Chapter Thirty-One
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Easton’s assistant stood in the doorway of his office just as he was gathering his notes for an important meeting with his brother Shane. They needed to make some decisions regarding a few upcoming projects.
“Whoever it is tell them I’ll call them back. I was supposed to be in the boardroom five minutes ago.”
Amy had a strange smile on her face and her cheeks were pink with excitement. He didn’t remember the last time she looked this animated.
“Are you sure? Because there’s a young woman here to see you. She says it’s important.”
Sighing with frustration, he counted to three before replying. Amy was too good of an assistant to yell at over something trivial. It wasn’t her fault he was in a lousy mood and hadn’t had enough sleep last night.
“It being important doesn’t make me any less late,” Easton explained. “Have her make an appointment.”
That smile grew annoyingly wider. “Okay, I’ll just tell Dizzy that you’re too busy to see her.”
Dizzy? Here?
“Wait,” he barked, dropping his notes on the desk as his heart leapt into his throat and his stomach plummeted to his feet. “Dizzy’s here?”
Amy nodded and Easton could swear she giggled too. “She is. Should I send her in after all?”
Straightening his tie, he took a deep breath but it failed to slow his racing pulse. Why had she come? What did it matter? He could fix this now. “Yes, please and let Shane know that I’ll be delayed.”
Amy whirled on her heel and marched out of the office. “Will do, Boss.”
It felt like forever waiting for Dizzy to enter his office but it was actually only a few seconds. She was still dressed in that sexy black skirt and white blouse, her legs looking amazing in black high-heeled pumps. At some point, her hair had fallen out of its up-do and it was now lying in a riot of chocolate waves around her shoulders.
“I hope this isn’t a bad time.”
Clearing his throat so he could speak, he motioned to the small sofa on the right side of his office. “It’s fine. Please have a seat.”
They both sat on the soft leather couch with a respectable ten to twelve inches between them. Easton’s fingers itched to reach out and touch the soft skin of her cheek but at this point he didn’t dare. He hoped she was here to work things out but maybe she was just there to bring him a pair of socks he’d forgotten and had ended up in her laundry.
She looked as nervous as he felt, her hands wrung together so tightly the knuckles were white. She hadn’t looked at him, not fully, and now his own nerves had kicked in. She was probably there to tell him she never wanted to see him again.
“I’m very sorry about what my parents said,” she began, her gaze still on her hands. “They’re challenging and they have some very definite ideas about things. Like screaming, yoga and nudity.”
Um…okay. He wasn’t quite following here.
“Yoga?”
She finally looked up and their gazes met. Her brown eyes were dark with emotion – maybe sadness or regret?
“And nudity,” she confirmed. “Just ask Leann. I’ll probably be paying for her therapy bills for awhile.”
What in the hell had happened in the last hour and a half? Leann had looked just fine this morning.
“She’s a licensed clinical therapist, Dizzy. I’m sure she can handle whatever it is.”
“That’s not why I came here.” Dizzy lifted her chin and reached across the space between them to place her hand on his. Her skin so incredibly soft and warm. His own fingers wound through hers and she didn’t pull away. A good sign. “I came here because I want to say that I’m sorry–”
“No,” he interrupted hastily. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. “No, I’m the one that’s sorry, baby. I intended to come see you tonight. I’m the one that screwed up and I’m the one that needs to apologize. I am really sorry, Dizzy. I acted like a jerk and you were right to throw my ass out. If you’re willing to keep seeing me despite how your parents feel then I should simply count myself lucky. Hopefully someday they will change their minds but in the meantime, I want to make you the happiest woman in Tremont. I…I love you, honey.”
Her entire body seemed to relax and she slumped against the cushions. “I came here to apologize for telling you to go fuck yourself. I love you too.”
His heart seemed far too large for his chest, making it hard to take a breath. She loved him too. He’d almost screwed this up completely but somehow she’d forgiven him.
“I was scared,” he confessed, pulling her closer so he could feel the warmth of her skin and smell the floral fragrance of her hair. “Your parents reminded me of how different we were and I thought you would eventually get bored with me. I’m so bland compared to you.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead and she looked up at him and smiled. There was a love and tenderness in her face that he’d never seen before, and he wanted to see it every day, all the time.
“You don’t bore me in the least. And it turns out that I might not be as different and strange as I thought. I might be almost as normal as you are. Let’s not tell anyone.”
There was a story behind this but now was definitely not the time to find out about it. He’d rather kiss her instead. Besides, he could never think of her as merely normal. She was everything that he wasn’t and more. He wouldn’t have her any other way, either.
Pressing her back onto the cushions of the sofa, his lips found the spot where her pulse beat madly at the base of her throat before traveling up her neck to linger behind her ear. Her hands, however, were pushing at his chest and slightly dazed, he lifted himself up.
“Do you want me to stop?”
He would if she wanted him to, of course. His office wasn’t the most romantic place for a reunion.
Her smile was sexy and inviting, and her fingers were trailing down his chest to his stomach.
“I want you to lock the door.”
She was as brilliant as she was beautiful.