Damn, he’d been blind. Question was, what was he going to do about it?
“Hi, baby. We got everything we wanted for the firefighters.”
“Really?” She smiled brightly and clapped her hands.
When she didn’t throw herself into his arms, he stepped inside Em’s place, grabbed her, and hugged her against him. “Really. It was perfect.”
“Thank you. You fought a great fight.”
“We did. How was your day?”
Tensing suddenly, she took the wine from him, then walked into the next room, setting the bottle in the refrigerator to chill. After that, she busied herself by finding a vase for the roses and adding water. “Fine. I’ve been thinking.”
That sounded ominous. “Go ahead.”
“You were right; I realized today that I can’t turn my back on helping the firefighters. It’s my passion. My dad wouldn’t have wanted me to quit, and I won’t give up. So if my job is still open, I’d like it back, starting tomorrow.”
“Of course. Absolutely.” In fact, that was a huge relief to him. He’d been willing to let her go if she didn’t feel that she could work for him and be with him romantically, but if she could handle it, so could he. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my right hand. The firefighters couldn’t find a better advocate anywhere.”
He groped around on the pass-through bar between her foyer and her kitchen until he found her resignation letter, the one that had given him the kick in the ass he needed to question everything. He ripped it in half, then crumpled it and tossed it into the nearby bin.
“There. Done.” He beamed.
“Good,” she said tightly, then she took a nervous breath, and Brandon’s gut curdled up in alarm. “But I don’t think we should sleep together anymore.” When he opened his mouth, she cut him off. “I know you’re not in love with Kayla. And I absolutely enjoyed being with you this morning. I’ve never had anyone who made me feel so good, who cared so much about my pleasure. With you, I felt sexy.”
“You are sexy.”
Em arranged the roses in the vase, then set them on the counter beside her. “Thank you. But I can’t do ‘just sex’ with you. I know you’ve had a handful of hours to think about us together, but I have to be completely honest. I’m not built for casual sex. Nothing about you is casual for me.”
“Emmy, baby—”
“Let me finish.” She paced into the living room, putting the sofa between them. “I don’t see any reason to give you less than the truth. I love you.”
Those three words sent electricity skittering across his skin. He’d been hard when he’d knocked on her door. But now, he was like steel. He couldn’t wait to touch her, get inside her, and show her how he felt.
“If you don’t think you’re ever going to be able to feel the same, let’s not continue this, Brandon.”
It had cost her a lot to say that, he could tell. And he understood where she was coming from. She’d wasted three years on a man too mired in the past to notice her. Now, she assumed a lot about his feelings—or lack thereof. “You’re not casual for me, either, Em. I may have come late to the party, I may have been blind for most of our time together, but this morning, with one kiss, you opened my eyes. You know how much I rely on you at the office.”
Em scoffed. “You’d be lost without me. You definitely can’t keep a functioning calendar. Papers and e-mails would be everywhere. You’d rarely remember to return a phone call.”
“Right. I’m a train wreck. But I’d give you up professionally before I’d give you up romantically. I really want you back in the office, but I’m pretty damn sure that I need you in my life and that I’m not going to be complete or happy until I’m sure you’re mine.”
A tremulous smile crept up her face. “Yours, huh?”
Brandon made his way around the sofa and took one of Em’s hands in his. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you, Em.” He placed her hand over his heart, thrilled when she met his stare and he saw her love—her very soul—opening and shining from her eyes. “Stay with me, baby. Give me time to catch up and make you happy. If you want to be hands off until then, I totally understand. I want you to be comfortable. To trust me. I’ll wait—”
“If that’s how you feel, I don’t want to wait.” Her green-gold eyes danced with happiness—and a bit of mischief—as she stepped closer and pressed a kiss to his mouth. “I want you now.”
He swallowed. His c**k got harder. The idea of having Em every day by his side, every night in his bed, was beyond seductive. He wanted her every which way he could get her, whether that was naked against his sheets, just holding his hand, or giving him that secret grin at the office between meetings. He wanted every chance to fall completely in love with her and show her exactly how he felt.
But he wanted her ready and trusting. “Baby, I don’t want to do anything until you’re sure you’re ready.”
“Brandon.” She cocked her head to the side.
“Yeah?”
Em brushed a palm down his chest, past his abdomen, farther south until she gripped his erection in her hand. “Take off your clothes.”