Page 20 of The Alpha's Assistant & The Dom Next Door
She blinked, her temper cooling abruptly, mostly due to a bucket of confusion that doused it. “Youdid?”
“Yeah. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was not intervene. But I didn’t, because you don’t need rescuing, Erica.” This time he did take one step in her direction. “That’s been one of my mistakes all along. I keep trying to save you when you don’t need saving. You’re the strongest person I know. Nobody needs to bail you out ofanything.”
A knot formed in her throat so she couldn’t force out any words as he continued slowly in her direction until he was directly in front of her, so close that she could see the bags under his eyes from obvious lack ofsleep.
“Another of my mistakes was treating like you were disposable. Like you were just some girl at a club I could pick up and then go myway.”
A tear trickled down her cheek and she looked away. Brock’s gentle hand reached out and turned her back to face him. When she did, the look on his face took her breathaway.
“Yet another of my mistakes was trying to buy you. Angie pointed that one out to me. You don’t know too much about my family, but let’s just say I got the idea that you had to bribe people to stick around,” he said quietly. “Not that that excuses anything. You specifically asked me to stop, and I kept doing it, like the fat guy in there, only withcash.”
At that, Erica managed to force out a few words. “You were an ass, but paying my father’s medical bills hardly makes youLardo.”
“But my biggest mistake of all,” Brock went on, “was letting you walk away without a fight. So I’m here to fight, Erica. And I’m going to keep fighting, until you agree me a second chance. To give us a secondchance.”
“Us?” she repeated, her voice suddenly cracking. “There isno—”
“Yeah, there is. There always was, from the time I hired you. We were a team in the office first, and then after that date, there definitely was even more. I just refused to see it. But I see itnow.”
Another tear slipped down her cheek and he leaned in to very gently brush it away with his lips, so gently that shetrembled.
“How’s your dad?” heasked.
Surprised, Erica murmured, “Doing all right. He has highs and lows. I should apologize too. He’d be dead if you hadn’t helped us out financially, Brock. I’m sorry. Whatever your reasons were for giving me the money, it was still beyond generous. Thankyou.”
“How are you?” he asked, scanning her wearyface.
“Burnt out,” she admitted. “But I have a final job interview with Nico and Henderson on Friday. I think I may finally have a place at a job where I can actually use mydegree."
The smile on Brock’s face melted the ice that had surrounded Erica’s heart for months and she sagged forward a little, just enough that he placed a hand on herwaist.
“Good for you. I don’t know how to say it without sounding condescending, but I’m proud of you, Erica. You’ll knock ’emdead.”
She smiled, feeling the warm spread outward from the touch of his hand and sincere words. “Thanks. I’m proud of myself,frankly.”
And then she hugged him hard. She didn’t overthink it; she just did it because this was the man she’d love for what felt like forever, and he finally felt like he was on an even footing with her. Not a billionaire. Not her boss. Not her seducer. Just a man who had opened himself up to her and even asked about her life. A man who had let her fight her own battles and cheered her on when shewon.
Brock’s arms folded around her tightly and she leaned in closer, melting into the familiar heat of his embrace. “God, I missed this. I missed you somuch.”
“I missed you,” he whispered in her ear. “And I love you,Erica.”
“I love you,” she whispered back, lifting her head to look into his eyes. “And next time, I give you permission to intervene if a lard ass is trying to feel meup.”
Brock laughed and framed her face with his hands. “I promise I’ll pound anyone who tries into the ground. I love you.” He kissed her again, and then again, and then again, until Erica’s weariness had completely burned away, replaced by the heat of Brock’s hungry, tender kiss. “I love you. I love you,” he whispered. “I love you now. I’ll love you tomorrow. I’ll love you forever. Give me six months and I’m going to ask you to marry me, EricaSamson.”
“Why six months?” she asked giddily, matching him kiss for hungry kiss, almost climbing him in her need to be closer to him, skin toskin.
“Because I’d like to do some things differently in my own life, things that’ll make you proud of me too,” he said simply, before lifting her in his arms, carrying her to his car, and then whisking her off to his apartment and tobed.
And she knew without a doubt that when he asked someday, she’d sayyes.
The End.
