Page 98 of Lorcan's Obsession

"I can't." She exhaled in resignation and turned to grab the door handle.

"Tristen, please don't go to him. Don't see anyone else," I implored weakly.

My voice sounded brittle to my own ears. Like a coward, I couldn’t bear to watch her leave. I frantically ground my palms against my eyes, desperate not to let the tears show. As I retreated, my ears strained to catch the sound of the door clicking shut.

Instead, two slender arms hugged me from behind. A sudden hope bloomed inside me, and I immediately pulled her hands over my chest.

“I’m not going to him,” Tristen murmured. After a minute of silence, she added, “I haven’t been with anyone else since you.”

I unclasped our hands and faced her, taking in her vulnerable gaze.

“Do you mean that, my love?”

“I do.”

I ached to thank her for soothing my terror by kissing her breath away, but my disastrous behavior tonight held me back. Instead, I tenderly grasped her neck, pulling her to me until our lashes touched. Our breaths trembled but in unison. The silence around us slowly weaved our shattered fears back to fragmented hopes.

“There’s no one else but you, Tristen. There hasn’t been anyone else since you. And a few months before that.”

“Really? A self-imposed celibacy?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that makes two of us,” she said.

More silence.

“Maybe we were saving ourselves for each other,” I whispered.

We understood each other. She may have been a "WAP," and I may have been a playboy extraordinaire, but we had both stepped away from sex before we came together. It was probably just a coincidence, but I liked the idea. Fate had made us both primed and ready for the life we shared now, imbalanced and fragile as it was.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” I asked at last.

“I have to prepare for tomorrow.”

Tristen had a professional mini wardrobe here, and we both knew that. She needed space to process and recenter and was silently begging me to accept that. If I had any chance of rebuilding her trust, I needed to let her have distance.

I called her a taxi and escorted her down with nothing more than a tender embrace. As she got into the car, I focused all my energy on supporting her and making her feel at ease; but when she drove away, my smile faltered.

Despite being the billionaire in the relationship, I was starting to worry she was the one out of my league.

35

RESOLUTION

Ipaced around the empty conference room like a caged panther. The settlement would begin in less than an hour, and my nerves were shredded. We had a tight argument, and I trusted Tristen's skills wholeheartedly. But I needed this whole debacle to be done. The sooner this was finished, the sooner I could resolve the other issue in my life—my relationship.

Everything inside me craved Tristen. She hadn't called me since she left my place, but I knew enough about her to give her space. My heart pounded like a jackhammer as I waited for her. I unwisely swallowed down more caffeine, feeling it seep through my pores and a thin sheen of sweat collecting on my forehead.

Before the nerves got so high that I began texting her, I caught a whiff of that luxurious lilac and cotton candy scent. I would know that fragrance anywhere.

My girl.

She had pulled through, like she always did.

And gods be damned. Tris went all out for her courtroom preparations today. That gray, mini tux-dress hugged her curves to perfection and showed off those lean golden legs. She wore her hair in a high ponytail, drawing my gaze to her glowing cheeks, sharp jawline, and those plump, gorgeous, red lips. I scooped her into a tight embrace. If we’d been at home, I would have done much more, but I had to stay professional.

“You look so beautiful,” I whispered in her ear, aware of the cautious eye Schaffer gave me as he walked in after her.

---