Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) (36 page)

“She is?” Mike asked turning to Emily.  “You are?  Good.  Come on, Em.  Let’s go home.  Are you gonna take me home?”

They’d finally gotten him out to the cab and then wrangled him into the back seat.  Before she got in, Lacey spoke.

“Do you want me to come with you?  He’ll need some help up the stairs at his place.”

“I’m taking him to my place.  There’s an elevator.  We’ll be fine, but thank you.” She reached for his hand before he moved away.  “Really.  Thank you.”  She lowered her voice.  “And for the record?” 

He nodded, waiting for her to continue.

“I
am
gonna take care of him.”  She looked toward the cab then back at Lacey.  “And he’s gonna take care of me.”

“Thank you, Jesus,” he breathed out with a smile of relief.  “Because there was no way in hell I could’ve taken another day of this.”

“Sorry.”

“No worries.  It’s taken care of now.  And listen, he’s got today and tomorrow off.  I owe him for covering for me a couple of weeks ago.  Just in case he forgets.”

“I’ll remind him,” she smiled.  “Thanks again.”

“You bet.  And let’s all do dinner,” he said as she got in the back seat with Mike, who was incidentally passed out.  “My wife is dying to meet you.”

“You got it,” she smiled.  “See ya.”

She closed the door and told the cabbie to go back to her place then she settled back into the seat.  Once the car began moving, Mike stirred and reached for her, laying his head in her lap.  She played with his hair, looking down at him.

Wasn’t he the one who said people were the most honest when they were drunk?  This time she wouldn’t need a drink to tell him.  This time, she was going to tell him how much she loved him and then let the chips fall where they may. 

And she had a pretty good idea they would fall just fine.

She had been able to wake him long enough once the cab arrived at her place and she managed to get him into the elevator with the help of the doorman.  Once she’d gotten to her floor, he leaned on her while she led him to her apartment where she got him inside, locked the door and half carried his dead weight to the bedroom.  She let him drop on the bed and tried not to chuckle over the situation.

She leaned down and untied his boots then pulled each of them off, dropping them to the floor.  Next, she unbuckled his belt and took it off, then loosened his button and zipper at the top of his pants.  Her fingers were itching to do more, but instead she just loosened it for him then reached down to drag his legs up onto the bed.

He was already snoring, so she closed the shades and pulled the blanket up to cover him.  Then she lay down next to him, wrapped her arm around his torso and let him sleep.

……

She woke to feeling someone’s hand on her breast and as she opened her eyes, she watched Mike softly snoring on the pillow next to her.  He was still sleeping exactly where she’d left him but now he was completely wrapped around her, his hand comfortably on her breast.

She smiled and touched his hair briefly then slowly extricated herself from his arms.  She needed to go to the bathroom then she was going to put on a fresh pot of coffee.

She looked at the bedside clock.  1:58pm.

She got up and used the bathroom then went into the kitchen to start the coffee.  He probably wouldn’t be able to handle eggs, but she had waffles and she had bagels.

Just then she heard the toilet flush so she made her way back to the bedroom.  He came out of the bathroom all bleary eyed, but looking like he was now coherent.

They stood there looking at each other, her heartbeat tripping in her chest while his eyes traveled the length of her.

“I thought I was dreaming,” he murmured.

She smiled nervously.  “Do you usually dream about being drunk off your ass on my bed?”

“No.”  He looked tenderly at her.  “When I dream about being in your bed I’m definitely not drunk.”

She looked into his gorgeous brown eyes across the room.  “What do you remember?”

“I remember Lacey yellin’ at me.”  His fingers ran through his hair.  She could see him swallow.  “Did I call you?”  He frowned, trying to put it all together in his memory bank.  He didn’t look happy about the fact that he may have called her.

She nodded slowly, her eyes smiling with humor and love.

He swallowed again.  “I left you a message.”

“Yes, you did.”

He stared holes into her, his eyes lighting up with a memory.  “Are you seeing someone, Em?”

“No,” she said shaking her head.  “No.  I went out and grabbed a bite to eat with Ollie the other night.  He knows I don’t think of him that way.  Other than that one time and going to the studio to work out, I’ve been coming home after work.”

The relief on his face was palpable.

“Have you been seeing anyone?” she asked quietly, waiting with dread for him to answer.  If he said yes, she’d lose it.

“I told you I was giving you time to think.  I wasn’t giving you time so I could screw around, Em.”

She swallowed and nodded, wanting to touch him.

“How did I get here?  Am I here because I called you?”  He had an unreadable expression on his face.

“I came to get you because if you had been checking your phone, you would’ve seen that I texted you early last night, and called and texted you this morning.  I’d been trying to reach you.”

“Yeah?”  His eyes brightened, even though they were bloodshot in the midst of his overall state.  Which looked rumpled and fuckable as hell.

“Yeah.”  She smiled softly.  “Your message only prompted me to find you quicker, with a little help from Lacey.”

“It looks like you found me.  Did you wanna talk about anything in particular?”  He gave her a look and waited.

She let the seconds tick by while her face flushed and she geared up the confidence to speak.

“Yeah.  I have a few things to say, actually.”

“I do too.  Come here.”  He reached out his hand and then sat on the bed waiting for her.  She walked over and took his hand sitting next to him.  “Why don’t you go first?”  His fingers played with hers.

She could smell toothpaste on his breath.  He must’ve grabbed some when he used the bathroom.

“I wanted to say,” she stammered, all of the sudden terrified.  “I’ve been thinking,” she whispered, looking up into his eyes.

“Lay down with me.”  Without waiting for her to respond, he lay down on the bed and pulled her up next to him so both of their heads were next to each other on the pillow.  He couldn’t stop touching her while he lay on his side looking at her.  His hand traveled lazily from her hip to her shoulder then pushed back into her hair where he rubbed at her neck.  “I want you to talk to me.  I really do.  But,” he began, sounding nervous.  “Just tell me one thing.”  He swallowed and carried his hand to her mouth where his thumb stroked her bottom lip.  “Is it good or bad?”

She smiled then began.

“One,” she whispered against his thumb, “you’re the only man outside of my family who has ever made me feel completely accepted.”

His eyes bumped between her mouth and her eyes and then finally settled on the windows to her soul.  “I do accept you.  Completely and totally.”

She began touching his face.  “Two, when I’m with you,” she stopped and took a deep breath.  “When I’m with you, there’s no other place in the world I’d rather be.  And when I’m not with you, I miss you.  Terribly.  Like,” she began. 
Just say it, Em.  It’s time to come clean with all of it.
  “Like I can’t breathe fully until you’re with me again.”

He nodded in understanding and swallowed.  His eyes glistened as he took on a more relaxed look.  “Is there a ‘three’?  Please let there be a ‘three’,” he murmured.

“And three,” she paused then met his gaze.
 

Tell him you love him.

No.  It’s too soon.

You’re still a chickenshit!

“Tell me,” he said.

“I’d like to try this boyfriend/girlfriend thing.  Like with sleepovers and stuff, have a more complete relationship,” she stammered.

He leaned up on his elbow so he could look down at her.

“I want that, too.  Very much.”  He looked like he was thinking about saying more.  She bit the inside of her mouth.

He’s practically told you he’s in love with you.  Do you want to listen to that voicemail again to refresh your memory?!

She was about to start talking when he spoke.

“One,” he began.  “You’re the only woman who’s made me see that I want more in a relationship than I ever thought I’d want.”

She ran her hand through his hair and then let it rest on his cheek, her heart beating double time.  She could feel her eyes welling up this time and didn’t stop the tears from falling.

“Two, these last two weeks have been the worst kind of hell.”

“I agree,” she whispered.  “Go on.  Is there a ‘three’?”  She repeated his words.  “Please tell me there’s a ‘three’.”

Do you love me, Mike?

It’s too soon, Emily!

“There’s a long list in number three.  Are you ready to hear it?”

She nodded.

“Three, I love your intelligence.  I love your compassion.  I love how you want to teach boys how to be good men.  I love your sass.  I love that you don’t back down and take shit from people.  I
love
that you can beat me up.  That is so fuckin’ hot, baby,” he said getting sidetracked.  “But most importantly,” he said waiting until her eyes were staring into his.  “I love
you
, Emily White.  I’m talking about the ‘head over heels’ variety, by the way.  I never thought I would see the day where I fully understood it, but there’s no going back for me now.  So, hear this, Em.  You’re it.  If you decide to leave me, I’m just gonna die a bachelor, because you’re it.”

His eyes were probing hers in the midst of tears streaming down her cheeks.

He loves me.  He loves me.  He loves me.

“What are you thinking?” he asked confidently.  “Anything you wanna share?”

She let out a nervous laugh then decided to be fully one hundred percent honest with him.  She nodded ‘yes’ to his question.

“What do you have to say?”  He waited patiently looking down at her with the beginnings of a smile on his lips.  “Go ahead,” he encouraged.  “You can do it.”

She wanted to punch him because he was so sure of himself but instead blinked back the tears in her eyes and cupped his face.

“You made me fall absolutely and madly in love with you.  Jerk,” she added with a smirk.

He let out a light laugh and kissed her.  When he pulled back, his eyes were shining.

“That was my diabolical plan all along.  I knew pretty early on you were gonna be my GC.”

“I was gonna be your game changer.”

He almost looked surprised that she knew, but then he said with narrowed eyes, “I wanna hear that voicemail.”

She let out a half sob, half laugh and grabbed his face, kissing him all over it.  They clung to each other, his arms pulling her tightly to him while they kissed and held on.  They stayed like that for several moments taking comfort, hugging and kissing in relief of the new discovery of the love they’d finally admitted to.

He leaned back but didn’t move his arms.  He just softly kissed her jaw, her cheek, below her ear nuzzling her there.

He let out his trademark ‘mmm’ sound and rested his head in the crook of her neck while she ran her fingers through his hair.

“I love when you touch me,” he murmured.

“I love when you touch me, too.”

“I’ve converted you.  You used to hate it when I touched you.”

“I never hated it.  I just didn’t want you to know that I always loved it.”

He chuckled.  “You told me you loved it when you were drunk,” he said, smiling into her skin.

She groaned.  “What else did I say that night?”

“Are you gonna let me listen to the phone message I left you?”

“Yes,” she smiled.  “It’s the most precious thing in the world and I’ll never delete it.”

He moved and looked down at her.  “You told me you were falling for me.”

He waited for her reaction and she let out a shaky breath. 

Shit.

“You knew?”

“Does that scare you?” he asked quietly.

“A little.  I’m more embarrassed than anything else.  Did it scare you when I said it?”

He shook his head slowly.  “I was already sunk at that point.  It just made me realize that I had my work cut out for me.  Because I knew you never would’ve admitted that had you been sober.”

“You’re right,” she said, giving him an embarrassed look.  “It was hard enough for me to admit
now
.  So,” she toyed with his hair, “you were already sunk by then?” she asked quietly.

“Baby, I’ve been sunk ever since that first time you threw me on the mat.  I knew.  You were like no other woman I’d ever wanted and I knew I wasn’t stopping until I had you.”