Jesus, I sounded like a pussy. Even to myself.

Strangely, I found that I didn’t mind it so much. I wasn’t stupid. I had found my girl. The only one who had ever held my interest for longer than a couple of fucks. The only one that I had ever wanted to talk to, to learn about, to wake up with.

I would be a pussy if I gave her up because I was too afraid to face her father, or if I let her go without laying my cards on the table and fighting for her.

After a long, fortifying shower, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a Henley, grabbed my keys and my sunglasses, and went to fight for my girl, hoping to all that was holy that she knew me well enough to know that I was being honest today, not just covering up my fuck up from the day before for another shot at getting into her pants.

I marched past Olivia, ignoring her scathing stares and calls that Richard was busy and that I couldn’t just burst into his office. I no longer gave a flying fuck about her or her opinions.

Not being a complete asshole, and on the off chance he was doing something in there that I shouldn’t see him doing, I rapped my knuckles on his door and waited for his gruff voice to bark, “What,” before turning the knob and letting myself in.

I didn’t know where I expected Gabrielle to be that morning, but it wasn’t sitting in her father’s office gaping at my sudden appearance.

My breath caught in my lungs.

Holy shit, she was fucking beautiful. Even with tired circles under her eyes and red rims around them and all.

To an ordinary onlooker, she might just look tired. I could see that she’d been to hell and back since we’d been in that very office not 24 hours before.

She sucked in a deep breath at my appearance, letting it out with a shudder. God, what I wouldn’t give to feel her shudder underneath me again, while I wrapped a fist into that soft hair that hung loosely over her shoulders that morning—

/> “James, this is a surprise. Have you come bearing good news?” Richard beamed at me.

Fuck, focus, Skye. That was not the time. I was there to tell him that I loved his daughter, not that I wanted to sleep with her.

Speaking of whom, Gabrielle’s shoulders hung slightly, and she ran a frustrated hand through her long hair. “I was just leaving.”

“No, stay. Please stay, Gabbi.” It slipped out, but both she and her father fixed me with shocked eyes. I meant to tell Richard first, then go over to Gabrielle’s, but she was here. I had never been much a believer in fate or destiny or anything like that shit, but if that wasn’t a sign, I wouldn’t know one if it hit me over the head with a cast iron pan.

“Gabbi?” Richard cocked an eyebrow at me, confusion fast giving way to something else. Something significantly less positive than confused.

“I did come with good news,” I said. “At least, I think it’s great news. You two might feel otherwise.” Gabrielle hadn’t moved a muscle. She seemed to have been planted in place again. Richard looked torn between absolute joy and murderous rage. It was quite the combination. He seemed to be waging a world war in his head.

“I want to accept your offer, Richard. I really do. More than I can express to you. My people have looked it over as a formality, and they agree with me. But before I can accept the offer, I need to be straight with you. There’s something you need to know first.” I blew out a deep breath.

Gabrielle’s eyes grew wide, and she shook her head almost imperceptibly at me, her eyes flashing with some kind of warning. Too late to stop now.

“I lied to you yesterday,” I said. “Olivia put me on the spot, and I reacted horribly. The truth is, there is something going on between Gabrielle and me. Or there was, at least. It’s entirely up to her whether there still is or ever will be again.”

The vein in Richard temple throbbed, and his face turned beet red. The muscles in his jaw twitched.

The fact that he hadn’t clocked me yet had to mean something, though. I took it as a sign of encouragement to continue.

Gabbi still hadn’t moved. She looked like I’d dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. Her eyes flicked from me to her father and back again.

Richard’s eyes locked on mine, the challenge in them clear. I met it head on. “I love her, sir. With every damn fiber of my being.”

I hadn’t called him ‘sir’ in years. It brought him back from his frozen state. His jaw dropped. His voice incredulous. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I’m not. I love her enough that I’m in here, placing my entire future in jeopardy to tell you that I lied. To tell you that I love her more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone.”

Gabrielle’s eyes shone with tears. Richard didn’t look at all convinced. Or on board.

“You’re serious?” The incredulity in his tone rubbed me the wrong way, but I knew better than to let it show. “You fuck a different woman every day of the fucking week, and you want to believe that you’re suddenly in love? With my daughter? Conveniently while waiting for me to make you a better offer?”

Shit. I could see how that looked. I hadn’t thought quite that far when I’d formulated my not-so-master plan.

“I can see how this looks. I give you my word that the two things are completely separate. I’m even willing to pass up on the offer if that’s what you want, but I had to tell you, and I had to tell her, the truth.” I hoped that he would see the sincerity in my eyes.

Tags: Claire Adams Erotic
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