Page 97 of By Invitation Only

I chuckled. “You know it’s bound to happen eventually, right?”

She stared at me, not speaking.

“Even if they are out there, they won’t care. If we see them, we’ll walk back in. Okay?”

Peyton nodded, and we finally made our way outside onto the balcony that overlooked the pool area. Of course you could see people in the pool, on lounge chairs and some in the grass as they sought pleasure from each other. After ten years, it was normal to me, but I knew Peyton was new to this lifestyle.

“Don’t look down. Look in the distance.”

My room had a perfect view of Los Angeles. The glittery lights sparkled in the distance, and taking the view in, one tended to forget the hustle and bustle that was happening on the streets. LA never slept.

“It’s breathtaking,” she whispered.

“Sometimes I would just come up here alone and stare at the lights. It was like my one day to decompress and forget everything at the office, or forget that I didn’t have you in my arms.”

“What?” she asked, turning her head to look up at me.

“I told you. I’ve fancied your arse since I first saw you in court.”

“Yeah, but you can’t seriously be telling me that you used to think about me like that.”

“I did, but I figured I could never have you.” It was always worse when I saw her in court and knew I couldn’t have her.

She turned and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad Ava Ashley wanted a divorce from Trent.”

I chuckled. “Me too.”

Peyton rested her head against my chest. There was nowhere I’d rather be, and even though I’d been working myself to the bone, my long hours at the office were about to end. I had one more month to prove I’d be the perfect partner and afterward, I was going to come home to my girl’s cooking every night at a decent hour.

I never thought I would want a serious relationship, but there was something about Peyton that made me look at the world differently. She was smart, funny, sexy, a damn fine cook, and the more I got to know her, I realized she fancied some of the same fantasies as me. I could definitely spend forever like this.

“Are you scared?” I queried before I realized what I’d asked.

Peyton looked up at me. “Scared of what?”

“Falling.”

She looked down toward the ground beyond the wrought iron railing. “No.”

“I’m not talking about heights,” I clarified. “I’m talking about us.”

She blinked, realizing what I was asking. “Are you?”

I shook my head. “I was, but that was before I knew how shattered I’d be without you.”

What was I saying?I’d never in my life confessed anything remotely like this to anyone. But it was true. The thought of not crawling in bed with her each night, and the thought of her not being the first person I saw each morning, terrified the shit out of me.

“It’s hard to fall when you’ve already fallen.”

I smiled and said the four words I’d never said in a romantic way before now. “I love you, beautiful.”

She smiled, her eyes glassy. “I love you too, Mr. Romantic.”

No more words were spoken as I pressed my lips to hers, and then carried her back to the bed. There would be another time to reflect on the Shibari scene. Now wasn’t that time.

We stayed in bed until there was a knock on the door.

“We’ve come to that part of the meeting,” Mitch stated and looked between Clint and me. “Gentlemen, this is the home stretch. You’ve both stepped up to the plate and are hitting everything out of the park. We’re impressed.” The other partners murmured their agreement. “As you know, the office is closed for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. You’re more than welcome to keep working and billing hours, but we won’t be here.” Mitch motioned to the other gentlemen. “That said, we’re going to give you one more update and then it’s in your hands.”

All I heard was blah, blah, blah.Fucking hell, just spit it out already!

“Booker.” My eyes shot up and met Mitch’s gaze. “You’re in the lead. We won’t tell either of you by how much, but we’re excited to see who will come out ahead.”

I could feel Clint’s eyes burning holes into the side of my head. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t even smile, though I wanted to. The better man would win, and I was certain that would be me.