Page 178 of Boss of Me

His glittering eyes hold mine, daring me to lie to him.

I open my mouth, but I can’t say the words.

“That’s what I thought,” he whispers.

I take an angry step back, my body shivering in the chilled air that springs up between us. “You shouldn’t have come here tonight.”

He steps forward, deliberately closing the space I created. “Give me another chance.”

“Why should I?” I choke out tearfully. “You hurt me, Gunner. You tossed me out in the cold like a worthless piece of property you no longer wanted or needed!”

“And I’ve regretted it every single second since you left.” His eyes are anguished, his hands now gripping my upper arms. “I can’t fucking live without you, Marlowe. Please take me back. I’m begging you.Please.”

I shake my head, swatting at my tears. “It’s too late, Gunner. I’ve moved on.”

“Have you?” He catches my hair in his hands and tilts my head back to gaze into my face, his eyes burning with intensity. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t concentrate at work. I constantly wonder where you are and what you’re doing. The house isn’t the same without you.I’mnot the same without you. I miss laughing with you. I miss the way you pronounce certain words, likedahntahninstead of downtown. I miss the angelic sounds of your piano playing. Imiss fighting and fucking and talking until the sun comes up. I miss having you in my life.”

“Oh God.” A thick layer of tears blurs my vision as his words burn into my heart and brand themselves against my skin. “You can’t do this to me, Gunner. It’s not fair?—”

“I love you. I’ve loved you from the moment we locked eyes across that ridiculously named bar. When you sat down at my table, I felt like the luckiest man in the whole damn world. You were the most mesmerizing woman I’d ever met, and I wanted to know everything about you. After that night, I couldn’t get you off my mind, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I never saw you again, my life would’ve been worse for it.” His voice thickens, betraying some of his desperation. “I love you so damn much, Marlowe. Come home to me. Please, baby, just come home.”

Oh God!

He kisses my neck, my cheek, my hair, rubbing his forehead against mine as he pleads raggedly, “Say you forgive me. Say you’ll give me a second chance.”

He’s laying his heart bare, holding nothing back for the first time ever. As I look into his eyes, I see real love and a raw vulnerability that squeezes my heart. I can’t live without him either. It’s pointless to even try.

“I love you,” I finally surrender, the words resonating deep in my soul.

His face softens with relief. “You still love me?”

“Yes, God help me, I do.”

The words are barely out of my mouth before he lifts me off my feet and spins me around. I laugh through my tears and wrap my arms around his neck as joy bursts inside me, spilling over like effervescent champagne bubbles.

He swings me around again before hugging me against his body, one big hand cupping the back of my head as he whispers into my hair, “I’ve missed you so damn much!”

“I’ve missed you, too!”

He sets me on my feet before his lips swoop down on mine, stealing my breath. He kisses me with all of the fierce longing and emotion that’s built up over the past eighty-one days, and I kiss him back with matching intensity.

He breaks the kiss and stares down at me, framing my face in his hands. “I know you’re in the middle of a party, but I’m dying to be alone with you. Can we get the fuck out of here?”

“Yes, please,” I say with a breathless laugh.

As he grabs my hand and strides from the terrace, I see the flash of several camera phones. He leads me back inside and through the crowd, a blur of smiling faces.

Lilith stands by the front door with my coat and the beaded clutch I must have left somewhere at some point. She’s smiling at us, her eyes shining with approval.

As Gunner helps me into my coat, his fingertips brush against the bare skin of my back, sending a rush of tingles through me.

I glance over my shoulder at him, my lower lip caught between my teeth.

Raw hunger flares in his eyes.

Lilith chuckles knowingly. “Off you go, young lovers.”

it’s a damn good thing gunnerlives close to my boss, or we might not have made it home fully clothed.