Page 94 of Grumpy Boss in Love

“I need to see you.”

The call ended, and I stared at my screen confused. I didn’t get it. Why would he do that interview and not want to talk to me? Before I recovered from my shock, there was a knock on the door.

A little pissed that Elliot hung up on me, I huffed and threw my phone down. However, when I looked through the peephole my annoyance and confusion turned to delight. Elliot stood, staring at the door. He was dressed in his suit, so he’d probably just left the office. I flung the door open.

“Elliot, how?—?”

“I might have been sitting in my car outside your apartment practicing another we-should-get-back-together speech.”

Half laughing, half sobbing I practically dove into his arms. He staggered backward but quickly caught his balance as he let out an amused grunt.

“I saw the interview,” I whispered. “National TV.You.”

His sigh caressed my ear. “I’ve learned that love and desperation will make a man do unlikely things, Ruby.”

I unwrapped myself from him so I could look him in the eyes. “We should definitely get back together.”

“So my national declaration of love worked,” he said.

“Actually, I had decided that I didn’t want to give up on us before I saw the interview.”

His eyebrows shot up.

“I still love you, Elliot. I was afraid of being hurt again, but I do trust you with my heart. And I don’t want to sign the divorce papers. Maybe it isn’t so weird if we just… stay married.”

He took my face between his palms. “Not in the least. Why end a good thing?”

I grinned as he lowered his head. When our lips touched, the relief I felt was overwhelming. The kiss was gentle at first, a tender reconnection. However, as seconds passed, passion flared. We kissed as if we’d been deprived of each other for much too long. I’d forgotten we stood in the hallway, but Elliot seemed to realize because he hoisted me up and moved inside. Without missing a beat, he kicked the door shut and turned the lock.

Legs wrapped around his waist, I was already working to get him out of his jacket as he took urgent strides to my bedroom. By the time we made it, there was a trail of clothes on the floor. Tumbling to the bed in a tangle of limbs, Elliot hovered over me.

To my chagrin and mounting level of sexual frustration, he pulled away and shuffled off the bed. “Where are you going?” I whined.

“Just a sec.” He grabbed his pants that had been dropped by the door and reached into one of the pockets. Rejoining me, he held up the engagement ring and wedding band I’d given back to him. “I can get you new ones if you like since we’re starting over.”

I nibbled my lower lip and decided, “No, I’ll keep these.” It would be a reminder of how we’d gone from faking it to making it. Our journey was unconventional. Insane. However, I wouldn’t change a thing. “And we’re not starting over. We’re picking up right where we left off.”

Elliot slid the rings back onto my finger. “Never take them off again.”

I rolled my eyes at his typical bossy tone and pulled him back down for a kiss.

EPILOGUE

RUBY

One year later…

I gingerly stretched and sighed my satisfaction. “I can’t believe we just did that,” I muttered, reaching for my bra that lay beside my head.

“Let’s do it again,” Elliot purred, rolling me onto my back.

I gasped and giggled. “We are not having sex again and, on the floor, no less.”

“The carpet is nice. Brand new.”

I scoffed and batted him away as he tried to move in for another kiss. He groaned his disappointment and backed off.

“Everyone will be here soon, Elliot. We can’t.”

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