Chapter 13
The bakery was going to be perfect, Emily knew that. The location and the building, even the stainless steel kitchen was going to be excellent. But she couldn’t help that her heart was breaking. Maybe she wasn’t strong enough to be a part of his life. If she couldn’t deal with it when he wasn’t even married, how could she deal with it all once he was?
The feel of his kiss was fresh on her lips and she had no idea where she’d found the strength to pull away from him. If anything she’d wanted exactly the opposite. She’d wanted more. But she knew it was something she couldn’t have, and she had to stay strong. She had to keep herself together when she was around him. Luckily, once she signed the papers, she could begin using Kara to be the middle-man so her need to be around Abdul would be much less. That would hopefully help ease the pain of not being able to have him.
That night she went to what was soon going to be her new bakery to sign the paperwork. Her realtor was there and let her in where she unceremoniously signed her name on the dotted line. He handed her the keys, shook her hand, and was off. That was that. It was slightly deflating really. She could have called Kara, could have made it a big deal but it wouldn’t have mattered. The only person she had wanted there she was having to push away.
Alone, she walked through her new bakery again. She thought about all the details that she was about to decide upon and she felt happy that Kara was going to be such a big part of it all. She was going to make an excellent manager. All of Emily’s dreams were coming true, the keys to her happiness right in the palm of her hand but still she didn’t feel what she’d hoped she would. Instead of feeling joy inside of her heart, she felt sadness. Back in the kitchen she imagined the bowls and spoons, the bags of ingredients and the decadent smells that were soon to waft out of the kitchen. The thought made her smile but it didn’t reach to her heart.
Without her little bell it was hard to hear the front door open, but all the same Emily became on high alert that she thought someone was inside with her. Should she call out? She was all alone in the dark. Maybe she should just wait until she heard a sound?
Footsteps came closer to the kitchen entrance and Emily took out her phone, ready to dial in case of emergency. But when the figure stepped into the kitchen, her heart began to soar.
“Abdul! What are you doing here?”
He stepped further inside and she realized something was different about his eyes, but she couldn’t put her finger on what.
“I knew you were signing the papers tonight. I needed to see you.”
Emily started to ask why but he cut her off instead.
“I broke the engagement to Nora tonight.” Abdul took a few steps toward Emily, but she stayed rooted to her spot. “I couldn’t go through with it. It wouldn’t have been fair to anyone to marry someone I didn’t love, and pass up on the one person who has finally taken my heart.”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears, but they were tears of the purest happiness.
“Do you really mean it?”
He didn’t answer her. Instead he took her face in his masculine hands and kissed her. There was a need, a fire burning between them that made their lips fuse in pure passion. His hands traveled from her face and became entwined in her hair. Her kissed her more fiercely and she accepted, neither one of them willing to hold back a moment longer. So lost in his lips and the taste of his tongue, she hadn’t even realized that his hands had left her hair until she had felt the searing heat from his hands under her shirt.
He was burning her skin with his passion and she could feel it travel until she was throbbing for him to touch her everywhere. She wanted to make him feel the same so she lifted his shirt above his head tossing it aside. Her fingers traveled the smooth muscle of his body and she knew she’d never get tired of the feel of him. In one swift move he had her in his arms completely and had led both of their bodies to the floor. It was animalistic between them, the need they’d been holding off for so long finally coming out of them.
Their hands roamed every part of each other’s bodies, learning every tender part. Without even realizing what was happening, they were unclothed and he was pushing inside of her. Both of them cried out as the shock of the pleasure racked their bodies. Emily began to tremble underneath him, feeling his every move inside of her. She knew in that instant that she could spend the rest of her life that way and live in complete ecstasy. When their bodies came undone, they came undone together in bursts of satisfied cries and with bodies quaking.
When it was over, they lay together, spent and panting. He held her closely as her body came down from its ecstatic high. He loved her, he really did. He had broken off his engagement just to be with her. He had given her her dreams and now was giving her him. Emily lay in his arms wondering what it was she could ever give him. He had been able to give her everything when she had nothing.
“I don’t know what it is I can ever give you,” she admitted.
“You never need to give me anything.” He kissed her forehead. “You are enough all on your own.”
Her smile spread wide across her face. “I love you,” she told him.
“I was wrong. That was the best thing you could ever give me.”
THE END