Page 73 of Always Be Mine
“It wasn’t your fault, Lucy. I believe you that you didn’t know.”
“You do?”
“Of course I do.” He was incredulous. “You would never do anything like that to hurt another person, Lucy. And I would never do anything to hurt you.” He pulled her close. “Ever. I’m not him. That’s in the past.”
She nodded. It was in the past. And of course Craig was nothing like Ross. Not even a little bit.
“This is about us now. Can that be enough?”
“Yes.” It was more than enough. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still my boss. I can?—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Do not say you’re going to quit. You can’t. It would kill Meri. She would be so upset.”
“Even if we were dating?”
Craig nodded. “You have to understand. I’ve never dated anyone since Meri came along. It will be very new and…we need to go slowly.”
“Okay. So I won’t quit.”
“No one is quitting.” He kissed her softly on the lips. “But I do think we should keep it quiet for a little bit. Just until we figure out what we are.”
Lucy opened her mouth to object. She’d been a secret once before. Of course, that was very different, and the situation was clearly not the same. Still, it didn’t feel right.
“For Meri,” Craig added. “We have to think about her first.”
Meri.
He was right. If they told Meri and then things didn’t work out between them, Meri would be devastated. That was a different type of heartbreak. One she wasn’t completely prepared to deal with.
“For Meri.” Lucy nodded. “That makes sense.”
“You know what else makes sense?” Craig’s lips curled up into a wicked grin. “Us.” He pressed her up against the wall and kissed her until her knees grew weak.
Having Lucy in his arms after all this time of only dreaming and fantasizing about it was better than anything Craig could have imagined. Even if they were still fully clothed and cuddled on the couch instead of naked in bed, twisted up in sheets. The reality was so much better.
He couldn’t remember ever feeling so strongly about a woman as he did about Lucy. It had been overwhelming and all-consuming, but now that he’d finally told her how he felt and stopped the ridiculous dance they’d been doing around each other for the last few weeks, everything already felt so much better.
They should have gone to bed hours ago, but neither of them wanted to be the one to end their evening, so after making out like teenagers with one ear listening for the creak of Meri’s door opening, they’d finally settled into the couch to watch a movie.
There really wasn’t a very big chance that Meri would wake up, but even a minimal risk was too much. And for that reason, Craig had worked hard to keep things very PG with Lucy, despite every cell in his body wanting to carry her down the hall into his bed, where he could show her exactly how he was feeling about her.
But he was patient.
And having her gentle weight pressed up against him, her head in his lap, was pretty much the best thing in the world. She’d fallen asleep about halfway through the movie, but selfishly, Craig still didn’t want the evening to end.
Now that the credits were rolling, there was no more putting it off.
He stroked her hair back from her face. “Time for bed, Lucy,” he whispered.
In response, she snuggled further into his lap.
Craig dropped his head back and stifled a groan before forcing himself to do the right thing.
He wiggled out from under her and stood for a moment, watching Lucy sleep.
She was absolutely gorgeous. He did not want to wake her up. How could he? She looked so peaceful.
Craig was no stranger to carrying sleeping females to bed, but he was, however, very out of practice for anyone over the age of five.
