I trace my finger over the floral print of the couch, thinking over his words. I open my mouth to say something, but no words come out.
“All I could think about was how terrible things would be if we went down this road and it didn’t work out.”
“Messy… right? It would be messy.”
His throat bobs, and he nods subtly. “I do think it would be, but it doesn’t matter now. We’ve crossed this line together, and no matter what we do, there’s no turning back.”
I shake my head, my fingers rubbing absently over my arms. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m sorry I’ve made this so difficult for you, Merric.”
“Oaklyn, that’s not what… you’re not understanding what I’m trying to say,” he huffs out. “It doesn’t matter because I don’t want to turn back. I realized on the drive home how quiet it was without you there next to me. I know it’s stupid, I know what people will say or how things will be if I fuck this up, but it’s worth the risk.”
He pulls my arm away, silently asking me not to close myself off from him.
“You’re worth the risk to me. I don’t want to go back to what my life was like before that weekend, before I got to experience what it’s like having you in my arms.”
A grin breaks out across my face, damn near splitting it in two. Merric’s body relaxes seeing it. When I see his mouth curve in a smile, happiness blooms in my chest.
I grab his face between my hands and slam my mouth against his, unable to control myself. The sound of his moan vibrates against my lips.
I pull back enough, my forehead pressed against his, and whisper, “You’re stuck with me now. No more pushing me away. No more running.”
“Promise?” He grins, crashing his mouth to mine.
Epilogue
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
“Good afternoon, Oaklyn.” My heels click on the tile floor as I cross through the entrance of Paine and Thorne Investment Management. “Mr. Thorne is in his office. He already let me know he was expecting you.” Tessa smiles as I pass by her desk toward Merric’s office.
Merric has taken over managing Paine and Thorne after his dad passed. Maxwell’s best friend and business partner Erik has recently retired, and just like Merric, his son has come in to help fill his shoes.
Things haven’t always been smooth sailing between Merric and River since working together. Their history goes back to when they were younger, but setting aside their differences is something they’ve both agreed on to keep their professional relationship running smoothly. I could sense things are tense, though, when I had spoken to Merric on the phone earlier this week.
Despite how closed off Merric was in the beginning, we’ve continued to grow closer over the past few months. We don’t spend a lot of time together during the week between work and school, but every weekend, I’ll make the drive down to stay with him. Sometimes, on days like today, we’ll make plans to take trips away, just the two of us.
I knock on the door, reaching for the knob to peek in, finding Merric sitting behind his large oak desk, the phone held to his ear. His back is facing me, staring out the large window spanning from floor to ceiling. When he hears me knock, he turns his chair toward me.
He nods a hello. “Can you send over the report once it’s finished? I’d like to look at it.”
I drop my purse on the couch, shrugging out of my jacket. His eyes track me, staring down at the cobalt-blue top and the black dress pants I’m wearing, dragging his teeth over his lower lip.
“Ahem.” I clear my throat, motioning with my finger for him to wrap it up already.
“I’m about to head out of town for the weekend, but I’ll be sure to take a look at it when it comes through.”
He nods again, trying to hurry along with whoever is on the other end. His arm is stretched across his desk, his hair looking like he has raked his hand through it at least a dozen times today. It’s clear whatever is going on between him and River is getting to him more than he’s led me to believe. I will make it my mission to spend the weekend distracting him from whatever is bothering him.
I circle the desk, pressing my palms against the armrest, leaning over to press a soft kiss against his cheek. I rest my hip against the edge of his desk, and he doesn’t move to give me anymore space. His eyes wander over my body, waiting ever so patiently while he wraps up his call. “All right, I’ll talk to you later. Yes, okay, sounds good.”
He foregoes any goodbye, leaning over to hang up the phone. His face is right near my waist, and I can see the devious smile curve his mouth the closer he gets to me.
Grabbing his face in my hands, I tilt his head back to look up at me. “Eyes up here, Thorne.”
He slides his hand across the desk over my ass, gripping it and pulling me closer.
“I like this color on you.” He smiles. “It makes your eyes stand out.”
His fingers trail over my hip, dipping under my shirt, pushing it up to expose the tan skin on my stomach.
“Don’t you think you should wait until later tonight? I didn’t even lock the door when I came in.”
“Tessa knows better than to come in here without permission when you’re here.”
I raise my brow in question. “Oh, really? Is this a conversation the two of you had?”
“No, I’ve just made it clear that when you’re here, I’m not to be bothered.”
I choke out a laugh, letting out an exasperated sigh. Of course, he’d warn his assistant not to trouble him when I’m here.
He leans forward, pressing a soft kiss against my stomach. The slight touch of his lips against my skin has my body trembling. While I’ve appreciated having FaceTime on those nights when Claudia was away and I was missing Merric too much, nothing compares to having his hands and mouth on my body.
In the beginning, we took things at our own pace. We didn’t put any labels on our relationship, not wanting to add any pressure. We already added so much with the fear of what would happen if things didn’t work out.
I would often head down to Myrtle Beach after class on Friday and stay with him through Monday morning when he left for work, then I’d make the drive back. It worked out perfectly because I could leave when he was heading out the door and be right on time for my first lecture.
Merric often spent late nights at the office, so while I hated not going to sleep next to him, I knew he was able to focus on his job.
When we made the trip back a couple of weeks ago for the Fourth of July weekend to see my mom, we did so with the plan of also coming clean about our relationship. Merric and I have both joked about how our family would respond, only for us to realize the stress it added was unnecessary.
Neither of us knew what to expect, but the amount of support my mom has shown us put any worries to rest.
I still remember when she pulled me aside at our family barbeque and asked how I was doing. I know she just wanted to check in on her only daughter to see how I was handling things.
I glanced over at Merric while he talked to Penelope, who was now four months pregnant, and told her how Merric had shown me a different side of himself. Tears filled my eyes when I told her how he had broken down all his walls for me, showing me more than the hard exterior he had toward the rest of the world and how well he took care of me.