Des was gone. When Laiya plopped in an empty chair, I asked, “Are you okay?”
“I was careless. I should’ve never done that.”
