Blended (Redemption #1) (46 page)

“He’s quite the charmer, isn’t he?”

I purse my lips as he gives me a panty-dropping smile from a few feet away. “He is that.”

“Now tell me, sweetie, are the two of you back together? He was moping around in Australia for months without you.”

He reaches me then and takes my lips without saying a word to his mother or me.

“I suppose that answers my question, now doesn’t it?”

My cheeks warm when he pulls away from me and rings his arm around my waist before he asks her, “What question?”

“I was just asking Hadley if the two of you were back together.”

“Are we, Rye?” he says with a cocky grin on his handsome face.

“More than ever,” I tell her honestly as my eyes are locked on his.

“Thank goodness. I was getting sick of not seeing the two of you together. The entire air seems to shift around each of you when you’re around each other. Now, is this who you were going to bring over for Christmas?”

“Mother, I hadn’t asked her yet.” He turns to face me. “It’s what I was going to ask you at Blended. Would you like to spend Christmas with us?”

“Wade, I’d love to.”

Lillian hugs each of us before kissing Wade on the cheek. “You two have just made my night. I’ll see you both in two days. If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to ensure that my ladies are enjoying themselves this evening.”

“Thank you, Lilly, have a good evening.”

“Goodbye, Mother.”

I turn back to Wade as a few other women approach us, but his attention is only on me as he searches my eyes. “What is it?”

“It’s a bold move, you know, inviting me to join you for Christmas. It makes us . . .” I gesture between the two of us. “ . . . rather serious.”

“I don’t need a holiday to know that. The time away from you only intensified what I feel toward you. I want you close, Rye. All of the time.”

I step into his arms as the current buzzes between us, rendering me speechless. Instead of speaking the words that I’m thinking, I tell him when our lips meet. My unspoken words spill against his mouth, leaving me bereft.

“Come. We need to get to two more before I can have you to myself.”

I sigh against his lips before he pulls away from me and greets the women who have been waiting off to the side to get a word in while he melted me into a puddle of nothing.

Two hours later, we’re leaving the fourth and hopefully the last party of the evening. I’m exhausted after meeting so many people. I’m not sure how he does this. I’ve loved watching him interact with the people who work underneath him; he treats all of them with the same reverence that he receives. A yawn escapes me as we sit in the dark interior of his BMW.

“You’re tired.”

“I am,” I say as I lean back on the headrest and turn to face him.

“I can take you back to your place if you’d like.”

I shake my head. “No, I want to be with you tonight.”

If there weren’t a console between us, I would already be in his arms and in my safe place. I need to insist that Colin drive the SUV more often.

“It’s a damn good thing that I don’t mind a naked Hadley in my bed then.”

I give him a tired smile as Jacobs pulls up to the Waldorf. “Take me to bed, Mr. Brass.”

“It’d be my pleasure, Rye.”

Colin opens my door but is quickly met with Wade taking my hand. “Thank you for accompanying us this evening, Jacobs. Head home for the remainder of the week.”

“Thank you, sir. Merry Christmas to you both.”

“To you as well.”

I give Colin a brief hug and wish him a Merry Christmas before I’m pulled back into Wade’s grasp and we’re headed inside and out of Chicago’s frigid winter.

“Good evening, Mr. Brass,” rings out through the lobby before we are greeted by his personal doorman. “Mr. Brass,” he nods his greeting before acknowledging me, “Miss Rye.”

“Good evening, Thomas.”

“Will you be expecting anyone else this evening, sir?”

“No. Go home for the night and alert the front desk that you are leaving.”

The gentleman seems surprised by this but doesn’t argue. “Thank you, sir. Have a good evening.”

“You as well.”

We step into the elevator, and he wraps his arms around me from behind as the doors close and we start to ascend. Once we’ve entered into his penthouse, I slip my aching feet from my heels and massage the bottom of my soles.

He’s taken his jacket off and hung it in the hall closet before he joins me on the couch. His arm locks around me, and he moves a stray strand of hair that has escaped my updo out of my face. “We may both be beginners at this relationship game, but I’m going to show you just how much I long to have you by my side.”

“I’m not going to go anywhere.” I place my lips on his chest where the top buttons of his collar are undone.

His hands move into my hair, and he starts to remove each pin that is holding up my curls while he looks into my eyes until he has them all out. His fingers run through my hair, causing a soft moan to escape my lips as he does so.

“Let me get you to bed.”

“Okay, but you have to help me out of this dress first.”

“Come.”

He leads me upstairs to the master bedroom and closes the door behind us. We’re veiled in the darkness of the room with only ambient light reflected from the city below. I flinch slightly when I feel his hands move around my waist.

“I don’t want to be with you to simply pass the time,” he says against my ear.

“You’re not. You’ve already used that time to find me, as well as yourself.”

“I have never wanted more than sex in a relationship, but with you, it’s different.”

I turn in his arms and cup his jaw in my hands. I’m just able to make out the lines of his body from the city lights. “You know that I feel the same way.”

“Then marry me.”

I go still in the darkness as his thumb skims the bare skin of my back. “Wade—”

“You’ve helped me wage war on myself, and through it all, you’ve been the light. The one that I’ve been searching for without even knowing it. You, Hadley Rye, are the most precious thing to me, and if you do me this honor, I will ensure that I am everything you need. I will never go against what we are, and I will love you until I take my last breath. I’ve lived in a world without you, and the thought of going through that again tears my soul into pieces.”

He places a kiss on my lips before sinking down onto one knee in front of me in the dark. An audible gasp escapes me as he reaches for my left hand, and if it weren’t for the reflected light, I would not be able to see him holding up a ring.

“Rye, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“I . . . holy shit,” the words that I want to say refuse to leave my mouth as I struggle with the emotions swimming through my body.

“Don’t make me wait, baby. I know this is sudden, but—”

“Yes!” I squeal and lean down to throw myself at him, which causes us both to land on the floor laughing.

“Yes?” he asks as one of his arms pulls my body down onto his.

“Yes.”

In just that one word. That one breath. I’m locked in.

His lips find mine as he pulls me even closer to him, closing the space between us. “I love you.”

I bite his bottom lip and pull his shirt from his slacks until I’m able to run my fingers along a line that no longer exists on his waist. “I love you.”

He reaches for my left hand and slowly slides the cool metal around my finger before placing his lips on it. As much as I want to see it in the light, I want him more. I need to be as close to him as I can possibly get.

“I need you,” I tell him as he pushes the sleeve of my dress off of my shoulder and then farther down my arm.

“Then it’s a good thing that you just promised me forever.”

I blush as his words warm me from the inside out. I don’t think that I have ever been so content in a moment before. This man has truly broken down each and every wall, shield, and piece of armor that I once used to guard my heart. Now, he’s the one protecting it with his own life. He’s shown me what it is to love and exactly how deep that love can run. My heart is more than a mere organ that’s sole purpose is to pump life through my body. It now aches for him and only him.

He moves us to the bed while we’re still surrounded by darkness as he makes love to me, showing instead of telling me exactly what he feels for me. I do the same in return as we take it slower than we did the night before. It feels different being with him as if I’ve found the perfect match for both my body and soul.

He’s my person.

My favorite brand of whiskey.

“I thought that you were tired, gorgeous.”

“I was,” she says as the sun starts to rise over Chicago. I glance down at her, and her eyes are focused on her left hand and the ring that I placed on it a few hours go.

Last night when Isla saw us together, she gave me the ring box that I’d asked her to return to the designer. She didn’t say anything else, but she gave me a look of understanding and support. I’ve known since my accident that Hadley was it for me, but I wasn’t sure if it would ever get much further until a couple of hours ago when she promised to spend the remainder of her life with me at her side.

I take her left hand and intertwine our fingers together. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was wondering just how long you’ve had this ring. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Good. She did a good job then.”

“Who did?”

“The woman who designed the ring.”

She shifts and tilts her head up to face me. “You had this made for me? When?”

“If I told you when I had it made, you might run for the hills.”

I watch her maneuver herself until she’s straddling my waist, completely naked. “Tell me, please?”

I nod, tortured by her carnal supplication. “Two weeks after my accident.”

“Two weeks? Wade . . . you’ve held onto this since then? How did you know . . . I mean, we were so new . . . I mean, we pretty much still are and of course there’s the fact that everyone will only assume . . .”

I cut off her rambling by sitting up and moving my lips against hers. “I knew that there would not be a single woman who would be able to compare to you. I knew because of what I feel when I’m in your presence or not. I gave the ring to Isla to return, but the stubborn woman did no such thing. Before we left Blended this evening, she handed me the box. I should have known better than to trust her with the simplest of tasks.”