Page 116 of Employing Patience

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JOEY

My head is still spinning over what Art did. Announcing to his entire bar that I’m his could be bordering creepy territory if not for one thing: I fucking loved every minute of it. Gossip will pass through town, and I’ll forever be known as the man who locked down Art de Almeida.

If that’s not something to brag about, nothing is.

I drag Art down the hall into his office, where I push him into his desk chair before climbing into his lap.

“Now that you can’t escape, tell me more about stealing your heart.”

He scoffs and tries to look away, but I hold his face and lean in.

“Do I have your whole heart?”

He grunts.

“Do you love me?”

“You have to make it weird, don’t you?”

“Nope. I just want to hear the words.” I lift his hand and run his fingers along my neck. “Do you love these bruises?”

“I do.”

I lean in. “Do you love how I smell?”

Art shifts beneath me. “You know I do.”

“And how I tease?”

“Yes.”

“And my cock.” I press his hand to where I’m still achingly hard.

“I really, really love your cock.”

“What else?”

We lock eyes, and it’s like I can see the hesitation melting away.

“Fuck, you already own me,” he mutters. “I’m so ass over tit in love with you, and I don’t know how it happened, but it smacked me upside the head. I’m silly for you. Smitten. Totally gone. You own me, and I’m not even scared. I think I like it, and I know I like falling for you. I’ve never been someone who felt like they were missing anything, and I’ve lived a full, happy life. There’s no reason for me to settle down, except, well, you make my life better. And even I’m not stupid enough to ignore something like that.”

“Oh, shit.” I wasn’t expecting any of that from Art. I told him I can read him, but while I knew I’d get him to cough up the L-word, that was more than I was prepared for.

“You’re … You …”

“Are incredible?” He smirks. “I know.”

“Absolutely zero arguments from me.” My heart swells, overwhelmed by the emotions filling me. “I love you too.”

“Yeah, but I already knew that.”

“How?”

“Because you’re only human.”

I laugh, but it dies quickly. “Why now? Why today? I didn’t want to push you about committing to anything, but as of this morning, nothing had changed.”

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