Page 56 of Man Vs. Woman

“Yes…”

“But I promise you this—this isn’t a three-way race. This is us against Hiram. The two of us, together, against him. And whatever happens in the end, I won’t let anything come between the two of us.”

I think of the right thing to say.

I think of the many words I could string in a coherent sentence, and I think of the many problems I can see in his logic.

“Say we win against Hiram,” I say to Colt. “What do we do when it’s me against you?”

He’s silent and all my doubts come pouring out.

“What do we do when we have to decide whose business is going to thrive, and who’s is going to die?” I ask him. “I put everything I have into my spa. And I know it’ll kill you to lose your gyms. I couldn’t do that to you. But I can’t lose my spa either. Not after everything. So…what are we going to do when that happens?”

Colt looks at me.

“I think I’m starting to come up with an idea,” he says simply.

I want to ask what it is.

“You need to trust me though,” he finishes.

I think of everything that might go wrong, and how in the end we might end up battling it out.

But, in the end, none of that matters.

Because Colt asked me to trust him.

And as hopeless as it looks, I do.

And if he says it will get better, then guess what, hon?

It will.

Climbing down from my seat, I close the distance between us and kiss him.

“Take me upstairs, Colt,” I breathe out as we pull back, the taste of his lips still lingering on mine. “Right now.”