But he caught her hand in his, and in one fell swoop she was somehow up against him, pressed against the wall. He took both her hands in his and lifted them up over her head. And he kissed her like they might never have another chance.
Like this was the last kiss in the history of the universe.
The feel of his lips coaxing hers into submission, the feel of his tongue against hers, the friction of his skin, the heat of his body, the firmness of his touch, all worked their magic on her. And she knew, no freaking way could this be the last kiss.
This was her wakeup call.
She had to stop going around wishing for things she didn’t really need and looking for the things she did. Like Griffin. She needed him. Her body needed him. Her soul needed him.
She finally understood what was missing from her life—all the stuff she was afraid of. All the stuff she couldn’t control. All the risky stuff.
Griffin was one of those guys she couldn’t control, and she was an idiot for not seeing that as the benefit it was. Who wanted a man willing to live under her thumb?
Who wanted a fictional guy, a romance-novel hero who brooded too much and said only the things the author made him say? He was an illusion, and Griffin was real.
And maybe that had been the problem. She’d spent too much time looking for a guy who could measure up to an impossible standard. And she’d spent too much time obsessing over her teenage angst. Lauren had, of course, been right about that.
She felt herself melting against his heat. Her body, her desire, her will to resist, all melted away. Left in their place was only this kiss, and when she broke it, she couldn’t let him go on thinking she was still holding out for anything less than him.
“I’m sorry, Griffin. I want you more than I can say.”
He smiled as he traced his fingers along her jawline and down her neck, sending tingles through her.
“Are you sure?”
“I should be asking you that.”
“I’ve never been so sure of a woman in my life as I am of you. I love you, Macy. No getting around it.”
“I love you, too,” she said, and the words came out so easily, so full of certainty, she knew then that they’d been true for longer than she’d been willing to admit to herself.
“There’s one more thing. I’ve decided to strike out on my own, start a new agency and see what happens.”
“Wow.” Macy blinked at the news. “Are you sure?”
“Turning down the promotion made me think about what it is I really want in a career, and the truth is, I’ve never really wanted to work for someone else. I’ve always wanted to have complete autonomy, and I’ve decided I need to try working for myself before it’s too late.”
“There goes my fantasy of illicit meetings in the coed bathroom.”
“Maybe not. Would it be too underhanded for me to hire Bronson and Wade’s best talent away from them?”
“You’re going to have illicit bathroom meetings with Carson?” she asked, trying not to laugh.
“With you, smart ass. Would you be interested in working with me? I mean, I know it’s a big risk for you, giving up working for a prestigious ad agency to go work for an unproven one. And we’d have to work for peanuts for a while until we have a solid client base, so I understand if you wouldn’t want to do it.”
Macy’s throat tightened. She couldn’t have concocted a better thing for him to offer if she’d dreamed it up herself. If she was really going to be the kind of risk-taker she’d always dreamed of, this was her chance. Her current job was great, but like Griffin, she ached for a new challenge. Starting from scratch in a new business certainly qualified.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, smiling. “But first I want to know more about the compensation package. Namely, the fringe benefits.”
“There would be many, many fringe benefits,” he said as he bent to kiss her neck.
“Hmm,” she said, relaxing into his touch. “Maybe I could just cancel the meeting, tell them I’m sick…and we could stay here all day and night.”
“Another wild night in Vegas? If it turns out half as good as our last one, how could I turn it down?” She smiled. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”
“No way. What happens here goes right back to San Francisco. I’m going to need a hell of a lot longer than a night with you.”
She kissed him again. A month, a year, a lifetime—whatever he wanted, he could have it.
Epilogue
Three months later…
O’SHAUNNESSY’S HUMMED with its usual Wednesday-night crowd of yuppies and bar regulars. Macy, Griffin and Carson had found a table near the back of the room, where the din was low enough that they could carry on a conversation.
Carson had his eye on their pretty Irish waitress, and Macy had to resist pointing out that she’d wanted Lauren to be there. Lauren, of course, had refused, in spite of the promise that an important announcement would be made.
“So you two haven’t killed each other yet,” Carson said. “I’m impressed. I don’t think I could run a business with a girlfriend.”
Macy and Griffin glanced at each other. They hadn’t really planned out how to break the news.
“We actually work better together now than we used to.”
“Yeah, sex in the workplace makes everyone get along better,” Carson said.
Macy made a face. “Let’s don’t go there.”
Because she was absolutely not interested in discussing with Carson what had happened on her desk during yesterday’s lunch break.
“Business is good. We’ve got a solid portfolio and already a waiting list of clients. Can’t ask for more than that,” Griffin said.
“Hey, you took your reputation with you. It’s been a challenge convincing new clients that Bronson and Wade is still a solid agency.”
“You still loving life as the boss man?” Griffin asked.
Carson leaned back in his chair, looking pleased with himself. “Not that it was easy taking over a creative team whose two strongest members had just quit…”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re so sorry.”
Macy had been conflicted about whether or not to jump into a new business venture with Griffin, but in the end she just kept coming back to the fact that she wanted the challenge. That’s why she’d wanted the creative director job so badly, and with that door closed to her, she just couldn’t turn down the chance to do something exciting and new. Especially when it was with the man she loved.
She’d been terrified that they’d fall back into their old adversarial habits, but Carson was right, sex had a way of diffusing even the most frustrating disagreements.
And now that she knew Griffin better, it wasn’t hard to see past his seemingly arrogant facade.
“You think your friend Lauren’s ever going to return my calls?” Carson asked.
Macy shrugged. “I don’t pretend to understand her. She’s extremely opposed to commitment.”
“I don’t need a commitment. I just want to see her again.”
“Sorry. If I were you, I’d give up and pursue other options.”
The waitress arrived then and placed their drinks on the table.
“Case in point,” Macy said.
Carson eyed the woman appreciatively, but made no move to get her attention. When the waitress disappeared again, Griffin shook his head.
“You’re a shell of your former self, dude,” he said.
“I know. It’s pretty damn sad, really. I just can’t stop thinking about Lauren. She’s completely different from any other woman I’ve been with.”
Macy felt awful for having been the cause of their meeting in the first place, but she’d learned better than to play matchmaker.
“Forget me, though,” Carson said. “You said you had some important announcement to make.”
Griffin cleared his throat as he sat up a little straighter. He glanced at Macy again, his gaze full of some secret happiness. He’d been looking like that for
days, and it took her breath away. She loved seeing a guy like him, usually so cocky and sure of himself, brought a little more down to earth by something as simple and complicated as love.
“I proposed to Macy yesterday,” he said. “And she accepted.”
Carson smiled. “Awesome! That calls for a toast,” he said, holding up his beer.
Griffin and Macy followed suit.
“To the best couple I know—a long, happy life together,” Carson said, and they clinked their bottles together, then drank.
Macy felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She blinked them away. She’d been getting unexpectedly emotional at odd moments ever since the incident on her desk yesterday, when after a round of particularly passionate lovemaking that had scattered three days’ worth of filing on the floor and broken a cute pink coffee mug, Griffin had uttered those most unexpected words.
Let’s get married.
She hadn’t even hesitated. She’d just said yes. She’d blinked away tears, and she’d known without a doubt that she wanted Griffin to be her husband more than she’d ever wanted anything. She was finally going to have her own happily ever after.
“So do I get to be in the wedding?” Carson asked.
“I believe there’s a best man position that needs to be filled,” Griffin said.
“I’m there, man. You planning a quick wedding?”
“We haven’t picked a date. We’re trying to figure out where we want to go on a honeymoon, and when we can swing it with our current client load and then we’ll go from there.”
Macy’s gaze met Griffin’s, and they smiled at each other. She was filled with the kind of bone-deep satisfaction that came with finding one’s destiny and following it, risks be damned.
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IMPRINT: Blaze
ISBN: 9781488778285
TITLE: SEX, LIES AND DIRTY SECRETS
First Australian Publication 2015
Copyright © 2013 Jamie Sobrato
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Sex, Lies and Dirty Secrets Page 19
