I turn, steeling my emotions. “I forgive you, okay? I get it, you felt bad I got fired, so you came here to try to make it up to me. So I’ll grant you the words you’ve been waiting for.” I try to meet his gaze, but it’s too hard, so I settle on his chin. “I forgive you.” I swallow. “Now you can leave.”
His eyebrows narrow. “I can leave?”
“Yes. You don’t need to stick around anymore, begging for forgiveness. I hereby set you free.”
His hazel eyes register something akin to hurt, and he crosses his arms in front of his chest. “You think that’s the only reason I keep coming back?”
“Isn’t it?”
He purses his lips, shaking his head as slow steps bring him closer. “The evidence…what did you conclude?”
My jaw clenches. Is this another jab about me not being cut out for law? “I get it, Connor. I sucked at my job. You’ve told me.”
He stops an inch away. “No. You killed it at your job. You were the most intimidating, the most persuasive. No one worked harder than you.” He reaches behind me and grabs the bar, locking me in place. “No one deserved it more than you.”
Hearing those words from him creates a fissure in my heart, one intent on growing and spreading until there’s enough room to let him in.
I straighten my shoulders. “So what do you want? A trophy to sit on your desk saying you won?” Even as the words fall off my lips, I know it’s not true.
His jaw flexes and his eyes bore into mine. “Stop telling me what I want.”
Pushing air in and out of my lungs is more difficult than it was mere seconds ago. There’s an intensity in his eyes I used to associate with the devil, but that’s not what it is anymore. It’s something much stronger.
“Then what do you want, Connor?” My voice escapes like a breath, and the second the words are out of my mouth, his lips descend on mine.
I hesitate, only momentarily, before crushing his lips in return. He’s so annoying, so obnoxious, and I take out every ounce of frustration on him. Kiss for aggravating kiss, he lets me get it all out. It’s fire on fire, and it’s world-ending.
I pull back, my breathing labored.
“All done?” he whispers.
I can only offer a shaky nod in response.
“Good. My turn.”
His lips capture mine again, and he backs us up, pressing me into the bar. He grabs onto my waist and lifts me up, setting me gently on the bar. I wrap my legs around his waist, clinging to him like he can save me. I was prepared to let him go, but all I wanted was for him to stay. I didn’t know I needed this, needed him.
“I don’t know how many more ways to say it,” he murmurs against my lips. “I’ve only ever wanted you.”
And then he proceeds to torture me with the softest, most tender kisses I’ve ever experienced, each one thoroughly taking my breath away. I expected the same frustration and anger I infused into my kiss, but his kiss tells a different story. One that’s breaking my heart and putting it back together simultaneously.
Kissing him doesn’t make sense; I shouldn’t be doing this. But I can’t stop. I pull at him, tugging him as close as I possibly can and tracing his smooth jawline beneath my palm. My fingers find their way to the base of his head and play with the curls there.
He groans.
His lips move to my jaw, and he slips the hair tie out of my hair. A rush of tingles escapes with it.
“So beautiful,” he whispers into my neck. He slides both of his hands into my hair and drags my mouth back to his.
After several long moments, I pull back, tearing my lips from his. It’s heaven and hell at the same time.
My brain is loud and overwhelmingly quiet all at once. What did I just do?
My life is too complicated to get involved with Connor. But that kiss was the most deliciously uncomplicated thing I’ve ever done. It was easy, like using a muscle I’ve used dozens of times before, but I’ve never used it like that. Because that one felt like it connected to my heart, and it’s terrifying.
“Where do we go from here?” he asks, his fingers still tangled in my hair.
My heart claws and kicks in my chest, wanting me to say what he needs to hear. But I can’t get my mouth to do anything.
