I put my laptop bag on my desk and leaned my hip on the corner, trying my best to look casual as I faced the woman I loved who, unfortunately, didn’t return the sentiment. “What are you doing here, Gabriella?” My voice sounded as weary as if I’d just crossed the finish line of a marathon.
She pushed the door closed and marched across the room, then launched herself into my arms. Her hands wound around my neck, and her mouth locked on mine. She parted my lips with her tongue and licked inside.
Her mouth was like a drug. I was so addicted. Our tongues stroked together, and my anger faded.
“How dare you leave me?” she muttered between kisses.
I held her away from me. “I told you I was going to do it.”
“You didn’t text or call last night. I was worried.”
I wanted to keep my distance, but my hands had a mind of their own and slipped around her waist. Her words made my heart ache. “You were worried?”
She nodded and kissed my jaw, her mouth cool and her breath warm on my freshly shaved skin. “When I saw your email this morning, I thought I was going to explode. I hate that you left. How could you?”
Anger flared in my chest. “I quit because you wouldn’t let me love you, and…”
“And what?”
I scraped a hand through my hair, working up the courage to say the words. She’d already rejected me. What did I have to lose? “And maybe if we don’t work together, you would give us a chance.”
Her eyes glazed over, and she stared at something beyond my shoulder. “What about Maria?”
My throat clogged, and I swallowed roughly. “What the hell does Maria have to do with anything?”
She lifted a hand to my chest. Her fingers trailed over my heart. “She was the love of your life.”
I covered her hand with my own and trapped her palm against my heart. “Maria broke my heart. Her name is there to remind me not to fall in love again.” But it hadn’t worked. I’d fallen for Gabriella, fallen hard without a net.
She blinked up at me. “Do you think it’s possible to have more than one true love in your life?” Her voice was a raspy whisper.
I nodded tightly. “Of course I do.”
She smiled. “Montel was it for me. My soulmate.”
I stiffened at the sound of his name. I knew it was ridiculous to be jealous of a dead man who’d never gotten to know his own son, but my chest burned with envy. I wanted to tell her all the things I could give her that Montel couldn’t, but it was a cruel reminder of the devastation she’d endured.
“And then I met you.” She shifted her hand to curl around my neck. “I came here because I realized I was going to miss seeing you every day, and I don’t want that to end. And I don’t want to have to sneak around or go all the way to Hog Bottom for dinner.”
“Hog Bottom isn’t so bad.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You know what I mean.”
My chest swelled so full of hope, I thought it might burst. Was she saying she loved me? I needed to know for sure. “Say the words, Gabriella.”
She straightened my tie. “I want you. I love you.”
I tried to keep my cool, but it was impossible. I felt like I’d been waiting my whole life to hear those words from her lips. My hand stole around her waist, and my mouth descended to claim hers.
She locked her arms around my neck and kissed me until we were both breathless. We broke apart and gasped for air.
The pink of her lipstick was smeared, and her sleek ponytail was skewed to the side. My sweet Gabriella looked like a mess, but I was in worse shape. My breath came in shallow pants, and sweat pricked the back of my neck. My dick was so hard, it was painful. And I had to meet my new coworkers in a few minutes at the staff meeting. “You’re going to make me lose my job on my first day,” I said.
Her tongue tentatively slid along her lower lip, as if she was savoring the taste of me. “Aren’t you going to say it back?”
I grinned. “I love you too.”
We kissed again, and I pulled back with reluctance, adjusting myself in my pants. “I need to go to a meeting.”
