Choking out a laugh, she shook her head. “You’re ridiculous.”
I took her by the chin. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, just as long as you know you are mine.”
Because it was time both of us found a way to move on from the chains that had bound us to our pasts. Time to move on from the separation. Time to move on together.
* * *
It was a little before two when I ducked out of my office and wound down the sidewalk in the direction of my favorite coffee shop that was half a block away. I inhaled a deep breath of the frozen, misty air, relaxing so I could let the jumble of numbers unwind where they were twisted in my brain as I strolled down the sidewalk.
I was fucking good at my job, but truth be told, it could be a bit of a drag, especially considering there were so many things I’d rather be doing right then.
Like exploring every inch of Aster’s body. Or hell, just looking at her would do.
Hedge funds and investments and fucking obnoxious clients freaking out if their stocks dipped even the slightest amount after I’d already made them filthy rich had started to grate.
I thrived on the high-risk.
Excelled at the hazardous.
Took chances that paid off big and had my roster stuffed with millionaires who held grandiose ambitions of becoming billionaires.
For years, I’d even delved into the shady, dipping my fingers into places I never should have let them go.
It seemed no matter how much money people had, it was never enough.
It was what had driven me for years because I didn’t see much sense in going after anything else.
Greed.
It was instinct.
It was justice.
It was taking for myself when the world had stolen what should have been mine.
And no, there wasn’t a thing wrong with being comfortable, but there was something about it now that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Or maybe it was the singe of Aster’s fingers when she’d tremble them over the word like it were inked in venom that had left me questioning everything.
The bell rang above me when I tossed open the café door, and the heavy aroma of fresh brew filled my nostrils.
My favorite times were bringing Gage here. We used to come often when I’d taken care of him in the evenings, the two of us a pair, the kid the one single pure thing I’d had in my life. It’d felt like something innocent to share. The one good thing I could give myself to, even if it’d stung.
It felt different today when I stepped inside, though, like so much had gone good, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. It was funny how I always wore a smile, but for the first time in a long-damned time, this one felt real.
I got in line, stepped forward when it was my turn, and tossed a casual hello at Sara whose smile lit up like seeing me was the highlight of her day. “Hey, there, stranger. Where have you been?” Her eyes narrowed in speculation as she took me in. “You look…different.”
That smile filled my face. I guessed it was joy. “I feel different.”
“Yeah?” Then she let go of a self-deprecating laugh as she punched in the same order I’d given her almost every day for the last three years. “Damn. Looks like I should have worked up the courage to ask you out sooner.”
She peeked at me when she said it.
I pressed my card to the reader, a low chuckle riding out. “It probably was best you didn’t.”
“That bad, huh?”
“It was justthatgood with her.”
She smiled this sweet, shy smile and nodded, like she completely got it. Which was exactly why I never would have touched her in the first place.