Page 62 of The Merger

His teasing touches were driving me crazy. I needed him desperately. Wrapping my legs around him I held tight. I expected dirty words, but he caught on to my mood. Our mouths fused back together as he sank inside of me. I pulled back enough to gasp into his mouth.

He swallowed my moans and cries as he took his time driving me over the edge. Somehow he knew exactly what I needed. He always did. He pushed when I needed it, but he also gave me the space to feel. If only I knew what that was. I did know that he was becoming vital to me. I didn’t know how I’d ever managed to forget him.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Stryker

Iheld the door to our apartment building for Sabrina to enter, and grabbed the mail on the way through the lobby. We’d been so busy with different projects at work we hadn’t seen each other since the morning. I was surprised how much it bothered me, and I resolved to do something about it. “We should go out for dinner tonight,” I suggested.

Sabrina winced. “I need to dig through the documents we found in Jeffries’ office. Aaron wants to meet tomorrow for lunch to go over all the data he compiled. I want to be prepared.”

She looked over at me and pursed her lips. “No, you’re right. Work can wait. I’ll clear my morning and do it at the office.”

My mood had still soured knowing she was going to meet up with a sort of ex for lunch the next day. “Does it have to be Aaron?”

Laughing, she kissed my cheek. “I know it should bother me that you’re jealous, but honestly, I’m flattered. No one has ever cared enough to act territorial.”

“I’ll pee a circle around you then.”

Her hand went up to her head as she pretended to swoon. “You’re so romantic.”

I flipped through the mail and stopped on a heavy envelope with gold foil edging. “You’ve got a fancy envelope from Mrs. Annalise Greyson.”

“Ugh,” Sabrina grunted. “Let’s see what my mother is up to now. It looks like she’s having another party. Let’s open it so I can send my usual rejection.”

I handed her the letter and she broke the seal. “It’s worse than I thought,” she mumbled to herself.

“Don’t leave me hanging. What is it?”

She handed me the invitation. “See for yourself. Audacity like this needs to be seen to be believed.”

I flipped it open and read it.

Mr. and Mrs. William Greyson request your presence at the celebration of our daughter Sabrina’s marriage to Stryker Lawson. Join us for an intimate affair at Greyson Manor.

“Leave it to my mother to make even an invitation passive-aggressive,” Sabrina grumbled.

This was hard for me to understand. My mom had been my rock. The one person in this world I could count on no matter what. Her life wasn’t easy before she got pregnant with me, but after me, I knew it was a daily struggle. We never had enough money, but I always had what I needed. Now I knew that was because she often went without.

I couldn’t imagine a mother like Sabrina’s. Especially hers because Sabrina was so easy to love. I wished there was something I could do to make things better for her. Maybe there was still a chance for them to reconcile.

“I think we should go,” I said without thinking.

Her eyebrows flew up almost to her hairline. “I don’t think I heard you right. Did you just say we should go to my mother’s party?”

“She is throwing it for us. Won’t she be angry if we don’t show up?”

Sabrina released a hysterical laugh. “She’s not throwing this party for us. She’s afraid her circle of hoity-toity friends is going to find out we eloped and think she’s too broke to pay for our wedding. Heaven forbid they think she can’t afford to throw frivolous parties.”

“You don’t wish we’d had a wedding?” Not the topic at hand, but I needed to know she didn’t regret how we came together.

She exhaled and dropped into a chair. “I wish I remembered the one we did have. Beck and Evie had an impromptu wedding at his parents’ Tahoe house. Only family was there. Colter and Jana eloped. A large wedding becomes more about the families and the guests. I think it’s more romantic to have a small affair.”

“Would you want to do it again so you could remember it this time?” What I was really asking was if she’d decided she wanted to stay married to me.

She smirked at me. “I see what you’re doing there. I like where we are right now. I want to see what tomorrow brings. Can’t we learn to exist in this moment?”

I took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I’ll try. But, whether we have another wedding or not, you’re still my wife in this moment.”

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