Love a Boss (Boss Duet 2)

Shocked at her confession, I closed the distance between us. “No one else has me.”

She scrunched her nose and crossed her arms. “Well they will. I hate you,” she slurred.

“No, you don’t.” I spoke softer, with more confidence than I felt in a long time. I was used to the over exaggeration of ‘I love yous’ from drunken confessions, but not the opposite.

“I do. I hate the way you always think you’re right.”

She placed her hand on my chest, and my breathing kicked up. “I’m right about this. You don’t hate me,” I said.

She shook her head, and I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into me. “Admit it,” I whispered close to her ear.

“I hate you,” she whispered back.

My fingers traced along the back of her neck, thumbing over the tattoo I missed. “No you don’t. You just called someone on a seashell about me. You told them you want me.”

She wiggled, trying to break free from my hold. “No. I want him.”

“Liar. You want me.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Theo, you don’t understand.”

“Make me understand.” I rocked into her body, squeezing her neck gently with my fingers.

“I can’t.”

“Penny, please.” My lips roamed over the soft skin of her cheek, down to her jawline. I nipped at her neck as I held on tighter. “Tell me, you want me.”

“I don’t,” she breathed. The waves crashed at our feet, the salty spray misting around us.

“Tell me why.”

She leaned back, her doe eyes searching mine as she exhaled slowly. She broke away from me and went to sit along the shore. I sat down next to her, waiting for her to speak.

We sat in silence, watching the tide roll in and out, before she finally faced me. “I don’t love him.”

I fucking knew it. I wanted to fist bump the air, but tried to play it cool. My whole world turned brighter, and my chest tightened. “Why marry him?”

She brought her hands together, twisting them. “It’s all so complicated.”

I grabbed her cheek with one hand and brought her lips to mine. “Uncomplicate it for me,” I said right before I kissed her.

My head spun as I deepened the kiss, praying this wasn’t a dream.

She broke the kiss. A single tear slid down her cheek. I swiped it away with the pad of my thumb and kissed her lightly again. “Speak, woman. Stop being so cryptic,” I demanded.

“I can’t. You’ll lose everything.” A few more tears fell as I kissed her forehead.

“I’ve already lost you, what else is there?”

“The Lopa.”

I dropped my hands from her face and cursed under my breath. “I don’t care about that.”

“But it’s your dream.”

“Penny, dreams change. You wake up in the morning and your life changes, and when you lay your head back down at night, you have all new dreams. You’re my dream.”

“You just don’t get it.”