Lost to You (Take This Regret 0.5)(35)
Author: A.L. Jackson

But I didn’t want that night to be remembered as an obstacle, when in reality, it’d been our launching pad.

A throaty chuckle seeped into the room, and Christian shook his head as he placed his hands on my hips. “No, Elizabeth, I haven’t forgotten. That night has been ingrained in my mind as one of the best and worst nights of my life…the night I first kissed you and was foolish enough to lose you in the same heartbeat.” All pretenses fell from his face, and his hands tightened their hold. “I promise you—that will never happen again.”

I believed it—I wouldn’t accept him any other way.

Something like distress darkened his eyes. “I mean it, Elizabeth. This is it for me.”

My fingers came up to coax his worry lines away from his brow. “I know, Christian.” My palm slid down his cheek to rest on the steady tick of his pulse in his neck. I wet my lips, and made my own promise. “I trust you.”

Relief flooded him, loosening his tense muscles and chasing the storm from his eyes, my words the cure for whatever vestiges of doubt that still remained.

Taking one step back, he grabbed my hand and brought the back to his lips. The heavy moment was gone. In its place, I sensed his thrill. It spilled over onto me.

“Come on.” He hauled me toward the door. “I want to take you out. You denied me this before, you know.”

A smirk arched his brow, this playful ease coming over us, one we’d shared so many times, but with our barriers still set firmly in place.

This was liberating.

I squeezed his hand and worked to keep up as I followed him out the door. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He tossed a grin back at me, and I pulled the door shut behind us.

He led me out and down the hall, didn’t let go as he dragged me into the stairwell. As always, it was dim, the walls seemingly compressed, the air instantly tight. Just being in its confines, alone with him, escalated my heart rate.

I gasped when Christian abruptly turned and pushed me up against the wall. His mouth crashed into mine as he covered me with his body. This kiss was hot, demanding, filled with every ounce of the desire we’d kept restrained for far too long. My fingers dug into his neck as his fingers dug into my backside.

And I loved it, every second. God, I loved him.

When he pulled away, much too soon, he was panting, his blue eyes wild and his mouth dancing with a smug, satisfied smile. “Do you have any idea how many times I wanted to do that? This f**king stairwell has been the bane of my existence for the last four months.”

A strained laugh fluttered from my mouth, doing nothing to disguise the intense need that tightened my voice. “You felt that, too, huh?”

He laughed and shook his head, his posture softening as he drew me closer and completely wrapped me up in his secure arms. “You don’t even understand, Elizabeth. You’ve pretty much made me think I was losing my mind since the moment I met you.”

My head dropped to his chest, my fingers playing along the buttons of his coat as I averted my gaze. I loved hearing him voice it, to touch me and tell me he had felt the same way I did. “I’m pretty sure I do.”

I risked peeking up at him. God, he was beautiful. Every inch, angle, and curve.

“How did we manage to stay away from each other for this long?”

My hands fisted in his jacket. “Honestly, I have no clue.”

Grabbing my hand again, he guided me down the rest of the steps and out into the cold. The sun had set a couple hours earlier and the city had come alive. Cars and taxis filled the streets, the lights glowing overhead in the frosty air.

I shivered, and Christian wrapped an arm around my waist. I cuddled into the warmth of his side. He planted a kiss on my temple.

I exhaled and snuggled closer.

This was nothing short of perfection.

We walked down to the intersection where it was easier to find a cab. I hopped in the first we could find, Christian laughing as he climbed in behind me. He pulled me right to his side, sloppily kissing me under my jaw.

Everything soared, a sensation of weightlessness washing me in joy.

“Where to?” the cabbie asked.

Wide eyed and teasing, I jerked my head to face him. “Yeah, where to?”

Christian rambled off the address as he draped his arm over my shoulder.

Downtown.

The ride was short, and I was laughing outright by the time Christian was pulling me from the cab and running us in the direction of The Rink at Rockefeller Center.

“We’re going ice skating? Are you serious?” I yelled at the back of his gorgeous head as he twisted us through the crowd, his hand firm on mine, never letting go.

He looked back at me, so carefree.

My best friend.

His hands were in my hair, pressed to the sides of my head when he whirled around to kiss me in the middle of the roving crowd. “Where else would I take my girl except where she wants to go?”

He paid for our tickets and skates, both of us fumbling, cracking up as we put on our skates and tentatively ventured out onto the ice. His hands were never far, his mouth at my neck, at my ear, and at my mouth. Our words were flirty, easy, exactly what I wanted us to be.

My best friend.

He kissed me against the railing, when I fell and he helped me up, when we returned our skates and wandered hand-in-hand back out into the city.

He stopped in front of a large window at a little pizza place. Candles glowed from each round table crammed into the small space. “How’s this?”

“Looks good.”

We were seated toward the back. It was quaint inside, nothing fancy, just the two of us and a natural flow of conversation. Effortless.

We ordered a pizza to share, neither of us hesitating to dig in as soon as it was served.

Under the table, his hand rested on my knee, his thumb a constant caress.

He took a bite of pizza and glanced up at me with affection swimming in his eyes.

Never had I imagined ending up with someone like him. What I had pictured, I wasn’t quite sure. Safe, I supposed. Simple and plain. Someone who worked hard and loved just because he should. Someone who wanted a family and an easy life. Someone who I’d meet years in the future.

But Christian was none of those things. He was complicated, both selfish and kind, thoughtful and mindless, generous with a tendency toward greed.

And he was anything but plain. This beautiful man stole my breath with a simple look and had me shaking with the mere brush of his hand.

Once, Christian had been a mistake I couldn’t afford. Now, he’d become someone I didn’t want to live without. My pulse stuttered as I looked at him.