Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (11 page)

“You’re the one who
broke up with me. Why would you want something of mine when you
didn’t love me anymore?”

“Because I never
stopped loving you or wanting to be with you.” I’m momentarily
stunned, and she takes the opportunity to pull her arm free and run
from the room.

I snap out of it and
head downstairs to find her. She’s not in the living room or
kitchen, so I know she went into her workroom. I walk in and find her
moving her hand over rolled up papers that are tied with a green
ribbon. I recognize what they are as I come up behind her. “Are
those for me?”

“Yes. I don’t know
if you remember-“

“I do. I remember the
drawings you used to give me. The first draft of your design ideas
for the interiors of whatever buildings I was drawing.”

“These are the first
drafts of the Seattle building. I wanted to give them to you. If-if
you want them.”

“I want them, Chlo.” I reach
around her and notice the piece of paper attached to them. I pick the
roll of papers up to look at it.

Reason #2 that I LOVE YOU: You have always believed in me.

“I do believe in you,
Chloe. I believe in us. This building is going to be amazing.”

“Us for work or us
like this?” She waves her hand between us.

“Both,” I tell her
honestly. Work is awesome, and I do believe that things will work out
for us this second time around. “I really love that you’re giving
me your drafts again.”

“I wasn’t sure you
remembered,” she says nervously.

“Your drawings have
always meant a lot to me, Chlo.” She’ll see that when we go to my
place tomorrow. I have to ask her the question, though. “Did you
give them to Adam when we were apart?”

“No. Never. I have
only ever given my drafts to you.”

“That makes me even
happier. Now, you’re still conscious which means I haven’t made
you come enough tonight. I need to take you upstairs and remedy
that.”

I reach for her and
once again carry her up to her bed. We try several different
positions, and although I’m not sure about the losing consciousness
thing, we both pass out as the sun is coming up. I love having Chloe
curled up in my arms as I fall asleep. I need to keep her this time
or I may not recover from the loss of her again.

Chloe

I wake up alone in my
bed. I sit straight up and start to panic, thinking Ryan’s changed
his mind and left me, but then he comes out of the bathroom, smiling
at me. “Hey, sweetheart. Did I wake you up?”

“No. I woke up on my
own.”

I must sound a little
off. “What’s wrong, Chlo?”

“Nothing. I’m
good.”

“You’re actually
better than good, but you looked a little freaked out when I came
back in here.” He sits down next to me looking worried.

“It’s stupid and
besides it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Anymore?” Then he
gets it. “You thought I left, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I admit as I
look down. “I wouldn’t blame you.”

He tilts my chin back
up and looks into my eyes. “Last night was the best night of my
life, Chloe. But I’m pretty sure that tonight is going to top it
and every night I spend with you from now on is going to keep getting
better and better. I don’t want to leave you. And I don’t want
you to leave. So please don’t. I couldn’t take it again.”

“I meant it when I
said I was never going to let you go again. I’m yours for as long
as you want me.”

“Well, I want you
forever,” he tells me as he leans over to place kisses down my
neck. “How many times did I make you come last night?”

“I kind of lost
count, but I think that it was around 18.” I tell him and then moan
as he takes my left nipple into his mouth.

“Are you too sore for
me to try to beat my high score?”

“High score? You
sound like Scott,” I tell him, laughing. “But honestly, I am a
little sore.”

“I can work with
that. My mouth will just have to do most of the work today.” He
starts to move under the covers.

It’s late afternoon before we
leave the bed to get dressed. We’ve had a couple of bathroom breaks
and gone downstairs for snacks, but we didn’t leave my bed for too
long. Ryan is coming close to his high score, and while my score is
considerably lower, he’s not complaining. We’re both feeling
happy and sated. Ryan really wants me to see his place so we make
ourselves get up. I walk into the bathroom to get cleaned up and find
a note attached to the mirror.

Reason #2 that you are AWESOME and I LOVE YOU: I’m the only one
who you give your first drafts to. That means a lot to me.

“You found my note.”
I didn’t hear Ryan come in, but he’s behind me, pushing my hair
aside to nuzzle my neck. “Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it.
And I love that you changed the wording.” Seeing him say that he
loves me in writing is pretty, well, awesome.

“Yeah, I didn’t
want to start over, and I do think you’re awesome, so I thought I
should just add to it. I was hoping that you’d like it.”

“It’s perfect. I
think you’re awesome, too. S, I’m going to change mine now as
well.” I look at him in the mirror, and he smiles back at me. “If
that’s okay.”

“It’s definitely
okay. Now, let’s get dressed before we end up back in bed. Not that
I don’t like your bed, but I want to show you mine.”

“I want to see yours.
It’s probably nicer than mine. I didn’t want dad to spend too
much money, so I only bought basic stuff. I haven’t had time to
decorate. What kind of interior designer doesn’t do anything with
their own place?”

“Umm, the super sexy
kind,” he tells me with a kiss. “Besides, I didn’t think you
were planning on staying here permanently.”

“I’m not. In fact,
with the crazy money you’re giving me for the Seattle project, I
was thinking about buying a house.”

“I know an architect
who would build one for you.” He turns me to face him. “I meant
it when I said that I want you forever, Chloe. Let me build us a
house.”

“I don’t know what
to say, Ry. I want to be with you forever, too. I would love to have
you design a house for us. Are you sure that it’s not too soon,
though?”

“I’ve been in love
with you for eight years, Chloe. Maybe if I’d told you that I
wanted you forever three years ago, you would’ve stayed with me. I
had a ring. I still have it. I was just waiting for the perfect
time.”

“I’m going to tell
you again that nothing you did or said was the cause of me leaving
you. You were the perfect boyfriend. As for the ring, I had been
hoping for one, and it would’ve made it harder for me to leave you,
but I still would have. I can’t tell you why. I wish that I could,
but I can’t.”

“I wish you could,
too. But I’m going to tell you again that I forgive you and want to
move forward with you in my life.” He takes my face in his hands.
“So, can I build us a house?”

“I want to move
forward with you, too. And if you decide to give that ring to me
sometime, know that my answer will be yes. As for the house, can I
have a closet room? I’ve always wanted one of those.”

“Anything you want,
Chlo. I want us to work together on the house and the interior.” He
looks me in the eye when he continues. “I will be asking you one
day. I don’t know when, but I will.”

* * *

Ryan

I’ve been a little
freaked out since our conversation in the bathroom, but I’ve worked
hard to not let it show. I wasn’t planning on asking Chloe to let
me build us a house and telling her that I’ve had a ring for her
for three years. Well, actually, I’ve had it for five. I just
thought that we would be together forever back then, so I didn’t
want to ask until I felt that it was the absolute perfect time.
Unfortunately, everything fell apart before I could find that time.

I almost gave it to her
the night that we were finally together. I spent the last three years
trying to figure out if it would have made a difference. Now I know
the answer. I can’t decide if it’s the answer that I want or not.
But I’m no longer wondering. I meant it when I said that I will
give it to her one day. I can’t just yet, though. I know it’s
crazy that I can build us a house and not give her a ring. The house
will be more personal than the ring. I couldn’t let her buy a
house, make it her own, and then ask her to build a house with me,
though. And we both said we wanted to move forward. My brain is
telling me that Chloe may have been right about it being too soon in
our new relationship, though.

“You’re second
guessing asking me to build a house for us, aren’t you?” Chloe
asks as we pull into my parking garage.

I wait until I pull
into my assigned spot and then turn to look at her. “I do want to
build us a house. I always have. I didn’t plan to ask you today,
although I’m not upset that I did. When you were talking about
buying a house and decorating it, I wanted our house to be the place
you decorated the way you want. I still want that, but I can’t help
thinking that you were right when you said it may be too soon in our
new relationship.”

She reaches across the
car and kisses me sweetly on the mouth. “How about this. You draw
up your plans and I’ll draw up mine. We won’t show each other
until we’re ready and both feel that it’s the right time. If you
parents will let me stay in the guest house longer, then that’s
where I’ll live for now. I’ll put some pictures up to make it
more like a home, but I won’t go all out.”

“They’ll let you
stay as long as you like. My parents love you. I love you.” I kiss
her a little more passionately than she kissed me. “I love your
idea, too. You always were the smart one in this relationship.”

“Says the guy who has
negotiated some of the most complex real estate deals in the last few
years while designing some of the most amazing buildings at the same
time.” She smiles at me with a look of pride in her eyes.

“You’ve followed my
work?”

“Yes. You’ve done
some incredible things, Ry. Those deals were crazy good, and I don’t
even have words that can come close to describing how much I love
your buildings.”

This time I don’t
hold back when I kiss her. The kiss is full of passion and love.
Having her tell me that she loves my buildings means more to me than
all of the awards I’ve been given for them. I force myself to pull
away because I know that there are security cameras in the garage,
and I’m not about to put on a show for anyone. “Let’s go
upstairs, Chlo. I have something that I really want you to see.” I
unbuckle my seat belt, get out of the car and run around to open her
door. She waits for me to do it because she knows that I will. She
knows me.

I hold her hand as we
make our way up to my condo. I’m excited for her to see it. And to
see how I have decorated my bedroom. I think she’ll like it. I
think that she’ll like my bed, too, but that’s not the decorating
that I’m talking about.

Chloe

Ryan’s condo is
definitely a guy’s place. He has hardwood floors and a dark brown
sectional in the living room. He knows design enough to have two red
chairs so that it’s not all one color. But there are no throw
pillows or anything that would suggest a woman’s touch. The walls
are decorated with paintings of his buildings done in cool colors. I
recognize Owen’s work.

“These paintings are
amazing, Ry. They bring your buildings to life.”

“My little brother is
crazy talented.”

“Your whole family is
crazy talented. It’s a little intimidating at times.”

“You’re kidding me,
right? You are just as talented as any of us, Chlo. You have to know
that.”

“Thanks for saying
that. I do know that I’m talented, but it’s hard to remember
sometimes. I lost all of those jobs, and no one’s seen anything
that I’ve done outside of my professors at school.”

“That’s all going
to change with the Seattle building. People are going to be beating
down your door trying to steal you away from us.”

I bite my lip because I
know that I need to be honest with him, and he may not like what I
have to say. “I won’t leave to work for another company, Ryan.
But you said that you’ll have nothing for me for a while after
Seattle. If a good project came up, I don’t know if I could say no.
I would try to work it around my schedule as your assistant. I know I
owe you and your dad so much for giving me a job when I needed it.
But I need to be honest with you and tell you that I can’t promise
not to leave. I’m not looking for anything, but if something is
offered to me, I may want to take it.” I turn my back so that I
don’t have to see his reaction.

He’s not going for it
as he turns me back around to face him. “Look at me, Chlo. Please.”
I turn my face up to his and don’t see any anger there. “I would
never want you to turn down a design job because you feel like you
owe something to me or my dad. I love having you for my assistant,
but I wouldn’t ever hold you back from designing. When you start
getting offers, because I know you will, I want you to take the ones
you want to do. You can take a leave from the company or quit if
that’s what you want.”

“I don’t want to
quit, but knowing I can take a leave to do a job makes me feel
better. I actually like being your assistant. Answering your emails
and seeing you work is fun. And when you get into battle mode, it’s
pretty hot.”

“Oh yeah? You like it
when my alpha male comes out?”

“As long as it’s
not directed at me, then yes, I do like it.”

“So you don’t want
me taking charge in the bedroom anymore, Chlo?”

He’s moved behind me
and is holding my hips while he nibbles on my neck. His thumbs are
caressing the top of my ass, and I lean back into him.

“I like it when you
take charge because you have more experience than me. But I also like
knowing that you’ll let me take charge if I want to.”