Page 110 of Seale the Deal

To stop pretending we’re only doing this for immigration. My pulse thunders in my ears. Maybe we find out if there’s actually something here.

We hold each other’s gaze. Ruger lets out a slow breath, but the conflict doesn’t leave his face. I can practically see him thinking about all the reasons this could go wrong.

I promise, if I figure out I’ll be miserable here, I’ll tell you, I say. We can figure it out day by day.

Ruger’s eyes search mine, like he’s looking for the certainty neither of us can give.

Finally, the corner of his mouth lifts. Okay. Let’s do it.

I lean forward, fully intending to kiss him, then stop. Wait.

What?

Does this mean everything is on the table, including… that?

Ruger’s eyes narrow. That, meaning sex?

I’m thirty-six. I have a past. And somehow, the word sex makes me feel like a virgin and incapable of making eye contact. Yeah.

A slow smile spreads across his face. Are you offering?

A blush erupts across my cheeks as heat curls low in my belly. Are you accepting?

His laugh is low and warm. Wrenley, there isn’t a universe that if you offered yourself to me, I wouldn’t praise every. Inch. Of. You.

The last three words are staccato and said with such intensity that I find myself squeezing my legs together a little tighter. I want him in every way, and it’s freeing to know that I can have him.

Slowly, he leans closer, the space between us shrinking. His nose brushes mine. His breath mingles with my own. But before we can seal our decision, a thought comes racing to the forefront of my mind.

Remi, I say suddenly.

Way to kill the moment.

I chuckle. Sorry.

He finally releases my hands, but only so he can cup my cheeks. What about her?

What do we tell her?

His thumbs brush lightly across my cheeks.

Wrenley, I don’t think we need to tell anyone anything right now, he says. We don’t even know anything yet.

He’s right. We’ve just spent however long admitting we have feelings and trying to figure out what they mean. Giving this space to grow into whatever it’s meant to be makes sense. If we tell Remi we’re together, only for me to realize six months from now that Alaska isn’t where I’m supposed to be, it will only turn this complicated situation into an even messier one.

Plus, it’s kind of fun having something that’s completely ours.

Okay, I say.

Okay. His smile returns. Now, can I finally kiss you?

Yes. You can finally kiss me.

The look he gives me steals the breath from my lungs.

Slowly, Ruger leans in. My hand slides up his arm until it settles against the side of his neck, and he gives a soft smile. Like he needed that tiny bit of encouragement—that knowledge that I’m choosing this too.

Then his mouth finds mine, and this kiss doesn’t feel like a million unanswered questions. It feels like the answer to all of them.