I watched her as she watched me, a fire lighting her gorgeous blue eyes just as I pulled her directly into my arms and sealed my lips to hers.
“Mmm,” she moaned, melting into my frame and wrapping hers around my shoulders. I licked at her tongue and her lips, sucking the taste of her into me as I slowly released.
“Kline,” she whispered, overwhelmed.
My eyes shut on their own and my forehead met hers, and I breathed her in until my lungs burned only a little.
“I missed you.”
She smiled and pushed her nose deeper along the side of mine. Her voice was barely audible.
“You saw me today at work.”
I shook our heads together, lips and noses and foreheads touching the whole time.
“Not like this.”
“No,” she agreed softly, placing one simple kiss to the corner of my mouth before pulling away. “You’re right. It wasn’t like this.”
I took a step down to grab her suitcase but kept a squeezing hand on her hip.
“You ready?”
Her face was alive and at ease, excitement lining the corners of every angle as she nodded. I couldn’t help but return the sentiment.
“Mount up.”
She raised a brow, but I just winked, moving to the back of the SUV and lifting the hatch to load her bag.
Looking it over from back to front, she seemed to notice the car for the very first time.
“This is your car?”
I looked at her in question.
She rolled her eyes at my implication, since I was very much accessing said car and the likelihood that I had stolen it was remarkably low.
“This is my rental car. I don’t own a car.”
“You don’t own a car?” She was incredulous.
“Baby.” I laughed, biting my lip to summon my patience. “I live in Manhattan. For business, I have a driver because you’re not the only one with the ability to be late. For everything else, I walk, take a taxi, or ride the subway. If I need to go anywhere outside of the city, I rent one. Simple as that.”
“But this is a Ford Edge,” she pushed stubbornly, still not getting it.
“I know,” I joked. “I sprung for the SUV since I’ve yet to get a handle on your luggage habits.” I jerked my head to the back and slammed the hatch. “Just the one bag. I’ll stick to midsize from now on.”
“Kline.”
Rounding the rear, I walked back to her, leaned my back into the car, grabbed her hips, and pulled her body into mine.
“Baby. I can see you’re struggling to get this, but I swear it’d make sense if you met Bob.”
“Bob? Of Bob and Maureen?”
I nodded. “The one and only. Bob Brooks, my dad and the biggest influence on my life.”
Wrinkles formed on her nose as she grinned, so I kissed it.
Pushing the wild blonde hair back from her face, I trailed one finger along her jaw and then dropped it.
“Let go of who you thought I was…who you think I’m supposed to be. Be here with me now.” I grabbed her hand and pushed it to my chest. “Feel me.”
Her free hand shot to my jaw and stroked it, eyes bright in reaction to my so-obviously-messy emotion.
“I promise, this is who I am, and if you let go of what you thought you knew, you’ll get it. You’ll get me. I know it.”
I sounded desperate because I was. Desperate for her to be the woman I thought she could be. Desperate for her to let go of the billionaire experience and just be with Kline.
“Okay.” She sealed her lips to mine and the tip of her tongue ventured into my mouth briefly. An answering tingle ran down the length of my spine. “I’ll let go of it all.” She pecked me on the mouth once more. “Promise.”
“Good,” I said before slamming my mouth to hers again. A slow groan rumbled in my chest a second later at the feel of her soft tongue. With effort, I forced myself to extract my mouth from hers. “Plus, nothing humbles a man more than cleaning Walter’s litter box. I swear the little fuck flicks shit outside of it on purpose.”
She shook her head with a dreamy smile and bit her lip to stop herself from making fun of me. It didn’t matter what I did. She’d forever be on Walter’s side of this war.
“Now get your ass in the Ford Edge, and let’s get out of here. I’m ready to have you all to myself for the weekend.”
“Yes, sir!” she joked with a salute before reaching for the door. I wrapped an arm around her waist at the last second, swooping her off her feet and swinging her around to put me between her and the car.
She bristled, but the icy edges of her attitude melted as soon as I winked and popped open the handle myself. “What kind of a man would I be if I didn’t open the door for you?”
“The kind that fill the streets of Manhattan.”
I just shook my head and smiled, waiting patiently for her to climb in.
“Right. You’re not those guys.”
“Ahh,” I teased. “Now she’s getting it.”
She grabbed the inside handle of the door and pulled it closed as she spoke. “Get in the car, Kline.”
The door slammed in my face and I laughed. “Yes, ma’am,” I mouthed through the window, rounding the hood and climbing in.
“To the Hamptons!” she shouted.
I shook my head, fired up the engine, and pulled away from the curb with an enormous smile on my face.