“I’ll go with you,” Stacy offers. “I have some materials I have to put together for tutoring tomorrow.”
We walk together to the elevator doors, still chatting softly about Chloe and Donovan and how happy we are for them. Stacy reaches toward the gleaming elevator button, but before she can press it, the doors swing open on their own.
“Excuse me,” a deep male voice says making me go still.
Familiar dark eyes lock on mine. My hand flies to my chest, my heart already thundering against my ribs. “It’s you!” I gasp.
Chapter 19
Eric
There she is! My angel, looking even more beautiful than I remembered in a faded gray hoodie and yoga pants hugging those legs that won’t quit.
“It’s you!” she gasps.
For a moment I’m positive that I’m back in that hospital having another vivid hallucination about my dream girl, because what in the world would she be doing at Donovan’s apartment?
But then she moves, her blonde hair catching the shimmering sunlight off the windows nearby, making it gleam like spun gold.
This is no dream.
I feel drunk even though I haven’t had a drop of booze. But I don’t know how else to explain the euphoric feeling that’s just settled over me. I came here to apologize to Donovan for the mistakes I’d made and tell him how much I want to change, but instead, I found the woman of my dreams waiting for me.
I knew instantly it was her. It’s not like I could ever forget that face. There are some things that just stick permanently in your mind. That embarrassing thing you said in front of your fourth-grade class. The first time you truly felt proud of yourself. When you got locked out of your apartment in nothing but your boxers right after high school graduation. And the face of the first woman you go crashing head over heels for.
I’ve been seeing that face in my dreams since the day we met. How many times did my mind wander back to that night, wishing with all my heart that I hadn’t let her slip away?
This is fate, pure and simple.
It’s been weeks since our tryst but somehow it felt like mere seconds and an eternity all at once.
Before I can help it, I’m moving toward her as fast as my legs will carry me. We may only be a few feet apart, but any amount of space is too much when it comes to this woman. I don’t care how lame this makes me, or that I won’t leave her wanting more like Donovan always says I should, but I’m throwing myself at her one hundred percent.
Nothing matters but feeling her in my arms one more time. Her eyes are shining like sapphires and her lips are curved into the most beautiful, radiant smile that I’ve ever seen. She looks just as ecstatic as I am about our reunion.
Could she have been searching for me too?
Our bodies collide with passionate force. She leaps into my arms. Her messy bun unravels, letting her hair tumble around me. The other women and the apartment beyond them disappear, just like it did the first time I laid eyes on the angel in front of me. I don’t feel the floor under my feet, nor do I hear the elevator whirring behind me.
All that I see is her.
And now that I have her in my arms, I don’t plan on ever letting go.
Chapter 20
Morgan
My heart is pounding so hard that I don’t hear the confused gasps of Stacy or Chloe behind me. The sound of my heart against my ribs drowns out everything, even my own thoughts.
He’s here!
How is this happening?
I can barely comprehend the fact that after finally coming to grips with never seeing him again, my rockstar has magically appeared right in front of me. Not only that, but he’s excited to see me. So much so that he’s just swept me off my feet.
Why would he be this enthusiastic after he totally ghosted me?
His chest is heaving as he crushes me to him, his dark-as-night eyes scouring mine with fiery intensity. Even though I have a thousand questions, the moment I’m in his embrace they all disappear.
He looks down at me, his arms just as powerful as I recall. My own arms loop around his neck, my fingers running through his silky hair. He has a bandage on his hand but he seems to have forgotten it.
Slowly, he slides me down his chest so that my toes touch the floor, but our arms remain locked tight around one another. I want to ask him why he didn’t call but I can’t get the humiliating words out. My lips are desperate to kiss him again, but I’m also eager for answers. The last thing I need is to make a fool out of myself after finally finding the courage I need to restart my career from scratch.
I study his handsome face. He looks so overjoyed that it can’t possibly be an act. His expression is of pure delight, not just the face of someone who’s excited about the potential of another hookup.
My entire face feels hot, like I’ve flushed to a thousand degrees. I’m sure my cheeks are bright crimson. I suddenly remember my horrible outfit and start to get embarrassed, but he’s looking at me like he’s dying of thirst and I’m the only oasis for days.
Has anyone else ever looked at me this way?
If they have, I’ve never cared. Not like this.
He looks like he wants to devour me, and I want to let him.
“Please,” he begs, “tell me your name.”
Confusion settles over me. “My name? But I left you a note with my name and number.”
“The note got ruined before I could read it,” he answers in that gruff voice that makes my body shiver. “You have no idea how much time I’ve spent looking for you. I kept going back to that bar just hoping to catch sight of you again.”
“That’s all I’ve wanted too,” I answer, unable to suppress my emotions.
How long had I fantasized about this moment?
About kissing his lips once more, holding him, feeling him, stripping every inch of clothing off his strong, muscled body . . . I stretch onto my tiptoes as his palms graze my back, feeling the dimples of my spine beneath my thick hoodie. His hands wander me, reacquainting with the curves of my body.
His lower lip is pinched beneath his top teeth, a soft growl rumbling from his throat. He cups my cheek before his fingers slide behind my neck and weave through my hair, his powerful arms pulling me harder against his chest, so hard that not even a small breath of air would be able to part us.
Before I can beg for a kiss, his mouth descends on mine. His lips possess me as he lifts me back into his arms, my legs twining around his hips. We cling to each other desperately, our tongues dancing with renewed passion. Heat pulses through my body, making the hall wobble dangerously back and forth. My legs would have gone to jelly had he not been holding me so firmly against him. My hair falls in a sheet around our heads, blanketing us from the prying eyes of my completely stunned friends.
Eventually I’ll explain this to them, but for now I can’t be bothered to tear myself away. I want to soak up every second of this man. I’d almost convinced myself that I’d dreamt him up after I left the show that evening and never heard from him. But here he is, as delicious and passionate as ever.
Somewhere far off beyond the haze of our shared joy, the elevator dings once more and a man in a suit ambles out into the hall. Donovan Dunn pauses, bewildered eyes taking in the scene of us embracing in the hall.