"What about the kiss?" It was rude of me to ask her the question after cutting her off from answering, but suddenly I was desperate to know what she'd thought of it.
"It was good." I didn't miss the flush that crept up her neck to color her cheeks. Shy Winter did very dirty things to my imagination. Yet, I also saw trust in her expression. She wasn't submitting to me because she felt weakened by me. Less than me. Unlike my mother with my father. I now knew how attracted Winter was to me, and by the end of the night, she'd have no doubt how fucking gorgeous I saw her. She'd known me a long time, knew I was fairly serious for the most part, and knew I'd behaved differently with her today. But for now, I had to tease her a little more. I had to see her fire.
"Well, I should hope it was good, because you begged me to do it."
"Oh my God, I did not." She ripped her hand out of mine and glared at me.
I couldn't help laughing at her outraged expression. "Oh yes, you did, beautiful." I nodded slowly, allowing myself the luxury of taking my fill of looking at her. If I could, I'd take her upstairs and lock her inside my apartment and keep her with me until we'd hashed out every detail of how this would roll out—preferably naked or pretty fucking close to naked.
Her, me, us—together.
Because she was already mine, and if anyone was going to have Winter Blackstone, that man would be me.
It will be me.
Chapter Twelve
WINTER
At the elevator my phone pinged a text alert. Unknown number. Thank you. Your generous gift helps so much...Shane & Brenna love Ms Winter! Alanna Markham "Oh my God, James—Shane and Brenna's mom just texted me." I tossed my phone to him. "Read it." Unable to contain my joy, I jumped up and down. She has a little help now. The kids would get some winter clothes…and new jackets…and new shoes. This meant everything to me. Helping people, for whom even the smallest bit of extra help, could make such a huge difference to their daily life—
"Easy there, trampoline queen, we're in the elevator." He said it absently while studying my phone.
"Don't slow my roll, please. This is very good news to me, and it makes me incredibly happy to be able to help them just with this one small thing."
"It's not a small thing," he said distractedly while tapping into my phone.
I could tell he wasn't really paying attention to me. I doubted he even heard me. "James? What's wrong?"
He looked up and gave me an expression that was hard to read at first, but then it morphed into one of admiration. "You have no idea how good you are. You don't even realize it." James had been listening.
"But what I did today with the cash an
d the gift card was basically nothing. Just giving a tiny bit of something I have too much of, to Shane and Brenna who don't have enough. It won't change their situation long-term, but it helps them today. I want to do so much more, James. If I could help in a big way—"
"You will. I know it. And if I can help you make it happen sooner rather than later, then will you be my wife, Winter Blackstone? And also, you need to know I definitely won't be marrying you just to dissolve the marriage later. That's not part of the deal anymore."
My heart stopped beating for an instant as our eyes held. I felt the stutter deep inside my chest stab me with a jolt of pain before spreading warmth through my chest. As much as I wanted to scream YEEEESSSS from the rooftops, I knew he wasn't being literal in the moment, but simply reinforcing his incredible offer from earlier. Oh, how I love you, James Blakney.
I put one hand over my heart and moved toward him. I came right up underneath his chin very close and cocked my head sideways. The serious expression combined with the hard set of his jaw made him look a little dangerous and a lot beautiful as he waited for me to speak. I put my other hand up to his cheek and held it there, his beard stubble feeling so much softer against my palm than it had against my lips when he kissed me before. "Well, when you put it like that, then I want you to know that I will definitely consider it, Mr. Blakney. Thank you for the generous offer, sir."
He growled sexily, brought those beautiful lips of his to mine, and kissed me. Almost as if he couldn't help himself. James kissed the fuck out of me in the elevator of our building as we rode to the top. He owned my mouth with his tongue wildly at first, but then made slow passes and caresses. I have no idea how long we kissed—and would have happily made out with James for hours—but as I opened my eyes, the elevator door was clanging open and shut obnoxiously.
We had arrived on the eleventh floor far too soon…and the timing truly sucked. Again.
James was the perfect gentleman while I got ready for Lucas to pick me up. He watched my every move though, like he was the hungry lion and I was the prey. There was no mistaking his intentions anymore. James wanted me. Something last night had definitely changed the way he behaved with me. He hadn't told me what it was. Maybe he didn't want to embarrass me by sharing it yet. It would be like James to spare my feelings.
But if I was completely honest with myself, I didn't care. If I wanted him, and he wanted me, then halle-fricking-lujah. I could live with whatever it was and wait to see where things went with us. Last night had been a traumatic situation that morphed into a what-the-hell-was-that-crazy-weirdness-with-his-parents showdown. Parents who believe you are marrying their son. However, I didn't feel pressured or pushed by him. He had my back, whatever the outcome, so I could trust in that. I'd trust him with my life. And hell, if it meant I got to kiss James more, I was so down for that.
I took a deep, steadying breath as James parked in the underground garage of the Blackstone Global building in my best effort to shake off my nerves. A couple days away to think would be good for me right now. I needed some downtime to process everything, and James agreed, because he'd suggested we both do just that. I'd be back on Saturday afternoon to get ready for The Autumn Ball, which we were attending together since he'd invited me a few weeks ago. I never dreamed it would be us in any sense as other than friends, but now it would be. Waiting a couple days might actually help reconcile what James had said about marriage. To me. I should feel like a pawn, but I didn't. "For the last couple of weeks, I've thought about you a lot… Winter, you're the only one I thought of." Truthfully, James was the only man I could imagine in my life forever too. And marrying him? Well, I needed to know it wasn't just a paper deal, because I'd only fall more deeply in love with him. So, I knew I needed some time.
I also knew that when the time came, I wouldn't have to ask. He would be the one to initiate the discussion. Because I believed James when he'd said, in no uncertain terms, I was important to him and that he'd never hurt me. I had nothing else to compare those words against. He had always been there for me, and it was all I'd ever known with him. No reason to suspect anything different.
As he steered me toward the elevator that would take us to the helipad, his hand burned at the base of my spine. His touch felt different now. Like he was staking a claim. I shivered involuntarily as the doors closed us in together.
He promptly backed me into the corner, bracing his arms alongside my shoulders to pen me in. His big body crowded me, and his eyes did a lazy dance of staring before he spoke. "Thank you for today," he said simply in a low voice. He reached out a finger to trace my cheekbone and down to my jaw, his soft touch holding me spellbound.
I wished I wasn't going to Blackstone Island and leaving him behind in Boston.