by Bella Forro
In no time at all, we had crossed the room and I was on the bed, pulling him closer to me, unable to get close enough. I wanted to consume him, to have all of him the way he did me.
I felt like I was coming alive under his fingertips for the first time since the last time we had been together, his hands skimming over my body, his mouth following the same path.
I bucked against him. As much as I would enjoy spending hours letting him explore me, as much as I would love to taste every inch of him, right now I had to have him with the kind of urgency that couldn’t be ignored.
I reached for the button at the top of his jeans, slipping the button free and tugging them over his hips until they were a forgotten puddle at his feet.
I let my hand run along the length of him, velvety, hard and eager and pulled him toward me. I wanted to feel him inside of me, and I wasn’t willing to wait a moment longer.
Apparently, he felt the same, because he was on top of me, sliding inside of me, and I was sighing his name, my fingers running through his hair, holding him to me.
How I ever thought I could give all of this up was beyond me.
Chapter 33
Victoria
For a minute, I thought I was dreaming. That the whole thing had been something my poor, exhausted mind had come up with in the rich darkness of night. I thought I would sit up, wipe the sleep from my eyes, blink away the night and come crashing back to reality. The reality where I was alone, on my way to Mexico with Cassie, and not with Mark. With no chance of ever being with Mark again.
But I could feel him next to me, his body warm and comforting, and when I opened my eyes, the thin morning light was falling across Mark’s face, his chiseled jaw and incredible mouth, the rough new growth of his bear on prominent display.
I felt peace. An incredible kind of peace at being there with him. I always wanted to wake up like this, every day, for the rest of my life.
I ran my fingers across his chest until he captured my hand in his, pulling me toward him, pressing an easy, lazy kiss to my mouth.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said. “I’m glad you’re still here and haven’t disappeared into the great unknown.”
“I’m here. But I should get back next door because I didn’t tell Cassie I was leaving last night, you know, with everything, and I don’t want her to wake up and find me gone and worry.”
I was already pulling myself out of the bed, searching the floor for my discarded clothes.
When I turned back to Mark, he was watching me, his hands stacked behind his head, looking just as edible as he had the night before when he’d shown up at my door, looking as though he was enjoying every bit of his view.
“Don’t be mad, Victoria, but Cassie was expecting me.”
His words stopped me in my tracks. They made sense. Of course, they did. Because I certainly hadn’t been telling him where to find us, and someone obviously had.
But I couldn’t be mad. If she hadn’t told him where we were, I wouldn’t be here with him now, knowing I would have many more mornings with him just like this one.
God, I was looking forward to those mornings.
“Oh. In that case,” I asked with a smile, “Were you interested in maybe catching a shower?” I let one eyebrow lift up suggestively as I tossed my clothing back on the floor and disappeared into the bathroom.
He was right behind me.
When we finally emerged from the motel room it was late morning, and we found Cassie lounging down by the pool, definitely unconcerned by my absence.
“Well, good morning, lovers,” she called as we walked into the gated area, her dark, oversized glasses hiding her eyes from us, but not her smirk.
“Morning,” I said, hearing the sheepish edge to my own voice. “Mark and I were thinking about getting breakfast —”
“Breakfast?” Cassie scoffed. “Girl, it’s lunch time.”
Mark made a show of checking his watch, as if totally unaware of what time it was. “So it is —”
“And, if you think you’re going to use that as a segue to launch into your plans for a new restaurant, I am telling you now, no.”
Mark gave a little laugh. “Stop. Victoria doesn’t cook. What interest would she ever have in a restaurant?”
I guess something must have shown on my face because Mark stopped his laughing.
“Am I right, Victoria?” he asked.
“Well, I mean, I thought it might be a good thing that I could do. I’m not saying I want to be a chef. I’m just saying, I might like to own a restaurant. You know. Like a business. Which is totally what I do.”
He seemed to consider that for a moment. “You know,” he said gently, and I got a distinct impression he was gifting me with a figurative pat on the head like he would a small child. “If you think that’s the direction you want to go in with your career, that could be fun, and I’m entirely supportive. However, if you wanted to keep doing what you’re doing now, there’s quite a bit of growth in the company available…”
“Well,” I said, and I realized I had crossed my arms over my chest. “I was passed up several times for promotions, so people like Paul could be given the positions of power.” Not that I was bitter about that or anything, but, really.
Mark pursed his mouth like this was the first time he’d heard anything about it. “I happen to know Paul’s position is vacant, right now, if you’d like the opportunity to move into it?”
“Ha,” I said. “Now that I’m sleeping with you? No way. No one will take me seriously. They’ll just think I have the job because I’m sleeping with the boss.”
“Alright, maybe that’s not the best fit for you right now. Oh,” he said, his eyes lighting up, “I happen to have a spin off foundation from Belvedere House in the works, and we’re just beginning to search for a president. If you want it, it’s yours.”
“Crying out loud, where can I possibly find a man like you?” Cassie asked, interrupting our conversation. “Don’t you have any friends or anything you could point in my direction?”
“You never know…” Mark said with a shrug.
But I had stopped paying attention because I was still caught up in his offer to run a charity foundation.
Maybe I would love that.
Really love that. More than I ever could a restaurant.
We were packed and ready to go, all of our belongings back in the trunk of Cassie’s Accord, and we were standing by the cars, Mark leaning up against the Mustang, me pressed into him, cradled between his thighs. Right where I wanted to be.
I ran my hand up the buttons of his shirt, pulling him toward me until I was able to catch him in a kiss.
“Thanks for coming for me,” I said, leaning into him.
He wrapped his arms around me, running his hands up my back until they tangled in my hair.
“Please,” he said, “I will always come for you. No matter where you go or how difficult you’re being…”
I snorted. “I am not difficult.”
He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. “I see. I must have you confused with another girl who keeps having me jump through hoops.”
“Very funny, Mark,” I said, swatting at him with my hand.
He caught my hand in his as if he were inspecting it. “Victoria.”
“What,” I asked, feeling the sudden shift in mood, something in the way he said my name leaving me breathless, wondering what he might have to say next.
“I don’t have something for you, right now, but you know I’ll give you whatever you want. There’s no one else I want — or am ever going to want — ever. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you if you would have me. I love you. And I would love to marry you.”
I almost thought I must have misheard him, must have imagined that part of the conversation entirely.
Maybe I still was dreaming.
“If you have to think about it, that’s okay,” he said. “I’ll wait. I’ll even ask again. Every day. Until you say yes.”
I swatted him again. “Are you kidding me? I do not need to think about it. Not even for a minute. God, I love you, too. I want that, too. The answer is yes.”
Then he was leaning into me, capturing my mouth in a kiss, and I felt I could stay with him forever like that, beneath the sun and against the car, all wrapped up in one another, just the way it had always been meant to be.
Epilogue
Victoria
I smoothed the front of my skirt and fiddled with my earrings.
I didn’t want to be nervous, but I couldn’t help it. This was going to be one of the biggest days in my career — and hopefully start me on the path of my dreams. It was hard to be faced with that and not be at least a little bit nervous.
“Are you ready?” Mark was right at my side, his hand on my elbow, and I couldn’t help but take a moment to stop and admire the ring on my left hand.
After we’d returned from that trip it had been the first thing on his agenda. Not mine, of course. His promise was enough for me, but he felt strongly we needed a ring, and I wasn’t going to disappoint him.
We’d spent hours poring over the options, and in the end, this was the one that had spoken to me. It was simple and elegant and somehow complex, and it reminded me of my relationship with Mark.
And the sparkle was incredible — also just like my relationship with Mark.
I had a whole hell of a lot to look forward to. But before I could get started on any of that, I was going to walk into this room full of board members and pitch the new direction I had in mind for the Belvedere House’s companion foundation.
I wasn’t sure how Mark’s father would have felt about it. I wasn’t even sure if Mark had considered that factor when he was moving forward with his plans. Or maybe he had, and that had been his driving force all along.
“I think so,” I said.
He gave me a warm smile, and I was caught right back up in him, and all the things he had managed to do for me, the opportunities he’d opened for me. Love wasn’t even a strong enough word to capture what I felt for him.
But mostly, I was thinking about how much I was looking forward to our forever together. The wedding. The new house. Everything that was going to come with getting married to this man. I wanted it all.
“You’ve got this,” he said, giving my elbow a little squeeze. “They aren’t even going to know what hit them.”
“I hope so.”
Mark had been adjusting remarkably well to his father’s death. It had come suddenly, and we had all been grateful for that, that he would be able to go out the way he would have liked to — strong and capable and fast, his body not weighing him down or holding him back.
Somewhere along the line, Charles must have forgiven Mark, because his estate had transferred smoothly to him, and — as he had always expected he would — he stepped forward into Charles position and began to seamlessly execute the running of the company. Barely even a stumble.
And I guess Mark had done some forgiving of his own. He’d mourned and grieved, and every day I think he was closer to coming to terms with everything.
And Amy? She wasn’t even a blip on the radar anymore, which was something I absolutely could not be any happier about.
“Let’s go on in, then,” Mark said, reaching for the rest of our presentation materials.
We stepped through the doors into the conference room, and for just a moment I thought I wasn’t going to be able to give the presentation the way I knew I should be able to. But it was just a fleeting moment of panic, and then I was smiling at the group of people around the table, and Mark was at the front of the room, introducing me to the board.
“Thank you for giving us your time today. We have a really great project we are so excited to introduce you to. As you all know, Pierce and Jones has been adjusting to my father’s passing and to the new leadership in the company. Dad was able to accomplish so much during his tenure here, and he brought Pierce and Jones so many incredible successes. We feel the best way to pay homage to that success is by bringing the company to the next level.
“During the latter years of his life, and the recent years of this company’s existence, as we’ve been assured a comfortable place with continued growth and positive acceptance, Dad really felt we needed to give back to the community more. You can see it in our partnership with Belvedere House, with our scholarship opportunities, with our drive to do charity Galas and collections. It’s our duty to give back to the people who have provided us with the wealth we have, to not leave them behind in our pursuit for greater earnings and ratings.”
He took a deep breath and turned toward me, and for just a moment I felt like there was no one else in the room but us, like the world had stopped.
Our eyes locked, and I couldn’t help but think that this is what the moment would be like when I met him at the end of the aisle.
“With that in mind, we’ve launched a new initiative, a foundation that will help provide people who need the foundation for a fresh start. This mission is of utmost importance to all of us here at Pierce and Jones, and we hope you will feel the same passion for it that we do.
“So, without any further ado, or reminiscing over the past on my part, I’d like to introduce you to Victoria Watts, the Executive Director of the Pierce and Jones’ Foundation.”
There was a brief round of applause, and I stepped forward, a power point presentation coming to life on the oversized white screen behind Mark.
“Such a pleasure to be here today, I can’t tell you how excited I was to accept this position and to move forward with Pierce and Jones in this capacity after so many years working in one of their affiliates.”
I was on a roll, flipping through the slides, explaining what the future would hold for Pierce and Jones and the foundation.
It was easy to do because I believed in all of it. I believed in Mark. I believed in the mission of the foundation.
Everyday things just kept looking brighter.
I was so ready to take that step into the future. The one we were going to create together.
It just couldn’t get here fast enough.
The End
