flooded me. I’d been dying to talk to him, but now I feared it. What if he said he couldn’t forgive me? What if that was merely a parting orgasm? A farewell finger fuck? I would be devastated.
“Shouldn’t you find that file you’re after first? We don’t have much time left.”
Neil nodded soberly. “Right, yes, I should find the file, then we’ll talk.”
With that, he turned and opened a cabinet. Thirty seconds later, he had the file in his hand. We found a photocopier down the hall, and he quietly made a copy before returning the file to its rightful place. Leaving the building, I noticed it had started to rain. Neil motioned to the small coffee shop across the street.
“Want to go over there and grab something to drink?” he asked, and I nodded even though I really just wanted to run away. Anything to avoid the possibility of him saying that though he still lusted me, he couldn’t forgive me. I followed him into the coffee shop, and we found a wobbly, cramped table in the back. A woman with dyed black hair served us two frothy cappuccinos, and then we just sat there looking at each other.
“Go on, then,” I said. “Feel free to tell me what an awful bitch I am. I can take it.”
“You’re not an awful bitch. If anything, I’m the awful one.” He paused, rubbing his chin. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and it wasn’t fair of me to drag you into my mess with Annabelle, especially not after I started having feelings for you.”
“Oh,” I said, fiddling with a coaster. “Well, it’s not like you could’ve known that would happen. You didn’t fancy me at all in the beginning.”
“That’s not true. I thought you were pretty,” he said, then smirked as he amended. “Pretty, but annoying.”
I laughed softly. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I thought you were handsome but stuck-up.”
He shot me a disbelieving look. “Handsome? Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“That’s good to know,” he said, shooting me a sexy smile. “And you’re right. I probably was a little stuck-up.”
“I probably was a little annoying.”
We both laughed. Our gazes held. Neil emitted a long sigh.
“I miss you so much it hurts right here,” he said candidly, tapping the centre of his chest.
I reached across the table to take his hand into mine. “I have a matching hurt in the exact spot.”
His eyes flickered back and forth. “I guess we should forgive each other. To make the pain go away if nothing else.”
“You’re the one who needs to forgive.”
He shook his head. “Not true. As I said, it was wrong of me to string you along and involve you in my Annabelle mess. I’ll never do anything like that ever again.”
Hope bloomed. “Ever again? Does that mean—”
He squeezed my hand. “I want to be with you, Afric. I want you to be mine. The way you make me feel, I’ll never have that with anyone else.”
My eyes lowered to the table, an unusual feeling of shyness coming over me when I said, “So, you want to be my boyfriend?”
“Yes. I want that. More than anything.”
Water filled my eyes. The tenderness of this moment was too much.
“Hey,” Neil said, leaning across the table and lifting his other hand to wipe at the tears rolling down my cheeks. “Why are you crying?”
I lifted my gaze to his, sniffling. “I was just so worried that you’d cut me out of your life. It’s happened to me before too many times.”
“Afric,” Neil said. “Please listen to me and believe me when I say this. The way I feel about you is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I could never cut you out of my life, not even if I wanted to. You’re in here now,” he said, touching his chest again. “I need you.”
“I need you, too,” I whispered. And he had no idea how much I’d needed to hear those words, how much I needed the reassurance.
Amid the chatter of the small café, his fingers weaved through mine as he brought my hand to his mouth and pressed a sultry kiss to my knuckles. I felt it all the way between my legs. He stared at me with such male possession that I had to look away, using my free hand to lift my mug and take a small sip.
“There’s just one outstanding matter,” I said as I set the mug back down.
Neil arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“We’re currently even on the giving and receiving of orgasms front,”