Page 140 of Owen North

“Tomorrow.”

His eyes trace the lines of my face for a long time. “When I told you I was deliberately going out of my way to make you mine, I meant it.” He then moves into me before I can stop him and slides his fingers through my hair. He claims a kiss I won’t ever forget. And when he finally comes up for air, he says, “This isn’t finished.”

Every inch of my body and soul feels this kiss.

Deeply.

It steals breath.

It steals thoughts.

It steals my heart all over again.

I know I’ll feel it forever.

But Owen is wrong: thisisfinished between us.

29

Owen

“Get the jet ready,” I say to Tahlia over the phone as I drive home from Charlize’s.

“Where are you going?” Her confusion is clear.

“California. I’ll send you the exact location once I confirm it.”

“Okay,” she says slowly. “You’re leaving today?”

“As soon as the jet is ready.”

“For how long?”

“For an indefinite amount of time.”

She takes a moment with this information. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Owen, but you’ve got a lot of important meetings next week. Not to mention the Bluestone Award dinner. What are your plans there?”

“Cancel everything I can’t do over Zoom.”

She’s silent for a moment again. “Is everything okay?”

“It will be.”

“Okay. Right.” She’s perplexed, and I don’t blame her. I rarely cancel anything. I certainly never canceleverything. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to do that Bluestone dinner over Zoom. Or your lunch meetings.”

“Cancel everything connected to the award. It’s no longer a priority.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I’ll email the information you’ll need for the flight and to book a hotel and car for me.”

I end the call and then phone Poppy.

She answers immediately. “Where are you?”

“I just left Charlize.”

“Shit, if you’ve left already, that means bad things, right? I’m about five minutes away from her. I got caught in traffic.”

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