Page 63 of The Enemies With Benefits Deal

His words come out in a rush, his voice wavering.

Grayson steps closer to me. “I would give up everything to be with you. The life I want doesn’t mean anything if I don’t have the person I love to share it with.”

“And what if this isn’t enough for you?” I bite the inside of my cheek, taking a moment to gather my thoughts.

A chill runs through me as the rain soaks through my dress. He slides off his jacket, draping it over my shoulders. I nestle intoit, the scent of his cologne easing some of the butterflies in my stomach.

Grayson tucks his hands into his pockets, shoulder slumping in. “Jade, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you’ve always been enough for me. More than enough. I don’t deserve to have you in my life, and I never have.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I wasn’t a prize when we were younger either.” My smile is slight, but it tugs at the corner of my mouth as I look at him.

Though I know I should be angry, I can’t be. I’ve spent the last week going through every emotion possible, and I still keep coming back to the conclusion that I want to be with him.

We both have things we need to work on. I’m a workaholic, and he’s spent so long trying to be the man his father wants him to be that he’s lost track of his own wants and desires.

Neither of us is perfect. But maybe we could grow together instead of going our separate ways.

I take a deep breath, wrapping his coat tighter around me. “Grayson, I promise that I really didn’t want to take over the company from you. I work too much as it is, and I just wanted to work with you. Spending more time at LRH seemed like a good way to do that, especially with you taking over.”

“You knew that I was going to be the CEO long before I did. You told Dad in that proposal of yours.” Grayson takes my hands in his when they start to tremble. He holds them to his mouth, blowing on them and rubbing them between his hands to warm them up. “You believed in me when nobody else did.”

“I’ve always believed in you.”

“I know that now.” He kisses my fingertips, sending the butterflies in my stomach wild. “I should have believed you when you told me that you wanted nothing to do with running the company. I was too greedy and prideful to take a step back.”

“And now that you’ve taken a step back, what do you see?”

The corner of his mouth tips up as he pulls me into him, his arms looping around my waist. I lean into his touch, missing the way it felt to wake up with him in my bed in the mornings. Or the way we would be tangled in his sheets when the sun came up.

I’ve missed him.

Grayson presses his lips to the top of my head. “I see everything that I should have been working for. I see a woman who is prepared to stand by my side, even when I’m the biggest idiot in the world.”

I slip my hands around his waist, pressing them against his back, feeling the racing of his heart. “I don’t think you’re the biggest idiot in the world. I just think you screwed up big time.”

“I’m sorry.” He swallows hard, thumbs rubbing circles on my skin where the back of my dress dips low. “You’re more important to me than you could ever know, and I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life trying to prove it to you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Good.” He brushes his lips against mine, the fireworks that have always been between us igniting again. “Do you want to go on a date with me?”

I laugh and stand on my toes, kissing him deeper until we’re both gasping for breath. “I was thinking we could go back to my place for a hot shower, since we’re both soaked through.”

“An even better idea.”

As he takes my hand and flags down a cab, I know that we have a lot of work ahead of us, but there’s nobody else I want to do life with.

Even on the hardest days, Grayson is still the man I want to come home to.

And I don’t think that’s ever going to change.

He’s my person.

EPILOGUE

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER: GRAYSON

Jade grins as the seat belt sign turns off. She unbuckles the belt that’s across her lap, pulling off her top in one smooth motion.

---