Love Thy Enemy (Red Stone Security #13)(30)
Instead of being taken off guard, like any one of his employees would have been, she rolled her eyes. “Jeez, Abram. You’ve just shown up and dropped a lot on me. Can we sit down and talk?” She motioned to the attached living room.
He didn’t want to f*cking talk, but he did as she asked. When she sat on the long, white tufted couch he sat next to her, crowding her personal space. He’d been going crazy all day without seeing her, wondering if she was going to quit because of what happened between them.
Thankfully she didn’t seem to mind how close he was to her.
“I’m sorry I called in today. I felt really awkward about…what we did.” Her cheeks flushed again and he had to restrain himself from reaching out and touching her. “I know it was pretty weak, but I called in sick so I could think.”
“What’s there to think about?” He’d just laid himself on the line, made himself completely vulnerable. The very idea of doing that for anyone else made his skin crawl. Not that doing it for her was much easier. If she shot him down… He swallowed hard. He hadn’t thought that far ahead.
She clasped her hands together in her lap, her back ramrod straight. Even in her beach clothes she looked every inch the princess. “Well…us. I mean, you’re my boss and—”
“I won’t be your boss soon. And I’ve had HR and legal draw up papers so that no matter what happens between us, your job will never be affected. You will always have job security, no matter what.” He didn’t tell her that he wasn’t letting her go, that he planned on convincing her to take a chance on forever with him. Even he knew it was too soon to say that out loud.
Her pretty lips parted, her expression softening. “You did all that?”
“Yes. And…” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the long box he’d kept in his office for the last month. He handed it to her, not sure what to say. The thing had been burning a hole in his desk so he’d shoved it in his safe until today.
He’d overheard her conversation with a friend when she’d been on lunch break, talking about how once she’d gotten her retirement accounts maxed out for the next five years in a row, this was going to be her Christmas present to herself. Well f*ck that. He was going to give it to her now. He wanted to give her the whole damn world, anything she wanted.
Her eyebrows raised slightly as she started to open the box. She let out a gasp when she saw the gold roped necklace inside. She ran her fingers over the thick chain almost reverently. “Abram, this is beautiful… Oh my God, no.” She handed it back to him, her hand trembling even as she looked at the beautiful necklace. “I can’t take this. It’s over eight thousand dollars.” She whispered the last part as if he’d committed a sin.
It was more like twelve grand because he’d had diamonds added to it, but he didn’t correct her. “Who cares?”
She blinked. “It’s too much. Way too much. And we’re not even… What are we?” She linked her fingers together again in her lap.
“I told you what I want. What do you want?”
“You. Since the moment we met.”
Relief slammed through him and without thinking he pulled her into his lap. She let out a squeak of surprise and then her cheeks flushed that sexy-as-f*ck shade of pink again when she shifted over his erection.
“That’s because of you,” he murmured. He’d been walking around with a hard on for months because of her.
Sitting sideways in his lap, she turned more to face him, placing her gentle hands on his shoulders. He’d never thought to fall for anyone, but definitely not someone as delicate-looking as Lucy. He’d learned early on that she might look fragile, but she was a force of nature. He adored everything about her.
“So you and I…will be exclusive?” She sounded almost unsure about that.
He snorted. “I’ve been exclusive to you since we hired you.” Because the thought of being with anyone else had been impossible. After he’d met Lucy, gotten to know the sweet woman who’d completely stolen his heart, everyone else paled in comparison.
Her lips parted slightly. “But I saw… I saw a jewelry box in your desk drawer a month ago. Just like that one. I thought maybe you were seeing someone…” She trailed off and for the first time since he’d known her, he could see true vulnerability in her dark eyes.
Without looking at it, he clasped it, slid it into her lap. “This is the same one. I bought this for you. I’ve never bought jewelry for another woman. Ever.” He’d never even thought to. He’d had bed partners, that was it. No one he wanted to spend time with outside of the bedroom. Until sweet, sexy Lucy who’d become a bright light in his life.
“Oh.” She bit her bottom lip, still looking unsure.
It drove him crazy. “What?”
“Nothing, just trying to wrap my head around all this. I’ve been into you since we met and I don’t know, I tried to convince myself it was a stupid crush. Then when I saw that necklace I was…insanely jealous. Which I feel stupid admitting. It was gone the next day from your drawer so I assumed you’d given it to someone.”
He decided not to tell her that he found her jealousy hot, but he liked knowing she gave a shit. “Is that why you’ve been frustrated with me the last month?”