We break away in unison, and even with the excitement of the day, I note that I’ve never felt so empty as when she leaves my arms.
“We did it!” I’m awkward, like I don’t know what to do with my hands. I stuff them into my pockets and that seems to help.
She corrects me. “You did it.”
“Nah. I couldn’t have put this together without you.”
“Okay, that’s true.” She giggles. Is she apprehensive as well? “Thank you. I appreciate the credit.”
“You’re welcome.”
Our gazes dance around each other, and I wish I had something else to say. Something magic. Something that would transform this situation between us into one that’s bearable, because this—this standing so close to what I want and not being able to have it? It’s the worst thing I could’ve ever imagined.
“Oh! I almost forgot,” she says suddenly, rummaging in her purse. She pulls out something in a black wooden frame and hands it to me. “I, uh, got you a present.”
I look down at the picture. A smile erupts on my face as I’m met with Mina’s big brown eyes, her soft brunette curls. It’s the image that I’d seen on Genny’s phone. The one she’d taken in the Hamptons and then sent to a random number.
“It was a text-to-print service,” she explains now. “You send them the image you want printed and then they mail it to you. I’ve used it a few times since I’ve been in the States. Much easier than having to deal with finding a color printer in the hotel.”
A text-to-print service. And I’d immediately assumed she was spying. I’m a dumbass. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her smile is shy. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I love,” you, “it.” I really do. So much.
Her grin grows more confident. “I’m so glad. She looked so pretty in her party dress, and you clearly adore her. I didn’t see any pictures of her in your apartment. So.”
She swallows, and I notice her skin is red and splotchy at her neck like it always gets when she’s nervous or turned on. “Also, I need to tell you something.” With her eyes cast down, she barrels on. “I need to tell you that you were right to be suspicious of me. I was scamming you.”
My shoulders tense. I can’t have heard her right. “Go on.”
Her breathing is shaky as she exhales. “I, um. I led you to believe I was after the Accelecom merger. That it was the reason I sought you out. But it was never the job I wanted most.”
“Then what was it?”
“You.” The word is soft but sure, and I want it to mean what I think it means, but I’m not certain.
“I don’t know if I understand.”
“You, Chandler. I just wanted you.” There’s no mistaking her now, and every coil of tension inside me unravels into euphoria. To hell with staying away. I tug her into me, my lips eagerly finding hers. She tastes like coffee and butter mints and relief.
I understand—I’m relieved to have her in my arms too. I kiss her deeply. Possessively. Like I’ll never stop kissing her. I never should have stopped in the first place.
Before we get too carried away, though, she pushes out of my grip. Leave it to her to remember we’re in the conference room of my office building and that not all the obstacles between us have been removed.
Obstacles like the fact that she lives on another continent.
“Chandler.” She brushes her lips with her fingers, as if cherishing the way it had felt to have my mouth on hers, before dropping her hand stoically at her side. “I don’t want this to be harder when I leave.”
“I know.” I run my hands up and down her arms, searching her eyes. “But there’s a way you could stay. Don’t you see it?” I want her to see it so badly, want it to be a feasible option and not just some fantasy I’ve concocted.
Her brow wrinkles, and it takes her a beat before her eyes light with understanding. “Pierce Industries.”
Yes. Pierce Industries. My company. “I need someone to head up the new department. It would be a high executive position, working right alongside me. You’d have a whole team. It wouldn’t be the same as running Accelecom, but you’d still get to put your ideas into action.”
“You’d give that job to me?” she asks tentatively.
“Give it to you? I created it for you. The job description matches your resume. The salary is negotiable, but—”
She cuts me off, jumping into my arms. “I love you!”
I blink, startled as much by her proclamation as her sudden movement. It only takes me a second to pull myself together. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I hold her tighter. “Is that a yes?”
“It’s a hell, yes. It’s also I love you.”
She loves me. She loves me! Every cell in my body sings with that one simple phrase.
I draw back so I can study her, looking for any indication that she’s jerking my chain. I find nothing but sincerity. “You really do love me, don’t you?”
She nods. Then she repeats it because she gets that I need to hear it over and over before it sinks in.
And when it does, there’s only one thing left for me to say. “I fucking love you, too.”
Epilogue
“We should get a dog.” It’s the third time Genny’s brought it up in the last few days. I’m starting to think she might be serious.
I stick my head out from the bathroom and pull the toothbrush from my mouth. “We can’t get a dog,” I say, but it comes out a garbled mess since I’m talking around toothpaste.