Page 43

CHAPTER 42

CLAY

FUTURE

After saying goodbye to Lizzy’s dad and I guess my new boss, I walk her towards the passenger side of my car.

When I pull out my keys and unlock it, Lizzy stops and quirks her head when she sees the lights of the sporty German coupe flash.

She turns to me, mouth gaping open. “That is not your truck. Are you a secret billionaire or something? When did you get this? I was only gone one night.”

I step towards her, grinning down at her as I open the door for her. She stands there, her eyes flitting back and forth between the car and me.

“Well technically, the truck is the company’s. I’ve had this for years. It was literally next to your Bronco the whole time, under the cover, since I don’t drive it in winter. And no, we’ve covered that. I'm still just a guy that saves his money for the things he really wants.”

I reach out to her, cupping the back of her bare neck in my hand, feeling her lean into my touch, freeing the softest whimper from her lips. One that goes straight to my cock.

“And right now, what I really want is to get you home and out of that dress.”

She pops up on her toes, pecking me with a playful kiss. “Good, because that’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s also still very sticky with soda.”

I grab her hand to help lower her into the car, but she pauses.

“I do have one question though.”

“Anything, princess.”

“Why this color? It’s not what I would have pictured you owning. ”

“You mean it’s not black?” I chuckle.

She narrows her eyes at me before tracing a finger tip along the top of the sapphire blue car. “Yes, I like this color.”

I look into her eyes. “So do I, it was my mom's favorite, and now it’s mine because it reminds me of your eyes.”

Her parted lips curl into a warm smile as she lowers herself into the car and I shut the passenger door behind her.

“So that was a night,” I say, watching the road in front of us from Park City back to my house, our home. Something about hearing her tell her dad that my house was her home filled my heart in a way I can’t ever remember feeling.

She laughs softly. “Yeah, you can say that again. Definitely not how I thought the night was going to go.”

I peek over at her and her eyes still have a look of giddy disbelief. “You mean you weren’t planning on skewering my boss in front of all his rich friends and investors and then having your dad promote me?”

She furrows her brows and glares at me sarcastically. “No. I didn’t even know my dad bought JSC until last night when I talked to him at the condo. But I’ll admit it was fun torturing Mr. Jensen.”

I grin at her, my eyes darting between her and the road. “I have to say I enjoyed that too. Thank you.”

She rests her hand on my thigh, sending a jolt of electricity through my spine. “For what?”

I drum my fingers along the steering wheel, rowing through the gears, shifting with my other hand. “Piecing all of that together. I knew something seemed funny, but you went next level digging in. I hope I can finally move on now, not having a daily reminder of so much baggage.”

“What do you mean?”

I sigh, letting out a long breath. “You were right. He was a piece of shit. I always saw it as him helping me, but now I see how much he was breaking me down. It’s already such a weight gone, like I can breathe again.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.” She pats my thigh, humming to herself. “But really, it was nothing. I’m glad I could help. Thanks for trusting me with it.”

That word, trust. It means so much to both of us.

“I trust you with everything, Lizzy. Even my heart.” My voice is strained. “But I’m still so sorry about the texts, about Kayleigh. I wanted to tell you and it was killing me not to.”

I feel her hand squeeze my thigh. “I know. I saw how much it hurt you that night when I went back to the condo. But I’m only going to say this one more time: don’t apologize for that.” I hear her clear her throat and her fingers rub the fabric of my pants over my thigh. “Trust is hard for me. I haven’t had the best luck with the men in my life. They’ve never been there for me like you have. I see how you’re there for Grace and Kayleigh. You were ready to give up your own happiness to protect her. I understand what trust means to you now. I know I can trust you, always. ”

Hearing her say she trusts me means the world to me. I know what she’s been through and how hard it is to earn that. I know I’ll keep working every day to keep it. I look over to see her eyes fixed on me, soft but serious all at once. “But, Clay? I also need something else from you.”

I nod. “Anything.”

“I need to know that you can put yourself first for once. I love you because you make me feel good about being myself, exactly the way I want to be, excessive amounts of pink and all.” She tosses me a playful wink and I feel the mood lighten a bit. “But I want to be that person for you too. I want to see you thrive and be happy like you have been these last few weeks. I want to see you make choices just for you. I don’t want to see you be afraid to be happy again or think you don’t deserve it.”

I take my hand off the shifter, squeezing hers tightly, rubbing my thumb over the back of her soft skin. “I know I can do that. I want that part of me to be my past, not my future, because you’re my future. I want everything that comes with that.”

“Good, because I want that too.” She smiles and lifts my hand to her lips, kissing my knuckles. “Ok. I like watching you drive my Bronco, but this might be better. Any more secret cars I should know about? Because I love being your passenger princess.” My eyes flick over to Lizzy in the passenger seat, but hers are locked on my arm, rowing and shifting through the gears as we make our way up the windy road to my driveway.

“I’d hardly call this a secret. Again, you literally just had to lift that cover and it was there.” I flick my eyebrows at her in a taunt. “But no, no more secrets. Period.”

She nods and her smirk grows into a wide smile. I reach over, watching the road but rubbing her thigh at the hem of her dress. I could get used to nights like this with her, driving, talking, literally anything with the woman that makes me feel like it’s ok to lose control.

That’s all I want in my future, endless time with her.

When we walk in the door from the garage, we throw our coats, keys, bags, everything down in a flurry of emotion. I don’t care where shit is in my house any more as long as she’s in it .

My hands hug the dip of her waist, pulling her into me. Her lips crash to mine and it’s hard to tell who’s more desperate for the other's heated touch.

It was only one night apart, but it felt like an eternity. We may have talked things out, but our bodies haven’t.

She pants into my neck. “Can we finally get me out of this dress?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” I reach down, hiking her dress up to her hips and lifting her up in my arms as she giggles in surprise and wraps her legs around me. The feeling of her soft, bare legs and ass in my hands makes my erection borderline painful in these dress pants. Holding her, feeling her, will be something I crave until my dying breaths.

I carry her down the hall, past her room, barely taking a second to breathe when our mouths aren’t hungrily searching each other’s. Her hands roam my body, practically ripping my bowtie off and unbuttoning my shirt, letting it fall to the floor in our wake.

She pulls her lips from mine. “Wait, we’re going to your room?”

Last night when Grace stayed over, it finally dawned on me that we slept in Lizzy’s room every night.

“Yes. You’re never spending another night out of my bed,” I growl into her neck. I open the door to my room and take a step inside before setting her down and flipping on the lights.

I watch as she looks around the room. Her gaze drifts to my bed, now covered in her pink pillows, to the leather chair in the near corner with a small book shelf next to it, to the soaking tub in the far corner by the windows looking out over the mountains.

She turns around to face me. “You’ve been holding out on me this whole time.”

I quirk my lips and shrug. “I guess I wasn't ready to totally give up this last piece of my space.”

She nods, her eyes full of understanding, like they always are, seeing right through whatever walls I put up .

I watch as she turns her back to me again, facing the room as her fingers tap the zipper between her shoulder blades. I step towards her, brushing her ponytail away with one hand, unzipping her dress with the other.

“You know, if you were really sorry about flooding my condo, you would have offered me this palace instead of the guest room.”

I chuckle, but my breath lodges in my throat when I reach the bottom of her zipper and see the pink lace thong underneath. I let the dress fall to her feet and savor the view of her backside when she steps out of the dress. She looks back at me over her shoulder, those sapphire eyes sparkling like the stars in the night sky.

That’s it. For the rest of my life, she gets what she wants. I don't care if she asks me to drive a pink truck, she gets what she wants if she looks at me like that.

“You’re always such a brat.” I lean down, placing a kiss on her bare neck.

She lets out the softest, hair raising whimper against my cheek. “Yeah, but you love it.”

“I do,” I say into her ear. “I love everything about you. I love you, Lizzy.”

I run the back of my knuckles down her ribs, over her waist, settling just inside the lace of her thong. I hook my finger inside, shimmying it down her thighs until she steps out of it.

“I love you too.” She breathes the words against me and I soak them in.

“Say it again.”

She nuzzles against me. “I love you too.”

I don’t know what I did to deserve this. I don’t know what I did to make someone like her choose me, to trust me, but I’m never going to question it. I erase that doubt in my mind and plant a kiss to the top of her head. “Now, let’s get you cleaned up. ”

She leans into me, wrapping an arm around my neck, running her fingers through my hair. The scrape of her nails over my scalp makes my need for her rage. She pulls us closer and heat courses through me as she presses herself into my body.

I begrudgingly pull her hand off of my neck, palming it in my hand. I lead her through my room, past the soaking tub to the bathroom. Reaching into the shower, I start the hot water before turning back to find her eyeing me hungrily. We stand in front of the shower while I pull my belt off and drop my pants to take off my boxers. Her eyes watch in appreciation and she gives me a playful look when I catch her.

“Get in the shower.” I point and follow her as she steps into the shower.

We stand there, letting the hot water run over us, feeling it wash away the aches and pains that the last twenty-four hours brought. I hold her against me, massaging and washing every last inch of her delicate skin.

“You know I’m never going to get tired of hearing you say that.”

She laughs, her eyes looking up to meet mine through her wet golden hair. “Say what?”

I tuck away the damp strands, looking into her eyes, seeing the love and desire sparkle. “That you love me.”

She smiles so warmly and wraps her arms around me before pressing her head into my chest. “Good, because you're stuck with me now.”

That’s music to my ears because there’s no one else for me. “I’m not stuck with you. No one makes me feel the way you do. No one could ever make me feel so free. I’m never going to get tired of saying it either. I love you, so much.”

I guide her to sit down in front of me on the marble shower bench and grab the shampoo. She drops her head against my stomach, her hands holding onto my waist while she lets me wash her hair. I work the shampoo in, eliciting soft whimpers and outright moans that I savor while her head stays pressed against my stomach.

Her touch, the feeling of her body against mine, has been addictive since that fateful night at Roxy’s. She’s been addictive since that night.

I’ve spent years telling myself, convincing myself that I was fine alone. I thought I was content not wanting more in my life. But now, with those perfect blue eyes looking back up at me like I’m the only thing in her world, I’m ok with wanting things for myself, like her. I’m more than ok with needing her touch, her smile, her eyes on me every second of every day.

This smart, beautiful, fierce, defiant woman has made me damn sure of that.

But even if she wants me to put myself first for a change, I’m always going to make sure I’m there for her, however she needs me. She’s always going to be my everything.

Whatever I can do to keep that sparkle in her eyes, I will. Whatever I can do to make her smile like that, I will.

And I’m going to show her that right now.