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“This is our moment,” he said, correcting me. “Where would you like to go?”
“Chandler, I don’t want you doing anything extra for me.”
“Why not?”
As it often did, his hand went to my chin, and he used it to direct my eyes to his. “You do more for me than typical CEOs do for their executive assistants.”
“You mean more to me. You’re not just my executive assistant, Cheyanne. This trip and the last one has proven that. So I want no excuses, and I don’t want you overthinking this. All I need is for you to tell me where you want to go.”
Surrendering, I nodded my agreement. “You know I’m an island girl. I have an island bucket list that has all the places I want to travel. Maybe we can pick something off there.”
His smile was a great reward for my submission. “That sounds wonderful, Chy.”
I pulled up the Notes app on my phone, and we went down the list, choosing Sri Lanka.
“If we’re gonna do this, can you promise me something?” he asked.
“Depends on what it is.”
Chandler’s chuckle was so sexy. I squeezed my thighs together as he licked his lips.
“Can you promise me that you will open yourself up to the possibility of us being more than just CEO and EA? I want you, and I’ve never denied that. If you can’t admit that you want me too and give us the space to see where that goes, even if just while we’re on the island, we can finish out our trip here and go back home.” My heart dropped. It felt like an ultimatum, which I could understand. Chandler confirmed my suspicions when he added, “I will chase you forever, but I just… need to know we have the same destination and are on the same path. If you really don’t see a future with me, tell me, and I promise it won’t change our working relationship.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to be with you.”
“Then what is it?”
“I haven’t been completely honest with you about who I am and where I come from, so you wouldn’t understand my hesitance.”
“We can rectify that by you opening up to me. It doesn’t have to happen now. We can go at your own pace.”
“Okay.” I paused and shifted slightly, turning more toward him. “I do like you, Chandler. I’ve always liked you. I haven’t allowed myself to open up to the idea of us because I didn’t think it would ever be possible, but I would love to see what that would be like, even if it’s just for the length of the trip.”
Chandler lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it, urging me to continue. “Men have used me and lied to me to get to my grandfather. They’ve abused me and cheated and expected me to accept it because of their status. I can honestly say with my whole heart I don’t think that will be an issue with you, but my mind…”
“I trigger you,” he said, vocalizing what I’d been feeling but unable to express. “Who I am, what I have, it’s a trigger.”
With a smile, I nodded softly. “Yes,” I admitted for the first time since we’d met. I went on to tell him my full truth—all about my parents and the abandonment, which led to my grandfather adopting me. How friends and lovers treated me. How that led to me being single and enjoying male companionship on my own terms, with boundaries that kept them from even knowing who I was. Greed and the love of money, how money tainted a person’s character, the egos that came with it, I’d dealt with those consequences all my life. It wasn’t until I pulled away from that lifestyle and those people that I started to really be happy and at peace.
“I accept and respect that. To prove it, I won’t ask who your family is. That honestly doesn’t matter to me anyway. I won’t lie and say I don’t want to meet the man who means so much to you one day, but again, we can go at your own pace. For right now, I just want the chance to show you that you can trust me to not be anything like the men in your past. Can I have that?”
I wanted to tell myself to go slow—to not rush into my answer or this new stage. But hell… it had already been two years. I’d gone slow enough.
“Yes, you can have that.”
Chandler smiled and leaned forward, giving me that coveted forehead kiss I’d been missing since the last time he blessed me with it. “You won’t regret this, Chy. I promise.”
As scared as I was, a part of me was confident I wouldn’t.
13
Four Days Later
Chandler
We finished up the trip in London, then headed to Sri Lanka. London was almost five hours behind Sri Lanka, so we had a late arrival, and the time difference was kicking our asses. It didn’t matter how much we traveled; the time difference and jet lag were always a bitch. What further pissed me off was after our twelve-hour flight, we got to the resort and found out the suite I’d reserved wasn’t available. As calm as I was trying to remain, hearing the woman try to explain the situation continued to piss me off.
“I’m unsure why that suite was even available for booking,” she said. “It’s been booked for the last three weeks. I understand this is a last-minute trip for you, so we’re going to try and accommodate you to the best of our abilities. We’d hate for you to go somewhere else.”
