Tears are glistening in her eyes, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, so I keep going.
“I am madly and crazy in love with you, and I need you to forgive me because I don’t know how to get through another day without you.”
She’s not saying anything, and I’ve never been so afraid in my whole life.
“Morgan?”
“You hurt me. And I’m not just talking about the past. That’s over and done. The moment I let you kiss me in Thailand, I decided it was time to let all of that go. I thought you’d changed. That’s why I let myself fall for you again. But, that last day in my office…the things you said…”
“I’m so sorry,” I beg. “So fucking sorry.” Panic is filling my chest, and I’m ashamed to admit there are tears in my eyes.
“You thought I was capable of betraying you like that.”
“I reacted badly. I know.”
“That’s an understatement. What you said…” Her eyes fill with tears, and I hate that I’m the one who put them there. “I don’t think I can trust you with my feelings anymore.”
She slips her hands from mine.
The panic inside me fills to full-blown fear. “Please, baby. I fucked up, and I’m so sorry. Just don’t throw us away.”
“I didn’t. You did. A couple of days ago.”
I’ve lost her. And I don’t know what to do.
“Please, babe. I made a mistake then. I’ve made too many mistakes when it comes to you. But I’m willing to do anything to fix things between us. I just…I need you. The company needs you. Neither of us will survive without you.”
She closes her eyes and blows out a breath. “Wilder…I can’t come back to work…not now.”
Because of me.
“The company’s yours.”
“What?” Her eyes pop open.
At first, I’m shocked, too, that I said it. But then it’s suddenly so clear. I know it’s the right thing to do. The way to show her that I’m sorry and how much she means to me is to give her the one thing that has always meant the most to me. Because, when I compare the two—Morgan and the business—there is no comparison. She wins out every time.
“The company is yours. You can run it alone as CEO.”
“Wilder…no. Why would you do that?”
“Because I love you. Because the company needs you. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to Under Her. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I know I fucked us up, but I won’t be the reason you walk away from the company. You’re amazing at your job. Look at how much you’ve done in such a short time.”
“And look what happened. The deal went south.”
“But it can be fixed. I know it can. And, if anyone can sort it out, it’s you.”
She bites her lip and stares past me. The silence that hangs between us is killing me.
“Maybe…but I don’t want to do it alone,” she says quietly.
And my heart stops.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying”—she blows out a breath—“that you messed up. But so have I.” Her eyes come to mine. “I never told you back in college how I felt. Or that you hurt me. I never gave you the chance to apologize or make it right. I just shut down on you.”
“If I hadn’t said or done those things, then—”
She silences me with her fingers to my lips. “I know. But it’s in the past. I want it to stay there. And, the other day…you screwed up big time, but I can understand why you thought it was me. You should have trusted me at my word, but I understand why you jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
I take hold of her hand and slip her fingers across my lips. “So, you forgive me?”
She shrugs. “I guess…but you’ve got some serious making up to do, Cross.”
“Are we talking making up to do as co-CEOs or…me as your boyfriend?”
She pauses a moment, lips pursed, like she’s thinking it over. Then, she smiles. “Both,” she says.
And my heart soars.
I take her face in my hands and stare into her eyes. “You won’t regret this. I swear.”
“I’d better not. This is your last chance, Wilder.”
And I can’t wait a second longer. I kiss her.
She immediately kisses me back, and the feeling is amazing. I never want to come close to losing her ever again.
“I love you,” I say against her lips. “So fucking much.”
“I love you, too,” she whispers.
I jerk my head back. “You do?”
She smiles. “Of course I do, dummy.”
A big smile spreads across my face. “So, this making up I’ve got to do…I’m thinking I should get started on the boyfriend part of it.”
Fire ignites in her eyes. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I pick her up, making her squeal, and I carry her to her bed and drop her on it.
Then, I climb on top of her and get to work on making it up to my girl.
So, I guess you’re wondering who told Coveted Lingerie about our plus-sized launch and the deal with Ananda along with who made the call and sent the email to Niran, pretending to be Morgan.
Didn’t take a genius to figure it out.
Well, not that it was me who figured it out, of course. That was all Morgan.
Anyway, it was Sierra.
She’d discovered that Morgan and I were sleeping together. God knows how, as we had been careful around the office, but she’d found out, and she had been less than happy about it, so she’d decided to get back at us by screwing up the Ananda deal. And maybe she’d thought that, by trying to make it out that Morgan had told Coveted, it would break us up and leave the way clear for Sierra.
When Morgan and I confronted Sierra with our suspicions, she denied it at first. But, when Morgan told her that it was her login that signed into the system a few minutes before the email was sent to Niran, using Morgan’s email that Sierra had access to, she folded like a deck of cards.
Turns out, Sierra’s cousin works in the marketing department at Coveted Lingerie, and she was looking for a foot up the career ladder, so Sierra gave her one. Two birds, one stone.
Fair to say, she was fired on the spot and escorted from the building.
Because there was nothing to be done about the deal with Ananda, as Niran had done what he had to so that he could keep his business afloat, we had to find another supplier.
It wasn’t easy. But Morgan and I worked all our contacts and barely slept until we found one in Bangkok. The silk was more expensive than Ananda but still cheaper than our Chinese supplier. The sales margin would be low, but they promised us early delivery, which meant we could launch before Coveted.
It was a risk, but it was one that paid off.
The product flew off the shelves.
Mainly thanks to the design team and artist that Morgan had brought in. Zoey Marchant is a friend of Morgan’s. They had met at yoga class a few years ago. She’s an artist, a starving artist, but her work is amazing. Morgan had asked her if she’d like to design the prints for the bras.
She’d said yes, and the rest is history.
My parents were thrilled with how Morgan and I’d brought this back around and made such a success out of it when it could have just failed after Coveted took our idea and supplier.
Morgan says it’s because of both of us, but I say it’s all her. I couldn’t have done it without her. I wouldn’t be the man I am now without her.
And my parents are also thrilled that Morgan and I are together. There was no keeping our relationship under wraps after the whole Sierra thing, and honestly, I didn’t want to. I wanted everyone to know that this smart, beautiful woman was mine.
I do have to wonder if that was part of my mom’s plan when she brought Morgan in to work at Under Her. Not that she didn’t bring her talent to the company because she’s smart as hell, and she could run it with her eyes closed. But maybe it was also to give me a counterpart—not only in busi
ness, but in my personal life, too.
In business, I was a grown-ass man, but in my private life, I was still acting like a teenager.
But not now. I’m a different man now. Because of Morgan. She’s changed me for the better.
I’m a man in love. And love will do some crazy things to you.
Things I wouldn’t change for the world.
So, life is fucking great. I’ve got the most incredible woman by my side at work and in my bed at night.
My parents and friends love her. Mom, Dad, Coop, and Dom think the sun shines out of Morgan’s ass—well, it does—but I do sometimes think they like her more than me. If they do, they should. She’s a far better person than I could ever hope to be.
I just thank God that she sees something in me and wants to be with me. Because, without her, the company and I would be nothing.
And the company has been selling product faster than we can supply it, thanks to Morgan’s genius, and our Bangkok supplier can’t meet all of our demands. As Ananda only signed with Coveted for the initial batch they stole from us, they are free to sign with us again. So, we now have both our Bangkok supplier and Ananda for the plus-sized range. As the range has brought in new customers for our standard sizes, too, I feel that, soon, I’m going to be asking Niran if expansion is an option.
Speaking of Niran, Morgan and I are back in San Kamphaeng, staying at the Secret Garden Chiang Mai. We’re not here to work though. We’re here on vacation. It’s been one year since she slapped me, since I kissed the shit out of her, and since we came back here before I gave her a ride on the Wilder side.
I know, I know. Cheesy as fuck. But I just couldn’t resist.
I thought it would be romantic to bring her here for our anniversary, and it turned out, I was right. When I gave her the tickets for our vacation, she got this soft look in her eyes. And, that night, I got the mother of all blow jobs. I’m talking deep-throat, porn-star action.
It was frigging amazing.
And, right now, we’re lying in bed together, both covered in sweat, panting to catch our breaths.
I thought it would be a good idea to reenact our first night together, minus the slap across the face. So, we went to the Hot Springs and then to the same bar, except we actually ate this time. Then, we came back here, and I was undressing her before she even got the door open.
“Wow,” she says.
“I know.”
“It gets better every time, right? It’s not just me?”
I turn on my side to face her and brush her hair off her forehead. “It’s not just you, babe. It’s us together. We’re fucking dynamite in the sack.”
She giggles, and of course, my cock reacts. She breathes, and he reacts.
It’s gotten incredibly difficult to get through staff meetings with her and not get a stiffy.
She’s amazing, and she’s all mine.
She moves to get up, and I pull her back down to me.
“Where are you going?”
“To clean up.”
“We’ll get a shower together.”
“We didn’t do that on the first night.”
“No, we didn’t, but then I didn’t ask you to move in with me either that night, so I guess we’re adding a new memory to our anniversary.”
She’s staring at me, not saying anything, with a shock and dazed look in her eyes.
I smile and say, “If you didn’t get that the first time, that was me, Wilder Cross, asking you, Morgan Stickford, to move in with me.”
Her lips part. She licks them. “You want me to move in with you?”
“Yes. We can live at my place or yours, or we can buy somewhere new together.”
“But that means, we’d be working together and living together. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Babe, I know what I want—you all the time. You’re the only person I can spend this much time around, and it still doesn’t feel like enough. We’re practically living together already. We stay over at each other’s places all the time. Question is, is it what you want?”
I hold my breath, waiting for her answer.
Then, she smiles, and it’s beautiful. “Of course it’s what I want.”
She throws her arms around my neck, hugging me, and I hold her back just as tight.
“Best anniversary gift ever,” she whispers. “But I feel bad. I didn’t get you anything. You said, no gifts.”
“You’re my gift, babe.” And she is.
“Still, I want to give you something,” she murmurs. She starts to kiss her way down my body.
Who am I to argue if my girl wants to gift me a blow job?
And, if the last blow job after I gave her the tickets to come here is anything to go by, then think of the sucking I’m in for after asking her to move in with me.
Fuck, I wonder what I’ll get when I ask her to be Mrs. Cross.
And, yes, I said when, not if.
But that’s not for now. That’s for another time…in the not-so-distant future.
I’d say…a year from now.
But, right now, I’m going to just enjoy the hell out of living with Morgan, my partner in work and life.
Morgan Stickford, the girl who used to hate loving me.
Who now just loves me.
The End
There’s a bunch of fantabulous people who I couldn’t do this without. As always, first is my husband, Craig, who goes through every single step of writing a book with me, and I couldn’t do it without him. And my children, who are the best kids a mom could wish for.
Lauren Abramo, best agent ever! You continue to bring amazing things to the table, and you support every single decision I make.
My girls—Jodi, Trishy, and Sali. Best book friends a girl could ask for.
Jovana, my editor, who always manages to find time to fit me in when I drop a last-minute book on her. You polished this book to perfection. Thank you.
And thanks to my girl Naj for yet another stunning cover.
My Wether Girls, I seriously heart our group.
A big thank-you to all the bloggers who work tirelessly to help promote books. I appreciate and adore you all.
And, lastly, to my fabulous readers—Your continuing support makes it possible for me to do what I love. My biggest thank-you of all goes to each and every one of you.
SAMANTHA TOWLE is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal best-selling author. She began her first novel in 2008 while on maternity leave. She completed the manuscript five months later and hasn’t stopped writing since.
She is the author of contemporary romances, The Storm Series and The Revved Series, and stand-alones, Trouble, When I Was Yours, The Ending I Want, Unsuitable, Wardrobe Malfunction, and Sacking the Quarterback, which was written with James Patterson. She has also written paranormal romances, The Bringer and The Alexandra Jones Series. All of her books are penned to the tunes of The Killers, Kings of Leon, Adele, The Doors, Oasis, Fleetwood Mac, Lana Del Rey, and more of her favorite musicians.
A native of Hull and a graduate of Salford University, she lives with her husband, Craig, in East Yorkshire with their son and daughter.
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