Chapter 42: : Chapter 42

I tap my pen against my desk absent-mindedly as I think back to the conversation I had with Ezra, my mind replaying what he said about Tyra over and over again, each echo cutting deeper than the one before it.

He loves her fiercely, and he always will.

I knew it going in, so why does it hurt as much as it does? It’s not like I ever thought we could have something real. It was never meant to be more than sex, and what we have isn’t built to last. I know that, but it still kills me to know he’ll never love me the way he loved her. I’ll always be someone that filled a void but never closed it, and I knew it going in.

It’s what I wanted, isn’t it? I wanted us to move on from each other easily, so we could still be around each other once we part ways, entirely unaffected. Except…I don’t think that’s what I want anymore. I don’t want to go back to a time when we didn’t talk every day, where I wouldn’t look up at him to find him already staring at me, his eyes shimmering with hidden secrets that only I know. I promised myself I’d never try to replace Tyra, yet now it’s her place in his heart I want.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts when the company’s internal messaging system chimes, and my heart begins to beat a little faster when I see Archer’s name.

Archer Harrison

are you free for coffee?

I raise a brow, surprised by his message. We’re trying our best to keep things professional at work, but truthfully, I missed him so much last weekend that I’ve been thinking about sneaking into his office just so I could kiss him and reassure my aching heart.

Serenity Adesina

I’m free now!

Archer Harrison

meet me at that little coffee shop you like, a few blocks down.

I smile to myself as I grab my purse and head out as stealthily as I can, scared someone will want to join me if I tell them I’m headed out for coffee. Theo, especially, has taken to accompanying me for lunch and coffee breaks lately, and it’s made it that much harder to even have a private conversation with Archer.

My stomach flutters as I walk into the near-empty coffee shop, finding Archer sitting in the back. He smiles up at me as he rises from his seat, and my heart overflows with happiness.

“Hey,” he murmurs, reaching for me.

I gasp when he pulls me into his arms, one hand wrapping around the back of my neck, the other cupping my face. I know I should remind him that we’re in a public place very close to work and that we shouldn’t be doing this, but instead, I rise to my tiptoes, my lips brushing against his.

He groans, his hand sliding into my hair as he kisses me softly, slowly, his tongue brushing along the seam of my lips, silently demanding I open up for him. I lose myself in him, in this moment that feels so heartbreakingly real.

“I missed you,” he whispers against my mouth the moment I pull away, both of us breathing hard. Archer looks at me like he can’t get enough of me, and I drink him in, my heart aching for reasons I can’t quite fathom.

“I missed you too,” I admit, my voice soft, vulnerability shining through. He has no idea how badly I needed to see him today, how desperately I wanted his lips on mine, showing me it’s me he wants.

Archer pulls out a chair for me, and I glance around, relieved the place is still empty. “It’s never this quiet around this time,” I tell him as I take a seat. “We’re lucky.”

He smiles in a somewhat secretive way as he sits down next to me, his arm wrapping around me, and I raise a brow, instantly deciphering that expression of his. “Oh God,” I whisper. “It’s not a coincidence that it’s empty in here, is it?”

He pinches my chin between his thumb and index finger. “My answer will depend entirely on whether or not you’ll be mad at me if I tell you that I bought this place because you like the coffee here.”

I love you.

The thought comes suddenly, the words sitting on the tip of my tongue, begging to leave my lips. I swallow them down, hiding the feelings I shouldn’t have. “I could never be mad at you,” I say instead.

God, I’ve never felt this way before. I thought I knew what it was like to be in love, but I didn’t. I had no idea how raw it felt, how real, how painful.

“Good,” he whispers. “Because the last thing I want to do is make you mad, darling.” He leans in, his kiss featherlight this time, like he too feels this moment between us is breakable.

“How is your sister?” I ask, my eyes roaming over his face. “I know you were worried about her.”

He smiles, his eyes twinkling. “She’s fine. There’s a lot standing between Zane and Celeste, but they love each other fiercely, so I have no doubt they’ll be okay. It won’t be easy, but they’ll make it through. They’re…honestly, I think they’re meant to be.”

He grabs my hand and entwines our fingers, and I squeeze tightly, loving the feel of his skin against mine. Archer raises our joined hands to his lips and kisses my knuckles softly. “You know what I kept thinking about last weekend?”

I shake my head, lost in his amber eyes.

“What it’d be like to have you at home with me.”

My heart skips a beat, and he smiles, a hint of vulnerability crossing his face. “Celeste very blatantly cheated at a card game we love to play a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was kind of cute how Zane backed up his wife when I called her out on it. Ever since, I’ve just been thinking that it’d be nice to have you there with me.” He looks away, a hint of rosiness along his cheekbones. “I need backup against those two cheaters. I’ll never win a game otherwise.”

The thought of going home with him, as his girlfriend, makes the butterflies in my stomach go wild. “I’d love that,” I murmur, my chest rising and falling rapidly. “Archer…”

He reaches for me and wraps one of my curls around his finger. “Hmm?”

“What would you say if I told you the painting is done?”

He freezes, his eyes finding mine. “I’d tell you that I think I want the backdrop to change.”

I study his expression, uncertain what to make of it. Is he trying to postpone the end of this thing between us too—or is he truly just not ready to let her go?