The Marriage Sacrifice

Holding the newspaper, she ignored his PA and went straight into his office. Even as she slammed the paper down on his desk, she saw he did have a client.

“Sage? What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Care to explain this?” She pointed at them, smooching, for all to see.

“Sir, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Alice. Could you take Mr. Booker and show him some of the artwork we already have drawn up?”

“I’m sorry. I may be killing the guy you want to do business with,” she said.

The man she spoke to was tall, with grey hair, and he was smiling.

“We’ll talk soon, Dominic,” the man said. “Take care of family first. It’s what is important.”

By the time she was through with him, he wasn’t going to be able to father a family.

His PA and Booker left.

“Sage, that was an important meeting.”

“This was private. This was not supposed to be the front page gossip of a newspaper. Why did you let them see this?” she asked.

“You think I let them?”

“Come on, Dom. You want this wedding. You’re not fighting it. The press wants all the juicy gossip that is coming from us. You’re not going to try and pretend to me this was some kind of accident.”

Dom laughed. “For the record, I didn’t fucking know anyone was there taking our picture. You think I like this? That was our moment. Our first real one, Sage. I would never have it broadcast. I’m waiting to hear back from the owner of this corporation. I’m demanding a full retraction and a public apology for the invasion of my privacy with my fiancée.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Yes, oh. You may think I’m some kind of monster, hungry for attention. I happened to love my time with you. I enjoyed helping those kids, and that kiss, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“You can’t?”

“No, I can’t. You’ve cooked me a meal, and now we’ve shared a moment like this. They may not mean anything to you, but they do to me.”

“They do?”

The meal she had cooked for him had been a sun-dried tomato pasta. It had been a nice time with each other, but it had also not been as good as their time at the fair. Dom also had to leave before dessert, and she’d made a quick chocolate mousse. It had been so good, and still, she couldn’t tempt him to stay, so she ate both of them.

The day together, the one captured for all to see, that had been … amazing. She couldn’t remember ever having such a good time before.

“Yes, of course. I want to make this work with us. Don’t you feel it?” He closed the distance between them, and she had no choice but to tilt her head back to look at him.

“Feel it?”

“I know you feel something. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me.”

He stroked her cheek, and there was no denying that electrical shock that fired through her body.

This was not why she’d stormed into his office. Her anger was starting to vanish.

****

Johnson had been happy about the headline. So had his own father. When Alice brought Dom in the newspaper, and he saw their kiss shared, he’d been fucking livid. Johnson had said everything was on course for the wedding. The countdown Dom had in his head was still going. It was a never-ending clock in his head.

Only, as he stood right in front of Sage, with her floral scent invading his senses, there was no ticking clock. Their time together wasn’t some fantasy. He had every intention of finding her today and taking her to dinner. It wouldn’t have been in a restaurant. He’d have taken her grocery shopping and brought her back to his place so he did all the dishes for her. She was a pretty decent cook, and he enjoyed the meal she’d made for him.

As he sank his fingers into her long, black hair, the silky soft locks glided over his hands, and he stared into her eyes.

Those lips, the ones he couldn’t get out of his head, were calling to him.

“Dom?”

He pushed her against his desk and slammed his lips down on hers.

She grabbed his jacket, and he plunged his tongue into her mouth, gripping the back of her head and taking what he wanted.

Sage moaned and melted against him. Dropping one hand to her thigh, he lifted her leg up and over his hip, wanting to get as close to her as was physically possible.

Breaking from the kiss, he trailed his lips down her neck, sucking on her pulse.

“I didn’t want anyone to know how much I loved that kiss. Seeing that need in your eyes, that was for me and me alone. Not for any other man to jack off, wishing it was them kissing you. You looked ready to fuck, Sage.”