Page 40 of Desk & Deception
My gaze dropped briefly to my left hand before lifting back to his face. “Do you still have it?”
He looked completely confused, then his eyes widened. “Yes.”
His right hand dipped into his pocket. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d been walking around with my engagement ring there all this time, but I was.
Slowly, like he was afraid I might change my mind if he moved too quickly, Reid pulled the ring from his pocket.
I’d tried not to think about what the ring represented or how much it had hurt to hand it back. Now the diamond solitaire rested in Reid’s palm between us.
His gaze searched mine. “Are you asking for the reason I’m hoping?”
A soft laugh escaped me. “I’m not ready to pick a new wedding date tomorrow.”
The tension in his shoulders eased slightly.
“And I’m definitely not ready to jump right back into seating charts and invitations.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Fair.”
I reached for his hand and closed my fingers around the ring.
“But yes.” The words came out softer than I intended. “Yes, I want us.”
A mixture of relief and love flashed across his face so quickly it almost stole my breath. “You have no idea what this means tome, baby. I love you so damn much. I’m not gonna mess this up. I know how bleak my life is without you in it.”
Tears stung my eyes as I smiled. “I never stopped loving you, but I needed to know we weren’t going to end up right back where we started.”
His hand tightened around mine. “We won’t.”
I believed him completely, so I held out my left hand. “Put my ring back where it belongs.”
He released a shaky breath as he slid the ring onto my finger. Its familiar weight was comforting.
We just sat there staring at it, but not as a reminder of what we had almost lost. The ring was a promise of what was yet to come for us.
Then Reid lifted my hand and pressed a kiss against my knuckles.
When he looked up again, there was so much love in his eyes that my heart ached. “I don’t deserve you.”
I rolled my eyes through my tears. “Good thing I’m not marrying you because you’re perfect.”
He leaned across the center console and kissed me. Every bit of distance that had existed between us seemed to disappear.
When we finally pulled apart, I whispered, “Come inside.”
Reid’s gaze darkened, but there was tenderness there too. “Are you sure?”
We’d had sex several times over the past month, but I understood why he questioned me now. It held so much more meaning with his ring back on my finger.
I smiled and threaded my fingers through his. “Completely.”
Together, we got out of the car and walked toward my front door. I wanted him badly enough that it ached. Not just physically, but in the deepest parts of me that had been missing him for weeks. So I led him directly to my bedroom, discarding our clothes along the way.
There was joy as we came together this time, Reid tossing me onto the mattress. I bounced once before he landed on top of me, rolling us over so I straddled him.
“Get up here, baby. Ride my face. Need to taste you first.”
I puffed out my bottom lip. “What if I want my mouth on you too?”
