Boss I Love to Hate: An Office Romance(98)

Stop what? Stop being with her? I couldn’t do that.

“Why?” I swallowed, my voice emotionally choked. I took another step closer, needing to be nearer.

“Because …” She trembled and gripped herself tighter as though she were trying to keep herself upright. “Because I want to stop believing you.”

I pulled her in by her waist, unable to resist the urge any longer despite whether she rejected me or not. She fell into me, and I promised myself I wasn’t going to let her go.

“Believe it. Because it’s true. All of it.”

She buried her head in my throat, and she shivered. “I’m scared,” she whispered, true and honest and one of the very reasons I adored her.

“Do you think I’m not? I’m scared about every little move I make. I’m scared that one stupid, idiotic move could ruin what’s happening between us.”

She lifted her head, searching my face.

“I’m not talking other women or things like that because, believe me when I tell you, no one has captured my heart like you have.” My hand went to cup her cheek, and I grazed my thumb against her cheekbone. “I’m talking about your job, what I’ve been saying to my brothers, what I’m saying right now. Asking you to move in with me. Knowing it sounds crazy and not caring that it does. Because it’s what I want, what I want you to want. Worrying about saying how I feel because it might be too much. It might push you away.”

Her eyebrows pulled together, her look pensive. “I’ve been here before. And it didn’t pan out, and I’m scared to do it again because, this time, our relationship is moving faster. It feels different, deeper.” She released a breath. “I knew there was so much at stake when I took the leap into us. My job at first, but now, it’s more than that.” She shuddered against my hold. “I don’t give my heart easily. The last time I did, I was heartbroken.”

I hated that she was comparing me to that asshole of an ex. I would’ve never let Sonia go if I’d had her then, and I sure as hell wasn’t letting go of her now.

I’d remembered our conversation after the wedding ceremony where she had seen Jeff for the first time and cried in my car.

“I mean, why should you care? It’s over.”

She’d responded with my question with such honesty that I truly understood only now because I was in love. “You wouldn’t know anything about this because you’ve never, ever been in love before or had an it person.”

Sonia was my it person. Now and until forever. I knew this with everything that I was. And, as far as I was concerned, I was it for her, too. I’d prove it to her day in and out because nothing mattered more than being together.

And the thought … the thought of losing her … having her walk away from us …

I swallowed.

“I’ve never done this before either. I’m scared shitless, but more than that … I’m more scared to live without you.” My voice was fragile, shaky, honest.

She rested her forehead against mine and let out a deep breath. “Same. That’s the scariest part of being in love, one day living without the other person.”

“Love? Not being together is never going to happen.” My insides soared. “Say it again. That you’re in love.”

She laughed, and it eased every part of me. “You’re such a narcissist, you know that?”

“Say it.” I pulled her in, staring down into eyes I’d grown to know so much.

“I love you, jerk.” Her tone was teasing but tender, and I knew she meant it.

“Say you’ll move in with me.”

“It’s too soon!”

“Who says? The rules in the dating handbook?” The look I gave her was skeptical.

“Me. My dad. My mom. Probably your brothers. Ava …” She tilted her head, mulling something over. “Well, not Ava. She’d help me move in.”

“And who the fuck cares what people think? The only thing that matters is, what you want and what I want. So … what do you want, Sonia?”

I held my breath while the seconds ticked by. She held my happiness in her one-word answer.

She swallowed hard as she thought of it. “I don’t have a job.”

Boy, she was reaching far, thinking of every possible reason she shouldn’t move in with me.

“I’ll employ you.” I grabbed her ass. “As my personal sex slave.”

She laughed again, and it was the most glorious sound. “You’ll have to insure a certain body part then. Jennifer Lopez insured her butt. It’s possible.”

I grabbed a handful of ass, and she yelped. “I can make that happen.”

I lifted her in my arms, and her legs wrapped around my waist. I guessed I was going to be late to work. I might not show up to work at all. “I think I might insure every part of you—your lips, your ass, your beautiful hair.”

“My hair?” She touched the top of her head, smiling.

“I love your hair. Your arms, your hands, your toes.”

She giggled as my lips went to the crook of her neck.

“Your neck.”

I stopped a few steps from entering her room. “Is that … is that my poster?”

The life-sized poster that had previously been her dartboard was on the floor. My formerly darted face was now sliced into shreds. A knife lay on the carpet, right by the poster.