Page 48 of Meant For Love
I close my computer and put it in my bag before making sure I clean up the conference room, deciding to work in one of the work spaces he has set up tomorrow. I’m pushing in my chair when Nash comes out of his office carrying his jacket in one arm, and I see his rolled-up sleeves. “Hey,” he says, meeting me at the conference door, “you ready?”
“Yeah.” He reaches for my bag, carrying it with his empty hand as we leave the office. Lulu waves at us as we walk out, and the heat outside hits me right away. “It’s so nice out.”
“We could eat outside, if you want,” he offers, opening the trunk and tossing my bag and his jacket in there. “Pick up a couple of steaks and grill.”
“Umm.” I shake my head. “I hate steak.”
“What?” he asks, shocked.
“Yeah, I know, but I just don’t like steak. Maybe it’s because I ate it so much as a kid, but I just?—”
“We could grill some salmon, then,” he suggests without skipping a beat, “or some shrimp.”
“Ohh, that we could do.” He opens the door for me but blocks me from getting in with his arm. “You need something?” I ask, my pulse picking up from him being close to me now.
“Yeah,” he says, tilting his head to the side and kissing my lips. His tongue comes into my mouth for a bit before he lets me go. “You.” He bends to kiss my neck before moving his hand so I can get into the car. “I was hard most of the day because of your text,” he tells me. “I’m having dessert before we eat.”
He slams the door, and I try to get my heartbeat back to normal as he gets in. We go to the supermarket, grabbing things to throw on the grill, and when we get home, I walk upstairs to get changed first.
The phone rings in my hand the minute I step into the bedroom, and turning, I see it’s Josh. I finally answer his call, “Hello.”
“Hey,” he coos all sweet, “I was wondering if I’d catch you. I’ve called you all day.” I roll my eyes.
“Calling me three times is not calling me all day.” I sit on the bed, not adding in dumbass.
“How was your day?” he asks, not even correcting me. “I know how busy you are when you get back from vacation.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “Listen, Josh—” I start to say but he interrupts me.
“I’m coming down to visit this weekend.” His declaration shocks me.
“For what?” I about gasp.
“I got us dinner reservations at seven thirty.” His voice is cheerful. “I figured we can have drinks before. There are some things we need to talk about.”
I look at the phone to make sure I’m not dreaming this up. He’s never made a reservation for dinner in the whole two years we were dating. Not even on my birthday. “Um, what?”
“I have to go,” he quickly says. “I’ll see you on Saturday. I love you, Zoey.”
The phone disconnects and I don’t have time to think things through before Nash comes in. “Who was on the phone?” he asks me, leaning against the doorjamb.
“That was Josh.” I’m not going to lie to him. That’s not the person I am. “He called me today. You saw it, and now he called me again a couple of times.”
“What did he want?” He folds his arms over his chest, his jaw getting tight.
“He’s coming to town and wants to go out on Saturday.”
“You’re not going on a date with him,” he snaps, standing up.
“I think I have to just to shut it down,” I say. “Closure for both of us.”
“Closure for both of you? I thought you had your closure when you asked him to commit to you, and he didn’t.” His words are truthful and also sting at the same time.
“You’re right,” I admit to him, “but I need to see him face-to-face to tell him it’s over.”
“He’s playing a game with you.” He walks into the room, pulling me up from the bed. “Trust me, I know the game he’s playing.” The words confuse me even more. “Little does he know that the game he’s playing”—he pulls me to him—“I’m going to fucking win it,” he says right before his lips crash onto mine. He spends the whole night making me say his name over and over again.
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