Page 68 of Discretion

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Halle peered up at me, and I was dying to know what she was thinking. I was dying to touch her. Kiss her. But that was nothing new. It was pretty much my default setting.

“Jasper,” she whispered, and I nearly groaned at the sound of my name on her lips. Followed by my second favorite word, “Please.”

She was beautiful. A fucking smokeshow in her emerald-green silk dress that flowed over her curves in the most tantalizing way. The color contrasted perfectly with her creamy skin and red hair.

Every cell in my body was attuned to her. My hand rested on her hip, and her palm was pressed to my chest. If I moved an inch, we’d be kissing.

I hadn’t felt this alive in months. I couldn’t let her slip through my fingers, not again.

I smoothed my hand over her hip until it was resting on her lower back. “Please, what?”

She clutched my shirt, gathering the fabric as if to hold on to her control. I wanted her to give it up, to give it all to me.

Please. Please.I wasall but holding my breath.Give in to this. In to me. Us.

She was so damn close. I could sense it, and I wanted it.

Fuck my goals. Fuck the company. None of it mattered—not without her.

It all felt so hollow. Empty.

And I was so damn tired. Of tempering my thoughts. Of being diplomatic. But all that seemed easy in comparison to pretending I felt nothing for Halle.

But I also knew I couldn’t just turn my back on the Huxley Grand. I couldn’t—and wouldn’t—ignore the welfare of our employees, the future of the brand, my family’s legacy, Sloan. I was unwilling to give up one for the other. I was determined to find a way to have both.

I was determined to find a way to run the family business with Halle at my side—not just in the office, but in my life in every way that mattered. Because I couldn’t do this without her, and I didn’t want to.

She drifted closer, so close that our lips were practically touching. It was agony. It was ecstasy. She was a rose garden in bloom—lovely and full of promise, her scent luring me in like a bee to nectar.

It was almost impossible to ignore her pull, but she had to take that next step. I needed to know that she wanted this.

“I want you,” she whispered, and my heart stuttered at those words, “to kiss me.”

I’d waited so long for this that I wanted to take my time. Savor it.

I cupped her cheeks, marveling at the constellation of freckles scattered over the bridge of her nose. She tilted her head, leaning into my touch. And I reveled in it. In the fact that she trusted me. Wanted me.

I stroked her jawline, scarcely holding back. I was so tempted to seize her mouth like a man desperate for oxygen.I wanted to press my lips to hers, pry her mouth open with my tongue and taste it for myself. I knew what it would taste like—decadent, rich, and sinful. Because that’s what it felt like when I kissed Halle.

But then I realized she still hadn’t answered my question. At least, not with the sort of clarity I needed. There could be no room for misinterpretation.

It was great that she wanted me to kiss her. And I was relieved she’d finally admitted it, but I didn’t want just sex with Halle—though the sex was amazing. I wanted it all. I wanted lazy Sunday mornings in bed. I wanted time with her and Kai. I wanted to know her innermost thoughts and her deepest desires. And I wanted to be the one to give her everything.

Her eyes fluttered closed, lashes fanning out, dark and inky. I moved in, desperate to claim her mouth.

“Answer me, Halle,” I rasped, mere centimeters from her lips. “Tell me that you’re all in.” It was a plea, a wish. And only she had the power to grant it.

I was weak for this woman, but I vowed to stand firm. I’d meant what I’d said—I would wait for her. So until she confirmed that was what she wanted, I wasn’t willing to kiss her. It might kill me, but the idea of not having all of her, of her leaving again, was even more painful.

She parted her lips as if to say something. But before she could, the door to the stairwell swung open.

I froze, and so did Halle. We stared at each other, suspended momentarily. And then I dropped my hand, and she backed away.Fuck!

A waiter stood in the doorway. “Sorry,” he said, eyes ping-ponging between us. Relief and regret mingled within me. “I didn’t realize—” He backed away as if to close the door behind him.

I lunged for the exit, sobering. I didn’t want to leave, notwith everything so unsettled, but I also didn’t want to be stuck anymore. But seriously? Why now?