Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“Well, I… quit,” he said.
I furrowed my brow. “Quit what?”
He swallowed, shifting on his seat. “I quit my job.”
“Very funny,” I said. “That’s your number one pride and joy in life.”
“Well, I’m going to have to find a new one,” he said. “I turned in my resignation letter to Cutmore earlier today.”
I watched him for a moment. “Holy shit. You actually quit, didn’t you? This isn’t a joke?”
“Not a joke. Also, you look really good.”
Disbelief hit me like a ton of bricks, followed by a strange sense of pride. The type of pride that usually only flooded me when my football teammates made incredible plays.
But this went so much deeper than that. Emmett had an expression I’d never quite seen before on his face. Like he’d shed a mask that I hadn’t even known he’d been wearing, and he’d revealed something radiant underneath.
It was surreal.
“Who cares how I look?” I said. “Fuck, I’m so happy for you.”
I leaned over, acting on instinct. I caught his lips in a kiss and cupped the side of his face with my hand. It would be harder not to kiss him right now.
It was the kind of thing partners would do. A level of intimacy that would usually be reserved only for if Emmett was my boyfriend.
And when the idea of that word floated through my head—boyfriend—I felt like a swarm of butterflies was suddenly coursing through my body.
I hadn’t been expecting that.
“Thank you,” he told me, leaning his forehead onto mine.
“You fucking did it,” I murmured, holding my face close to his. “You’re a badass.”
“Going to be a badass in a career tailspin if I don’t snag myself some incredible clients of my own, though,” he said.
“You’re going to go it alone?” I asked. “Start your own firm?”
“It’s all I really know how to do,” he said with a nod. “Landry will follow me. I’ll have to start small, compared to the Goliath that is Lux Marketing. But once upon a time, Lux Marketing was small, too.”
I squeezed his arm. “If your dad grew it from nothing, you can grow your own company from nothing, too.”
He breathed in, his eyes looking me over. “You really do look good, you know.”
I pulled in a breath, leaning back a little and looking down. I’d chosen a black button-up shirt and slacks, and luckily they fit my body pretty well.
“I figured wherever you were going to dinner, it wouldn’t exactly be a dive,” I said. “Hope this is good enough.”
“My client picked the restaurant, but it should be perfect,” Emmett said.
I bit my lower lip, looking him over, too. He was in one of his tailored suits, this one a dusky blue-grey that looked like a darker version of my eye color, actually.
“I like this,” I said softly.
“This suit is one of my favorites. But as you know, I have a lot of favorites.”
“Not just the suit,” I said, running my hand along his chest. “But… us. It feels strange, being all nice to each other.”
He hummed. “Want to go back to fighting? Because I can pretend to be really, really mad about something, if that’s what makes you comfortable.”
I puffed out a laugh. “No need. I feel comfortable with you all the time, to be honest. Even when we were at each other’s throats.”
His gaze met mine. “I feel comfortable with you, too. Even though sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t.”
I gave him a look of mock horror. “Excuse me, Mr. Prince Charming? Why shouldn’t you?”
He gave me a smile. “Because you’re wild,” he murmured, leaning in again to kiss my neck and God damn it felt too good.
“And you love it.”
“You’re also out of your damn mind, sometimes,” he said, his lips near my collarbone, now.
“You love that, too.”
“And because I’m afraid of what happens when I start to like someone’s company this much,” Emmett said.
I breathed in his scent, my cock throbbing. Fuck, he was doing things to my heart and my dick, all at once. How did this man have such a hold on me?
“What happens when you like someone’s company, huh?” I said softly near his ear.
“Might start to want things too much.”
Fuck.
Please?
I want you to want things too much. Desperately.
“I want things, too, you know,” I said. “Emmett, I really would strip and let you fuck me right here if you wanted to. Want to spend the next four days in bed?”
“Yes,” he said. “But I also am already worried we’re going to be late for this dinner, so let’s get on the road. I promise I’ll drag you to bed afterward.”
My mouth started to water, like I was Pavlov’s dog.
“Is that a promise?”
“It sure is,” he said, pressing one more slow kiss to my mouth.
Christ, it took everything in me not to leap over and straddle him right there and now on his seat.