Page 47 of Irresistible

The two looked longingly at each other before either said another word. They knew in their hearts that this was right.

"Scarlet, I can't imagine my life without you. You asked me to think this over, and I did. I honestly did no work today because I spent so much time thinking about us. You are, without a doubt, the best person I have ever met. Just being around you makes me a better person."

"Richard...," Scarlet said breathlessly.

"I want to be with you. My answer is yes. I want to give this a shot. You say that I have to commit, and I'm ready to commit. All the rest is in the past. You are my future and, if you'll have me, I want to be with you."

"Richard, of course I want you!"

The two stood up quickly and passionately kissed each other. They were finally able to let go. There was no more pretense, no more playing games, and no more concern. There was only the two of them.

"I love you, Scarlet," Richard whispered into her ear. She melted in his arms.

"I love you, too."

They kissed for another several minutes before sitting down at the beautiful table that Richard had somehow set up while the branch was open and seeing customers.

"In all seriousness, how did you get this set up?"

"You know the bank has a back door, right?" Richard laughed.

"But nobody noticed. People filter back here a lot.”

"I had them set it up at five o'clock. The only things back here are files and the two bathrooms. People don't need any of that at five o'clock."

"Amazing. What's under here?" Scarlet said, lifting the cover over the plate.

On the plates sat bacon cheeseburgers from the dive bar they went to a few days earlier.

"You're quite the romantic, replicating the best meal that we've had together so far."

"I figured you wouldn't turn this down," Richard said with a grin.

"You were right about that."

The two kissed once more and dug into their meal. The evening was perfect. There was nothing more in the world that Scarlet wanted. In less than a week, she went from being a young woman who was constantly in search of a loving and fulfilling relationship to being in a relationship with her perfect man. She won, and she relished her victory as she savored her burger.

"By the way, I have to give this back to you," Richard said, handing her an envelope that had been torn in half.

"Is that...my letter of resignation?"

"Yeah. You can probably tell that it’s been rejected."

"And who rejected that?"

"The CEO. I hear he's kind of a big deal around here," Richard laughed.

"But Richard, isn't it a bad idea for you to be dating one of your employees? Part of the reason I wrote that letter was to protect us."

"We'll work it out together. I want us to work everything out together. It'll all be okay."

All of Scarlet's hesitation instantly faded. She completely trusted him. One way or another, everything would be okay. Before then, she never knew that she always craved a partner who could assure her that everything would be okay. In that moment, she felt safer than she ever had before.

The two kissed once more before finishing their burgers. Hours passed, and they talked about everything that had transpired over the last few days. At the end of the night, they locked up the branch and went back to Richard's hotel to celebrate their relationship, making love as they had so passionately a few nights earlier. They completely lost themselves in each other.

Two days later, Richard received confirmation that the accounting issue at the bank was resolved. He had to head back to the Local Citizens Bank headquarters.

"How are we going to manage a long-distance relationship?” Scarlet asked with a wide smile on her face. Her face had borne no other expression since that fateful dinner two nights earlier.