Finally, he lifts his head and looks up at me. The pleading is still there, along with fear and uncertainty.
“I need you, Mac,” he says with a shaky voice. “I need your smile, your touch, and your wit. I need your tenderness, your brilliance, and your common sense. I need you to be my champion, and I need you to want to come home to me every night. I need all of those things… desperately. I think I might die without them.”
He stares at me… a storm of emotions brewing within those golden eyes, and my heart is thundering so hard right now, I’m surprised he can’t hear it.
“You need me?” I ask, completely shell shocked over his proclamation.
He nods and his lips curve upward, his dimples just starting to pop. “You’re usually not this dense, Mac.”
I smile in return and push my hair behind one ear, leaning it slightly toward him. “It’s just… I’m not sure I heard you correctly. You did say you need me?”
“Yes,” he says as his hands come up to hold my head. He leans in and kisses me, so very sweetly. “I need you because I love you. When you love someone the way I love you, the need for that person is unquenchable.”
“And when did you come to this realization?”
The smile he gives me is so loving, that my heart just turns over and kicks its little heart feet up in submission.
“I think I’ve always known it. I was just too filled with so many other things that I refused to acknowledge it. But last night… I held you while you slept, and I just laid there… the entire time, realizing how wonderful it felt to have your body next to mine. When it got close to the time I needed to leave so I could get ready for work, I felt like my heart was being fucking pulled out of my chest. That’s the moment I decided to acknowledge it.”
“Why didn’t you just stick around… tell me then?”
“Because I had to let my hatred of Cal go first. And Mac, I mean it with every breath in my body. I did hate him. But the minute I decided to forgive him, I became a different person. A better person.”
My hand reaches out, and I stroke his cheek. His eyes close at my touch, and a serene smile lays over those sexy as fuck lips. “I’m so proud of you, Matt. You’re really kind of amazing.”
“And you love me?” he asks with a grin, as he stands up and pulls me from my chair.
“What makes you think that?” I tease him, just before he leans in and kisses me.
It’s a kiss I’ll never forget. It’s our first true kiss, because it’s being done after he proclaimed his love for me. When his lips finally leave mine, he answers, “Because you already told me you did.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and step into his body. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Say it again,” he demands of me.
And because I’d give him anything he asked of me, I say, “I love you… so much.”
We kiss again, and it starts out sweet but, before long, we’re both pressing into each other hard and our breaths are choppy.
“Let’s take the rest of the day off,” he whispers urgently in my ear. “I need to be inside of you.”
I groan over the thought but shake my head in denial. “I can’t. I have to get this stuff finished. You know, today’s my last day and all.”
Matt laughs and kisses me again. “Didn’t you understand me? I’m not accepting your resignation. There’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight. And I sure as hell don’t want you working around Cal unattended. I don’t trust the bastard.”
“Hey!” I exclaim and punch him on the shoulder. “I thought you forgave him?”
Matt looks at me in all seriousness. “I did, Mac. But I don’t like him. We’re not friends.”
Sighing, I lay my head on his chest and squeeze him tight. “No, I don’t suppose you are. You did more than enough by offering forgiveness. But I can’t turn my back on him. I made a deal with him to open up a law firm.”
“Yeah, well… I sort of might have changed his mind after I talked to him today.”