Page 23 of Forever Mine

She nods her head. “But?”

“The catering and the entertainment fell through. Elle and Hudson are filling in for me since I’m gone. Lilian is assisting Ford and Lucas, so she’s already spread thin. Issi, well you know Issi’s going to have the baby any day, so Ford asked if there would be any way you and I could work on this together.” I hold my hands up. “I know you have the gym to take care of, so if you don’t have time or just can’t, I understand.”

Her head is tilted to the side, and I imagine her brain is going a hundred miles a minute. “When is the fundraiser?”

“Friday night.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “In three days?”

I wince, knowing that I’m pressing my luck. “Yes.”

There’s no hiding the hurt on her face. “And I guess that was just another function that you were going to go to without me?” She holds her hand up. “Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. I’d be bored. You would have to work the whole time, it wouldn’t be any fun for me.”

She throws out all the excuses I’ve given her in the past, and every day, I learn more and more about how ridiculous I’ve been. How could I have been such a fool?

I stand up and move around to her side of the desk. I lean on the edge of it and look at her. “Can you ever forgive me, Nat?”

I wait for her to tell me no and to get the fuck out of here. Hell, I’m waiting on her to pull the divorce papers from her desk drawer and insist I sign them. I know I’ve fucked up, but I have to fix this. When she doesn’t answer me, I lean down a little and put my hand on her chin, forcing her to look at me. “I’m all in, Nat. I’ll apologize to you a thousand times, hell a million if that’s what it takes, but if you give me a chance, I’ll show you that I’m all in. That’s all I’m asking. Even though I know I don’t deserve it, I’m asking you to give me another chance. Let me show you how good it can be between us.”

She gently pulls from my grasp. “I’ll help with the fundraiser.”

Even though I know how important the fundraiser is, I don’t care about it right now. “And us? What about us?”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t go back on my word, Beau. I said I’d give you a month.” She pulls out a notepad and pencil. “All right, let’s talk about the fundraiser.”

I grab my eyeglasses from my pocket and put them on and hold my phone up to read the text messages from Ford. “So it’s being held at the convention center in Jasper. The catering and the entertainment has canceled.”

She points to my phone. “I guess you have a proposed head count and a budget?”

I ramble off the numbers, and she writes them down.

She taps her pencil on the desk. “Who was the entertainment?”

My forehead creases. “Clyde Mack.”

She doesn’t contain her surprise. “The up-and-coming country star? He has a new single out on the charts.ThatClyde Mack?”

I will not be jealous that she seems to be fangirling over some country star.At least that’s what I tell myself. “That’s the one. Honestly, I don’t see the appeal unless you’re into some twenty-year-old that sings about beer, women, and his dog. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think he owns a shirt.”

She’s smirking at me. Obviously, I didn’t hide my jealousy too well.

“Huh, I guess I can see how that could appeal to some. I’m more into a guy that wears glasses and is into budgets and spreadsheets but still looks good with his shirt off.”

My smile is instant, and because I can’t hold back anymore, I pull her up from the chair she’s in. I sit down and then pull her onto my lap.

She’s laughing as she smacks me on the chest. “Really? We have work to do. A lot of it, actually.”

I nuzzle my nose into her neck. “Nat, all this time I’ve wanted to hold you and have my hands on you, I’ve held myself back. I hope you don’t mind public displays of affection because from this point on, if I want to hold your hand, touch you, kiss you… I’m going to do it.”

She pants out a breath. “I don’t mind it. Actually, I think I like it.”

I put my hand to her cheek and bring her lips to mine. I put everything into the kiss. All my insecurities, my fear, my love, all of it. She’s pressed up against me, our bodies flush to one another, and she’s the one to break contact. Her lips are swollen and her nose red. Her eyes are that dark shade of blue that tells me she wants more, but her hand on my chest stops me from reaching in again. “We have work to do, Beau.”

I take deep breaths, and when I’ve calmed down, I nod my head. “Of course, you’re right. So the details for the event…” I shift in my seat because her hip is pressed up against my hard manhood, and it sucks to ignore it, but just being this close and having her in my arms is enough right now. “We are charging $100 a ticket. The food was hors d’oeuvres and desserts. You already know what the entertainment was.”

She nods. “Okay, I need to make some calls.”

I hand her my phone, but she doesn’t take it. “I can use mine.”

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