Page 63 of My Office Rival (Keep Your Enemy Closer #2)

JASON

I was the luckiest man in the world. My stupid plan had worked and now Cynthia was curled into my side on the couch in the house I had rented.

“I can’t believe you got an entire house for a month,” she said for the second time. “Way to go overboard.”

“I was panicking,” I grumbled. “I only booked the ticket yesterday. This was the only place I could get. And I had no idea how long you’d be here, or whether I’d need multiple chances.”

“So you were prepared to beg?” Her eyes glinted with amusement as she smiled up at me.

“I believe the word your friend Margo used was grovel .”

She laughed, her white teeth flashing above that perfect lower lip. I wanted to bite it. “So you’re saying I should have made you work for it?” she teased.

“Hell no.” I shuddered in horror. “I was physically ill for the past week from missing you.”

“So you talked to Margo? Is that how you knew where to be for the showing?”

“Yes, though she wasn’t happy to hear from me. Some guy convinced her to actually help me. Her boyfriend, maybe? ”

“Andrew,” Cynthia confirmed. “He nearly lost her, so maybe he feels some sort of kinship with you.”

“Don’t say that.” The thought of losing her was unbearable. I tightened my grip. “Do you want me to chain you to the bed?” I growled.

“Oh, yes, please.”

I hardened under my suit pants at her words. “It’s like you want me constantly aching for you.”

“I wouldn’t mind.” She grinned up at me and my heart threatened to beat through my chest. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for being brave enough to come here and chase me.” Her eyes were serious and deep. “Lucky for both of us that you did.”

“Lucky indeed,” I responded.

“Were you serious about wanting to live with me?” Cynthia asked, around a bite of rice and beans. She was cross-legged on a dining chair, hair piled on her head. We’d finished another round of rather athletic sex, and I was starving for the takeout we’d ordered.

“Well, I probably can’t be here full time, but I should be able to swing a work-from-home arrangement, and I can come and go from New York.” I sipped my beer. I’d thought about it, and I wanted Cynthia with me as much as possible. Long distance wouldn’t work. I craved her on a bone-deep level.

She flushed. “You’d do that?”

“Absolutely. I want to be close to you.”

She looked pleased at that, but then she frowned. “What about your family?”

“I’d almost forgotten.” I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “Turns out they’ve never left the state. Miles and Jonah looked into them, and it’s all just empty threats.” I blew out a breath. “I feel silly, you know? I let them control me for years, and it was all a ruse.”

“We let our fears dictate a lot of our behavior. Doesn’t mean it’s reasonable.

But it’s definitely human.” She gave me a half smile.

“I assumed for years that my family would be lost without my support. Turns out they want nothing more than for me to be happy, and they don’t care if I support them.

” She shook her head ruefully. “All those years I should have been living for me.”

“See, I told you to lean in.”

She grinned at me. “You were right.”

“Come again? I want to record that.” I made to grab my phone, and she laughed.

“So you’re going to be part-time here, eh? And after that year is up?” she asked. She looked vulnerable and I grabbed her hand.

“Well, I’m hoping you’ll come back to New York with me,” I responded and took a gulp of my beer for courage. “And I’m hoping you’ll start the firm with me. You could take as many pro bono immigration cases as you want.” Her eyes went wide at the words.

“Really?” She searched my face, and I held perfectly still, afraid to breathe. Say yes, please say yes. My grip tightened on her hand, and she squeezed back. “Okay.” She smiled, wide and bright, and relief flooded my body.

“You’re in?”

“I’m so in. Boutique M&A? Immigration on the side? A totally random combination, but I love it.”

“Hell yes.” I put out my hand for a high five, and she smacked it, grinning like a wild woman. “Welcome to the business, partner.”

“Oooh, I like that.”

“I thought you might,” I teased. “I’m so taking the bigger office, though.”

“Get a nice big desk so we can have sex on it.” She winked, and I choked on my rice.

This was going to be fun.