His Unexpected Lover Page 0,48
“Kiera, you’re not getting this. I love you,” he said with absolute conviction. “And you love me. We’re not going through the same thing we did years ago.” He put his hands on her shoulders, shaking her slightly to emphasize his point.
“I agree,” she said, her smile broadening.
The relief he felt at her words loosened up the band that had been squeezing his chest. “Then call this guy,” he said and pulled a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket, “and ask him about the job in Paris. It’s a perfect opportunity.”
Kiera glanced at the paper, then tossed it onto her desk without interest.
Axel looked down at the paper that had floated off of her desk to the floor, then down at her. “You’ll call him later?” he asked, trying to figure her out. She wasn’t making any sense. Why wasn’t she running around her desk and eagerly dialing the number he’d just given her? It wasn’t like her to procrastinate about anything. She dove right into every situation, handling the problems with finesse and class.
She laughed at his confusion. “Nope.”
He wasn’t sure what was going on. “Kiera, why are you being so vague?”
She laughed softly and reached up again, kissing him one more time. “I’ve already turned down the job.”
That was unexpected. “You’ve already spoken to him?”
“About an hour ago.”
Axel cursed Brett under his breath. “That lying, conniving…” He shook his head and pulled her closer. “You’re going to accept the job. It’s a great job.”
She grabbed onto his tie and pulled, bringing his head lower. She lifted up one more time and kissed him gently, but with more feeling this time. “I’m not taking the job,” she whispered against his lips. “And we’re not moving out of Chicago.”
Axel would have argued further, but he couldn’t speak while he was kissing her. “I love you,” he told her several minutes later when they came up for air.
Her smile widened and she looked up at him with all the love she had for this man in her eyes. “I love you too!” she laughed, delighted that things were working out so well. Her life might not be what she’d hoped, but thankfully, it was turning out to be even better!
He turned serious all of a sudden and Kiera’s smile faded. “What’s wrong?” she asked, unaware that her hands were gripping his arms more tightly.
He sighed and ran his hand up her back as if he needed to make sure she was still here with him. “I don’t want this to be temporary.”
“I don’t either,” she replied, not sure why he would think anything like that.
“I want to marry you, Kiera. I want to know that every day, you’re going to be there by my side. I don’t want to worry that you’re going to get another job offer and I might lose you.”
Was that all he was worried about? She moved closer, snuggling against his broad, muscular chest, reveling in his strength. “Hopefully I’ll have a place here at The Thorpe Group for at least a few years. Until we decide to….”
“To what?” Axel demanded, pulling back slightly but not letting her get away from him. “I mean it. I want the whole thing. I want you forever.”
She laughed and kissed the middle of his chest. “Until we decide to have kids,” she explained shyly. And then something occurred to her. “You do want to have kids, don’t you?” she asked, suddenly worried.
Axel let his breath out in a whoosh, relieved that she wasn’t thinking of leaving him in a few years. “Of course I want to have kids. With you! Lots of them. And I want to practice making kids a whole lot more right at the moment,” he told her, lifting her up onto her desk and pushing her back so she had to hang onto his shoulders to steady herself. “I want you completely at my mercy as well,” he said, nibbling at her neck and enjoying her laughter.
There was a knock on her door and, before Axel could give the person permission to enter, they were already coming into the office.
Axel turned to snap at whoever had been so rude but stopped when he saw his frowning brother Ash standing there in the doorway.
“What do you want?” Axel demanded, keeping Kiera in his arms even while she struggled to sit up. She was more than a little embarrassed to have her boss see her in this kind of a compromising position.
“So it’s going to happen?”