“Grant.” They shook hands stiffly, and then both turned their attention to me. Grant gave an easy smile. “I’m heading off. Thanks for the drinks.” He nodded back to Kyle. “Nice to meet you, McAsshole. Have a good talk.”
Kyle blinked. Was he deciding if he wanted to let the comment slide?
“Hey,” I said softly, pulling his focus to me. “Let me just get the check and we can talk at my place.” Every cell in my body was tight and on edge. Was this the end?
He stared at the empty booth, set down the envelope on the seat, and began to peel off his coat. “Here is fine.”
Oh, God. I pressed my lips into a line to hold back the tremble. I slid down into my seat slowly, wondering how long the waitstaff would let me stay here after Kyle left. I’d sat on his doorstep at Randhurst for hours, and things would be so much harder this this time around.
He’d barely settled in across from me before the server sashayed up and began to load her tray with the empty glasses. “Another Amstel?” It was then that she looked up and paused. “Didn’t you used to be a big, gorgeous guy?”
“He had to leave,” Kyle said dryly. “I’ll have a bourbon and Coke.”
When she turned to me, I shook my head, and she flitted away with her tray. It opened up room on the table, and he pulled a napkin from the dispenser, wiped away the condensation from the drinks, and dropped the envelope on the lacquered surface.
“W-W-What’s that?” My voice was small. Goddamn stutter.
He laid his hand on top of the envelope, and the action struck me as odd. His fingertips rested on it delicately. Whatever was inside was important, and potentially difficult. Every second of silence from him made my heart climb higher in my body until it was pounding in my ears.
“Last time we spoke, you made me a promise, which I told you I didn’t think you could keep.” His blue eyes seemed deeper in the dark lighting, and they sucked me in. “Do you remember what you said after that?”
I nodded so slowly, it might not have registered to him. I’d promised not to lose my head again with him. “I said I couldn’t keep my promise without your help.”
He looked pleased and the envelope slid toward me. “Exactly. This is my offer.”
Frantic energy buzzed through me as I bent the metal prongs inward and lifted the flap. Inside was a single sheet. A contract, judging by the format and the signature lines at the bottom.
I made it one line before I burst into tears.
Chapter
FORTY-THREE
Kyle was out of his seat in a flash. “Ruby.”
His palms were warm on the sides of my face, his lips warmer still against my mouth. His kiss was overpowering. Emotion swept through me in a deluge, flowing outward to the tips of my fingers and toes.
He pushed me back into the seat cushion, not letting up on his devastating kiss. The angle was adjusted, deepening the connection between us, and his tongue pressed against the seam of my lips. Was he asking permission or tempting me with more? Didn’t matter. I parted my lips and stroked my tongue against his. It was slow, and wicked, and I felt it all the way in my center.
I was sure in this moment I’d been put on this earth just to kiss him.
My hands found their way inside his suit jacket. I wanted it fucking gone. All his clothes, any barrier between us needed to be removed. The two days without him felt longer than the five years,
and it seemed to be the same for him. He was passionate. Desperate.
His thumbs brushed over my cheeks, wiping away my tears, and then one hand traveled backward to gently grip a fistful of hair at the nape of my neck, tugging me back so his searing mouth could further claim me. A small action, but it lit a fire in me like a powder keg. Now that I’d had a taste of his domination, I always craved it.
“Your bourbon and Coke, sir.”
The server’s pointed tone wasn’t lost on either of us. Even though we were in the back of the place, Kyle was standing over me and we’d had our lips locked in a kiss that bordered on indecent.
As she departed, he straightened and peered down at me, his hold still in my hair and his power poured over every inch of my body.
“Why’d you order a drink?” I whispered. “All I want to do is take you home and let you fuck me into tomorrow.”
His smile was kind of evil and insanely hot. “We have business to discuss first.”
I sighed as he let go and sat back down, all the way on the other side of the booth that had once felt tiny but now was much too big. I’d dropped the partnership agreement on the table when the waterworks started, brought on by the last sentence of the contract.