I even found myself sending her more goddamn messages as Ruck, just to be able to enjoy what she might say. I pushed the envelope, trying to get her even more comfortable with me, even knowing that, in her mind, she was splitting her affection between two men.
It was fucked, but I knew if she could forgive me, her actions wouldn’t be an issue in the slightest. Love, lust, and attraction were base instincts. They were simple and finite and somehow still infinitely complicated. She liked Ruck because he was another dimension of me.
So as much as it didn’t make sense rationally, it made heart-sense. Call me a hopeless romantic, or maybe a fool, but to me, that was all that mattered.
Stowing my phone in the console, I put the car back into drive and pulled away from the curb. Cute brick-front brownstone buildings with iron-railed stairs lined the sides of each street, mature trees casting their shadows every fifty feet. Dusk threatened as the sun made its descent, already hiding behind buildings despite its place just above the horizon.
And my heart? Well, it just about beat right out of my chest.
Georgia sat on the stoop of her building with her arms crossed on her knees and her suitcase at her feet as I pulled up.
Her hair was wild and unkempt, curling just enough that I knew she’d probably showered and left it to dry on its own. Clothed in jeans and a simple sweatshirt with just barely a trace of makeup on her face, she was still the most beautiful thing I’d seen in just about forever.
Eager to put her racing mind at ease, I pushed the gearshift into park, turned the key to off, and jumped out to round the car before she even made it to her feet.
Adorable and wondering at my hurry, her teeth dug into the skin of her lip and her head tilted just slightly to the side.
I watched her as she watched me, a fire lighting her gorgeous blue eyes just as I pulled her directly into my arms and sealed my lips to hers.
“Mmm,” she moaned, melting into my frame and wrapping hers around my shoulders. I licked at her tongue and her lips, sucking the taste of her into me as I slowly released.
“Kline,” she whispered, overwhelmed.
My eyes shut on their own and my forehead met hers, and I breathed her in until my lungs burned only a little.
“I missed you.”
She smiled and pushed her nose deeper along the side of mine. Her voice was barely audible.
“You saw me today at work.”
I shook our heads together, lips and noses and foreheads touching the whole time.
“Not like this.”
“No,” she agreed softly, placing one simple kiss to the corner of my mouth before pulling away. “You’re right. It wasn’t like this.”
I took a step down to grab her suitcase but kept a squeezing hand on her hip.
“You ready?”
Her face was alive and at ease, excitement lining the corners of every angle as she nodded. I couldn’t help but return the sentiment.
“Mount up.”
She raised a brow, but I just winked, moving to the back of the SUV and lifting the hatch to load her bag.
Looking it over from back to front, she seemed to notice the car for the very first time.
“This is your car?”
I looked at her in question.
She rolled her eyes at my implication, since I was very much accessing said car and the likelihood that I had stolen it was remarkably low.
“This is my rental car. I don’t own a car.”
“You don’t own a car?” She was incredulous.
“Baby.” I laughed, biting my lip to summon my patience. “I live in Manhattan. For business, I have a driver because you’re not the only one with the ability to be late. For everything else, I walk, take a taxi, or ride the subway. If I need to go anywhere outside of the city, I rent one. Simple as that.”
“But this is a Ford Edge,” she pushed stubbornly, still not getting it.
“I know,” I joked. “I sprung for the SUV since I’ve yet to get a handle on your luggage habits.” I jerked my head to the back and slammed the hatch. “Just the one bag. I’ll stick to midsize from now on.”
“Kline.”
Rounding the rear, I walked back to her, leaned my back into the car, grabbed her hips, and pulled her body into mine.
“Baby. I can see you’re struggling to get this, but I swear it’d make sense if you met Bob.”
“Bob? Of Bob and Maureen?”
I nodded. “The one and only. Bob Brooks, my dad and the biggest influence on my life.”
Wrinkles formed on her nose as she grinned, so I kissed it.
Pushing the wild blonde hair back from her face, I trailed one finger along her jaw and then dropped it.
“Let go of who you thought I was…who you think I’m supposed to be. Be here with me now.” I grabbed her hand and pushed it to my chest. “Feel me.”