Heart pounding, I stand still and stare at Nisha.
I can’t do this; I can’t see him here in the office. I want to flee down the aisle or hide under a desk.
What’s he going to do?
Ask me to leave or ignore me?
Either will break me. If there is anything left to be broken.
“Just keep your head down,” she warns through gritted teeth.
Even Max looks uneasy.
I haven’t seen Jack since Sunday when I turned up at his house begging for forgiveness then he fucked me and basically told me to get out. Five days ago.
I can hear him approach . . . and with every footstep my anxiety rises.
He’s right behind me.
I can smell him.
I freeze, the hairs lifting on the back of my neck.
“Jack,” Max says in a low voice. “Bonnie is just handing in her laptop and doing the security debrief.”
I turn slowly, trying to calm myself down. I’m handing in a laptop for God’s sake. The world isn’t ending.
Except it feels like that with the way one hundred sets of eyes are watching me. You could hear a pin drop.
The moment I lift my gaze, his eyes are already locked on mine with such startling intensity that I have to look away.
I can’t do this here. I’m so humiliated I might as well be naked in front of the whole team. I’m the stupid girl who slept with the CEO.
“I’m leaving,” I say weakly, looking at Nisha. I can’t look at Jack.
His large masculine hand captures mine.
“No. You’re not.”
Stunned, I look up at him then down to where our hands join.
His grip tightens.
“I don’t understand,” my voice wobbles as I gape at where our bodies join.
Jack tilts my chin up to look at him with his other hand. “I should never have abandoned you when you needed me. I’m sorry, Bonnie.” His voice and eyes are thick with emotion that makes my heart knock against my chest like it’s trying to escape.
He turns very calmly to Max, still clasping my hand.
“Regardless of what happens between Bonnie and I, I wouldn’t take her off the project. I don’t know if that’s you or the partners saying that, but it’s bullshit.”
Max’s eyes bulge as he looks between Jack and me. His mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out.
“I spoke to your partners an hour ago. Bonnie stays on the project. She’s worked harder than anyone, Max. Including you.”
Max swallows hard. I can see the lie all over the fucker’s face.
Jack turns his attention to Nisha whose mouth is hanging open. “I take it everyone is talking about the pictures online?”
“Yes, Jack.” Her expression hardens. “Everyone thinks Bonnie had a one-night stand with you that went wrong.”
He nods, sighing, and looks around the room. “Then it’s probably better I address the rumours head-on.”
Head-on?
What the hell is he going to do?
His dark eyes blaze as he stares at me for a long beat.
Clearing his throat, he addresses the floor. “Since I already have everyone’s attention,” he says dryly, “I want to clear up a few rumours so you can all get back to work.” He pauses. “A week ago, I made a mistake. A very public mistake that ended up splashed over social media. It was my fault.”
Jack doesn’t look in the least nervous about his public announcement. I, on the other hand, am about to empty my bladder in the middle of the aisle.
“The paps claimed it was a one-night stand. It’s not. Bonnie and I are in a serious relationship. Unfortunately, when you’re in the public eye, sometimes things you do get distorted. Exaggerated,” he adds. “Those pictures were of a couple’s discussion. That’s it. No drama. There’s nothing to know.”
He shrugs.
“Bradshaw and Brown know about us, and nothing is against any work policy of either of the companies.” His jaw tightens. “Not that it fucking matters what they think,” he mutters to himself glancing at me.
“So,” he continues casually with a hint of his signature smirk, “any questions?”
He’s opening the floor to questions?
My palm clasped in Jack’s sweats as curious eyes inspect me. For a second I panic that the floodgates will open and people will ask intimate questions such as is Jack’s dick as big as his kiss-and-tells claim?
Jack leans in to me. “It’s fine, Bonnie. You’ll see.”
My face floods with heat. I look at Nisha helplessly and she smiles, eyes wide.
There’s an unbearably long pause. Then slowly, everyone gets back to work. Row by row, they go back to tapping on their laptops.
“No questions,” Jack murmurs in my ear. “Sounds like there’s nothing left to gossip about.”
“I have a question,” Darren pipes up beside me.
Nisha shoves her elbow into his ribs.
Jack’s brows lift.
“Nothing,” Darren mumbles sheepishly. “Bonnie can ask you later.”
“Great.” Jack nods to me. “Bonnie, let’s go.”
He beckons for me to follow him back to the lifts. This is so surreal.
What just happened?
He slows down his stride so I can match his as we walk down the office. I throw glances up at him but don’t dare speak.
The entire walk mustn’t last more than a minute but feels like a slow marathon.
He presses the lift button and pulls me inside in silence.
When the doors close, his eyes lock on mine, and the Jack Knight confidence that owned the office floor disappears.
“Bonnie, I’m sorry.”
He’s nervous.
I’ve never seen Jack nervous. Angry, agitated, yes, but never nervous.
“I should never have left your side. I love you. I love you so much it kills me not to be with you.”
Tears rim my eyes. I never thought I’d hear those words again. It’s only been a week without his love, but it feels like a lifetime.
The lift dings open on the fifth floor.
“It’s full,” Jack growls at the poor unsuspecting employee in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jack’s gaze never leaves mine.
“S-sorry, Mr. Knight,” the guy stammers, scuttling backwards. Something drops from his hands as the doors close again.
Jack slams his hand against the lower ground floor button and we start to descend.
“Forgive me.”
“What? What for?” I croak. “I’m the one who kept a massive secret from you.”
“For pushing you away,” he says slowly. “For seeing everything black and white. I’m too used to everyone acting like I want them to. But things aren’t as clear cut as I make them out to be.”
I fight to hold back the tears.
“I’m so sorry, my love. If you’ll let me, I’ll never leave again. Whatever happens with the case, with your dad, with the project, whatever shit is in the media, we’re in this together.” His voice thickens as he pulls me into his arms.
“Jack,” I say hoarsely, melting into him.
His mouth crashes down on mine.
His tongue slides into my mouth possessively, igniting pulses of pleasure in every cell in my body.
A whimper leaves me as I fling my arms around his shoulders. I need this so badly. I need him.
His chest heaves, and he growls into my mouth in response, like he has ached for this for a lifetime. For me.
We’re not kissing.
We’re claiming each other.
Our bodies are flush. I can barely breathe. The warmth of his body radiates into mine, his hard chest delicious against my breasts.
Our hearts hammer wildly together, like one.
We’ll have to stay like this forever. I’m never letting this man go again.
Just when I think I’m going to become a puddle on the lift floor, Jack pulls away and cups my face in his hands to look at me.
“I’ve got you, Bonnie.”
Three little words way sexier than I love you. The gravelly sound of them gliding from his throat makes my spine tingle.
That’s the thing. These past few months have taught me that I don’t need a boyfriend or a fiancé or a flatmate or even a boss.
I can take care of myself.
Besides the plumbing. I’ll get a plumber for that.
I’ve got me.
But despite seven billion pounds, more property than the Crown and a dick that should have its own church and followers, Jack Knight needs me as much as I need him.
“I’ve got you too, Jack.”
