Page 184 of The Heart You Kept

Ahh, things are going very well indeed. I walk in and kiss him and he slides his hand up my thigh as he keeps talking and honestly, seeing him in work mode is a major fucking turn-on.

Who am I kidding, everything this man does is a major turn-on.

“Philippe is waiting downstairs for you,” he mouths.

“See you tonight.” With one last kiss I make my way to the elevator and once the doors close I break into a goofy smile.

I think the night was a success.

5 P.M.

“He’s here,” Helene squeaks as she peers out the window.

“Okay, then.” I try to play it cool as I finish up with the cash register and eventually we all make our way out the front to lock up.

“Seriously?” Helene whispers as she looks up the street. “I fucking hate your guts right now.”

I giggle and look up to see such a beautiful sight that I nearly gasp out loud. His dark green sports car is parked and Edward is leaning up against it. He must have finished work a little early because he’s wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt. His skin is tanned and he’s wearing aviator sunglasses.

Dear lord, he looks so gorgeous that I can hardly stand it.

Eeeeek!

A broad smile covers my face and I want to run to him and jump into his arms like some lovesick fool. But I won’t, I’ll pretend that cool stuff like this happens to me every day.

Philippe and Stefan are already in their car waiting and honestly, how is this real?

I make my way over to the car and he smiles warmly. “Hello, Miss Sorenson.”

“Hi.”

Don’t get carried away, I remind myself to bring me back to earth. This is just one night and maybe it means nothing. He opens the car door and I slink in.

He pulls out and we drive in silence and suddenly I’m nervous.

What if tonight doesn’t go well?

“Everything alright?” Edward glances over.

“Yes.” I fidget with my fingers, nervous for what’s about to happen. He reaches over and takes my hand into his and holds it on his thick quad muscle.

“How was your day?” He glances over at me.

Long without you.

“Good. What about you?”

“Much of the same.” We pull into my street and suddenly the nerves really hit home. This is weird having him here, he comes from so much money. I have no idea what he’s going to think of my humble abode. “You can park in my garage if you want? It’s usually filled with furniture, but thankfully it got emptied out last week.”

“Good timing.”

I rattle through my purse, take out the remote and hold it tightly in my hand. He looks around. “You have a water view?”

“I do.”

“I didn’t notice it when I dropped you home.” He glances around the tree-lined street. “This is actually really nice.”

“You were expecting a dump?” I tease.