Sweet Surrendering (Surrender Saga #1)(75)
Author: Chelsea M. Cameron

More phone calls. Word had gotten out to some of our clients and I basically got screamed at all day, and repeated the same thing over and over until I had to check my face to make sure it wasn’t blue.

I didn’t get a lunch because I didn’t have an assistant to bring me one. Fortunately, Dad ordered out and had sandwiches delivered for everyone. I inhaled two of them and then went back to getting yelled at.

I missed Lucah. He was the only thing that could have made this not horrible. I could just picture him making faces at me, or throwing paper airplanes, or texting me dirty things. I looked at my shoe paperweight and my WORLD’S GREATEST BOSS mug and I texted him saying that I missed him. He refused to tell me what he’d done all day the day before, but I had so much else on my mind I didn’t have enough energy to try to get it out of him.

Want me to come and make it better?

If only that were possible.

I wish. But you can’t. I’ll see you tonight.

He answered me back, but I had to answer the stupid phone, so I didn’t see his response until a half hour later.

I’m naked and waiting . . .

And this was accompanied by a shirtless picture of him on the couch, making a kissy face.

I gigglesnorted and put my phone back in my desk. I’d be getting a penis shot next if I wasn’t careful. Not that I didn’t want one, but I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it at work if I had to pick up the phone and be professional two seconds later.

I was actually able to get away by six, without Dad having to come and throw me out. But I was so exhausted that I hoped Lucah didn’t expect much from me in the sex department. I might fall asleep mid-coitus.

When I walked in, he greeted me wearing nothing but one of his ties and posed seductively against the back of his couch.

“Welcome home, Miss Clarke.” He fluttered his eyelashes and I burst into laughter because I was so tired and stressed and he was so sweet and ridiculous and I loved him.

“I am so tired right now, it hurts to laugh,” I said, slipping off my heels and stumbling over to him.

“Aw, Sunshine, you do look tired.”

“Thanks,” I said and rested my head against his chest.

“Hold on, I have a plan. You come and sit here.” He dragged me over to the couch and I collapsed on it, closing my eyes and resting my head on one of the pillows. I heard him walking around and I also heard water running.

I was so tired that I didn’t even think I could fall asleep, but just closing my eyes was bliss.

“Come here, Miss Clarke,” his voice said a few minutes later, and I propped my eyes open. It was not easy. He was still naked and tieless this time. “Put your arms around my neck.” I did and he picked me up and carried me to the bathroom. The lights were off and there were a few scented candles burning.

“When did you buy scented candles?” I asked.

“Shh, don’t ask questions.” He set me down and started removing my clothes. The tub was full of steaming water and he must have added salts or something to it, because the water was frothy.

He got me naked and then helped me into the tub. Then got in behind me, pulling me into his chest.

“Oh my God, this feels unbelievable.” The warm water immediately went to work on my tense muscles and the steam made me feel a little more alert.

“You feel unbelievable.” He got out a loofah that I could tell was brand new and started working it up and down my arms and across my chest. I closed my eyes again and he started humming, his chest vibrating against my back.

“Rory?” he said.

“Hm?” I turned my head so I could see him out of the corner of my eye.

“I love you.” He said it so seriously, like it was the first time he was saying it instead of the hundredth.

“I love you, too.”

“I want you to move in with me. I want to see you all the time.” That was definitely mutual.

“I want to move in with you, too. But what about Sloane?” He smiled as if he had been hoping for me to ask that.

“Well, I discovered that there is a vacancy in your apartment building. It also happens to be an apartment right down the hall from yours. So either we can live there and Sloane can have yours, or the other way around. Whatever you want to do, we have to act fast.” He beamed, clearly pleased with himself.

“You have been busy, Mr. Blythe. I’ll ask Sloane and see what she wants to do. So you don’t want to live here?” His apartment was pretty nice. Nicer than mine, even if it was smaller.

“This isn’t my home. The only time it feels that way is when you’re here with me.” Aw, he was just the sweetest sometimes.

“Besides, your apartment is bigger, and the spare room would make a good place for my stuff.”

“What stuff? Your secret room stuff? Can I finally see that now? I mean, not right now, but maybe later?” I’d almost forgotten about Lucah’s secret room in all the insanity.

“You can see it whenever you want. They’re all unlocked now.”

“When did you do that?”

“A few days ago.” I flipped around so I was facing him. “I don’t have anything to hide anymore. No more secrets, no more lies. Whatever you want to know, I’m an open book.”

I liked the sound of that.

“How did you get started in corporate espionage?” I knew that wasn’t what his job was called, but that was what I was going to call it.

“It’s a long story, but basically I wanted to make money and I wanted to be someone else. I spent a lot of time running from my past. I guess that was just another way to keep doing it.” One of the candles guttered out, making it even darker.

“Why?”

He sighed and shifted under me.

“Because I didn’t want eat cereal for dinner. Ever again. And I didn’t want people to know that was where I came from. My parents never tried to put the burden on me or my brothers, but I remember going to the food bank and understanding at a very young age that we didn’t have things that other people had. I didn’t want life ever to be that hard again.”

It made sense, and I could understand wanting to run away from your past.

“This one time in college, I changed my major for a day. I also went by my first and middle name when I introduced myself to people.”

“What did you change your major to?” The water was starting to get cold, but my muscles were all loose and I didn’t think I could get up. He was going to have to carry me.