“I just wish I could take the credit for that,” Chance says. “But really, all I did was put them on the plates.”
“Ah well, you did a good job of that.” I laugh.
“That’s good,” he says with a smile.
We fall silent as we eat, but it’s a comfortable silence and we keep looking at each other, smiling shyly, like we’re just exploring the situation quietly before we have to talk about it.
“So,” Chance says when we’re about half way through our meal.
“So,” I repeat.
“We have a lot to talk about, but first, I want to apologize again. For everything. And I want you to know your job is still there if you want it back. In my office. Not London. I can’t believe I did that.”
“So that’s what this is about,” I say. “You’ve realized how good of an assistant I was and you want me to come back to work for you.”
“What? No. I mean yes. You’re a good assistant and I would have you back tomorrow, but this is about so much more than that Sierra. Honestly, I—”
I can’t hold my laugh in any longer.
Chance’s face floods with relief. “You’re teasing me aren’t you?”
“Yup,” I say, nibbling on a fry. “You didn’t think I was going to make this easy did you?”
“Well no, but I kind of hoped you would.” He smiles.
“Well I’ll make the work part easy.” I nod at him. “I don’t want to come back and work for you again. It’s too complicated and it would be too embarrassing coming back now.”
“Ok. I get that. But if you change your mind, you only have to say the word,” he says. “And Sierra, whether you choose to come back to the firm or not, nothing will change the way I feel about you.” He reaches over the table and puts his hand over mine.
I look into his eyes as he talks.
“Please stay? He pleads. “Stay and give us a chance. I know the wedding was a mistake, but you weren’t. I want you in my life, Sierra. Please don’t leave.”
“Leave? What makes you think I want to leave? After everything I said to you about not uprooting Hayley.”
“You said on the phone earlier that you were planning to leave,” he says.
“That’s not what I meant.” It suddenly all makes sense. The roses. The intimate dinner. The candles. He thought I was leaving for good and this was his way of trying to show me he didn’t want me to go. My eyes fill with tears and I smile at him. “Chance I was never planning on leaving for good. Hayley’s life is here. My life is here. You’re here,” I add the last part in a quiet voice.
Chance beams at me and squeezes my hand.
I rub my thumb over his palm. “I booked Hayley and me for a week at the beach that’s all,” I add. “I realized that working every hour of every day might give her a good financial start, but that’s not really what she needs. What she needs is my time. To feel loved.”
“So you’re not leaving?” Chances asks, as though he can’t quite believe what I’m telling him.
I shake my head. “No.”
“Good.” He smiles. “Because it’s going to take me a long time to make everything up to you, but I intend to try. And I want to spend every day showing you how much you mean to me.”
I smile back at him. “That sounds good. But we need to take things slowly Chance. I have Hayley to think about and I can’t bring someone into her life who isn’t planning on sticking around.”
“I’m sticking around for as long as you’ll have me, but I understand. We can take this at whatever pace you want to,” Chance says.
“Well, let’s start by me saying I forgive you. Let’s just start over,” I say.
“I’d like that.” Chance beams at me.
I pick up my wine glass and drain it.
Chance gets up. He goes to the kitchen and returns with the wine bottle. He tops up my glass.
I thank him and take another drink.
He doesn’t sit back down.
I look at him questioningly.
He smiles at me. “I thought maybe you might like to dance.”
“Dance?” I laugh. “To what?”
He moves to the corner of the room and hits a few buttons on a sound system. “This,” he says as soft jazz music fills the room. He offers me his hand.
I take it and allow him to pull me to my feet. He leads me to a sliding glass door and we step out onto a patio. He flicks a switch on as we step outside and I gasp with delight as I look around. Heaters make the patio warm enough that the chilly air doesn’t bother me, but that’s not what really gets my attention. Chance has strung fairy lights from the roof of the patio and it looks just like the area we danced together in at Sebastian and Kimberley’s wedding.
“Do you like it?” he asks.
I nod, speechless.
“Good. Because you have no idea how hard it is to get those little lights to sit where you want them to.” He laughs.
I laugh with him and he pulls me into his arms and we dance around his patio. I rest my head on his shoulder and hum along to the music, enjoying the closeness of his body against mine. I can feel my pussy getting wet and my clit throbbing as his hands move slowly up and down my back.
I pull him closer, holding him tightly against me. I don’t even notice when the music ends. I just keep him held to me, swaying to the rhythm in my own head. I tilt my head back to look into his face after a few minutes.
He smiles down at me as he raises one hand and pushes a strand of hair back from my forehead. “You really are the most amazing woman I’ve ever
