The truth is....
The truth is....
Angelica is the opposite of Emerald in every way. She’s not in this for my money. She’s shown no sign of using me for my money. She’s ridiculously delighted with everything I do for her.
Far from hindering my obsession with taking control at the office, she’s tacitly encouraged it.
No. No. This is exactly the kind of thinking that made me miss crucial red flags with the merger because I was in London with a gold-digging bitch. I was sure that Emerald was a good woman.
I promised myself when I came back to the city that I wouldn’t get involved. That I wouldn’t let a woman get so close to me that she’d have the power to influence my business decisions, take the focus off my work. Angelica brought me dinner and was more than accommodating when I canceled our plans, but that’s not enough to go on to assume that in the future she’ll....
This is ridiculous, and the longer the silence goes, the redder Angelica’s face gets. She’s put herself out there for me. If I can’t even admit this small thing, then I should tell her to take a cab back to her place, or to the Sheraton, or wherever it is she needs to stay until the repairs are completed on her apartment.
It’s at that moment that Connor bursts through the door without knocking.
“Brandon, the PR team wants—”
“Connor.”
His eyes jerk toward us. “Oh—I’m sorry,” he says, giving Angelica a once over so fast I’m sure he thinks I don’t notice it. “Emily was saying something about dinner, and I just assumed that—you know what? This can wait.” He holds up both hands, grins an apology, and heads for the door. Angelica’s eyes are back on her folded hands, so she doesn’t see when Connor pauses, gives me a thumbs up, and mouths “Oh, my God!” before he steps out of the office, closing the door gently behind him.
His entrance cleared my head, that’s for damn sure.
I’m still in control.
I can still make changes at any time.
Angelica is not trying to destabilize my business. She’s not jealous of the time I spend at work. And I want to be with her.
I might—it’s fucking terrifying to even think it, but I can’t ratchet down the intensity of the memories speeding through my mind when I look at her, can’t disregard how it feels to have her body pressed against mine, can’t dismiss the way she’s vulnerable in front of me—I might even love her.
I’m sure as hell not going to admit that—not here, not now—but I can set her free from the unbelievable awkwardness of this moment.
“I have feelings for you, too.”
She looks up at me, her face lit up with surprise. “You do?”
The only possible answer? I give in to the urge to kiss her, long and wild and fierce, pulling her up from her seat so that I can dip her back in my arms, exploring her mouth with my tongue, giving her another taste of the power I can have over her.
And Angelica—she gives herself over to it completely, melting into my arms like it’s the only place she’s ever wanted to be. She throws her arms around my neck, holds on so tight that it makes me think she’s weak in the knees. From the way her hands still tremble, maybe she is.
It doesn’t matter. I keep kissing her until we’re both gasping for breath, and when she finally pulls away, her eyes are bright, dancing.
“Damn, Jett Brandon,” she says, patting the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand. “You had me going there for a minute.”
“You’ve had me going for a lot longer than that.”
She bursts out laughing, then narrows her eyes. “Now that we’ve...had this talk, is it going to be awkward if I keep staying at your place?” Something flickers across her face, but it doesn’t last long enough to disrupt the teasing smile that she can’t seem to wipe off.
I kiss her again, harder this time, faster, rougher, and then lock my eyes on her. “Angelica Chandler, if you leave right now, I’ll never forgive you.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Angelica
After our talk in his office, Jett goes into overdrive planning a weekend getaway for us.
“Where do you want to go?” he asks me as we leave his office for the evening. I’d had to wait another half hour for him to finish up whatever crisis management strategy they were formulating, but then he told his secretary to call him with essential updates and headed for the door. Stuart was bringing around the car. “Anywhere you want.”
“I have to go to work on Monday,” I giggle through the knot forming at the base of my stomach. My heartbeat won’t slow down, won’t relax. Hadley would be irate if I took another unscheduled day off, but Charlie....