Page 81 of The Wedding Deal
“If I say yes, does that mean I forgo groveling over dinner?” She said it lightly, her words a balm to that gaping hole in his chest.
“I’m sure I’ll screw up enough that most of our dinners will include groveling.”
The corner of her mouth turned up, and a smile slowly spread across her face— Man, he’d missed that smile.
“Kiss already!” someone yelled—he was pretty sure it was Bryant—and her smile widened, a flush of pink creeping across her cheeks.
Lance raised his eyebrows, silently asking if she was okay with fudging the rules a bit.
“Admittedly,” she said, “my brain is shouting the same thing about you kissing me already.”
He crashed his lips over hers, not wanting to waste another second not-kissing her. Whoops and hollers filled the room, the cheers even louder than after they’d secured their new rookies.
He lifted her off her feet, wrapping her tighter in his arms and kissing her deeper.
“Now go make use of one of the empty offices so we don’t have a repeat of this during the second and third rounds,” Williams said. “If you hurry, you’ll be back to get the updates on who everyone else has scooped up.”
Charlotte scowled at their GM, and Lance could see the protest about his being inappropriate on the tip of her tongue. He also could tell by her sigh that she’d decided to let it go. If anything called for a celebratory night of rule breaking, it was this.
“Actually,” Lance said, lowering her to her feet but using his arm to keep her tucked next to him. “We’ve got the rest of our options mapped out pretty well, along with backup options, so you can text me updates, and I’ll be here bright and early tomorrow morning so we can do it all again.”
He looked down at Charlotte, unable to resist giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Ready to get out of here?”
…
This day hadn’t gone at all the way Charlotte thought it would. Well, being in the same room as Lancehadbeen as tortuous as expected, but for him to lay everything on the line like that? With the entire staff watching?
And he loved her…
Which led her to say something she’d never expected to say in the middle of the draft madness. “Beyond ready.”
Hand in hand, they left the war room. They made out in the elevator. They kissed their way out of the lobby and over to his car.
He tucked her inside, rounded the hood, and settled behind the wheel. “Name the restaurant.”
“Actually, I was thinking we could order in. We already made enough people uncomfortable with our PDA, and considering what I want to do to you, it’d be best if we didn’t have an audience.”
The passion that flared to life in his eyes echoed through her, and suddenly she was worried she’d never survive the drive home without spontaneously combusting.
“My place it is,” he said, firing up the car.
This time, she didn’t complain about how fast he drove. Seconds after he’d parked, they’d climbed out of the car and resumed their kissing. During their private elevator ride up to his floor, they went from PDA to risqué. He ran his hands over her ass, her breasts, up her thighs, and under her skirt.
She was a panting, needy mess by the time they spilled into his penthouse.
Instead of peeling off her clothes, he took a step back, and an involuntary whimper came out.
“I’ll take care of you, babe, I promise. I just wanted to take a second to soak in the sight of you standing in my place, your lips red and swollen from my kisses.”
“Speaking of soaked…”
He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. His eyes drank her in from head to toe, heat licking every place they touched, and she couldn’t wait for his hands to do the same. “I also want to make you a promise. I’ll never doubt you again. Never treat you the way I did the night of Mitch and Stacy’s wedding.” His blue eyes implored hers. “I need you to know how sorry I am.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he dragged his thumb across her lower lip, and her mind went hazy with desire.
“This life—our life if you stay with me—is going to be crazy busy. There will be a lot of traveling and stressful decisions, but it doesn’t scare me as long as I know you’ll be by my side every step of the way.”
“I will be,” she said, then she tipped onto her toes and lightly kissed his lips.
