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Grabbing his phone, Colton punched in his email address.
“It’s done.” He extended his hand forward, with his palm open. “Now, give me the necklace.”
The biker grabbed a phone from the back of his bike and pressed a finger to the screen. After a few minutes, he finally reached back into the bike’s compartment and retrieved the white plastic bag.
Colton pulled his hand back, as though afraid to touch the bag. “Frances, can you check if that’s the necklace you saw in the photograph?” he asked, still staring at the biker’s outstretched arm.
Gently taking the bag from the biker’s grasp as though any sudden movement would change his mind, I peeked inside. “Yes, it’s the same one.”
Colton nodded, but I noticed his throat working up and down.
“Hope she’s worth it,” said the biker, looking over at me. I blushed, knowing the necklace wasn’t for me. It had nothing to do with us. But Colton surprised me when he responded, “She’s worth way more than that.”
My heart leaped at his words. I didn’t know if it was bravado or if he had truly meant them. Regardless, he stole my heart with those six words, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get it back.
As we drove out of the lot, I was too reluctant to mention it, so I ignored what he’d said and focused on the necklace. “Did you want to look at it?”
“Not yet,” he said. “I want to be at home when I do.”
He drove much more slowly than he had before, stopping at every yellow light and barely hitting the speed limit. When he pulled into his driveway and turned off the ignition, he let out a loud sigh and turned toward me.
“Can you show it to me, please?”
My heart pounded in my chest. For a moment, I panicked, wondering if I’d been mistaken. It looked just like the necklace his mother had worn, but was it the same one?
The gold felt frigid in my hands, the smooth metal sliding between my fingers. I lifted the necklace and let it dangle in front of him. “Is this the one?”
He reached for it, turning the piece back and forth until he brought his eyes closer to the clasp. Pulling his lips into his mouth, he inhaled sharply through his nose, then exhaled a loud breath through his lips.
“Are you all right, Colton?” I asked when he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands.
His voice was raw, as though each word scraped the back of his throat. “It’s finally over,” he said. “It’s finally finished.”
“Your search?” I asked.
“My penance.”
The pain in his eyes cut through my chest and squeezed my heart. This man had blamed himself for something someone else had done to him. But not anymore. “You did it, Colton. You’ve recouped every piece that your uncle stole from you and your brothers. Now you have everything you’ve always wanted.”
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they burned with an intensity I felt in the pit of my stomach. It tossed my insides around until I could hardly breathe. “Not everything,” he said. “I want you, Frances. Not just today, but every day. I want you in my office, in my bed, in my life.”
I inhaled sharply, unsure of how to react to his words. They excited me. They enchanted me, but mostly they overwhelmed me. The thought of being with Colton, no lie stopping us, no past holding us back. It was too much—he was too much. And in the past, well, I never felt like I was enough.
But not anymore.
My old insecurities still rustled in my head, but I was tired of letting them control me. I’d come so far in the last few months, there was no reason I couldn’t go much further—especially now that I wanted more. I thought a powerful CEO like Colton could never fall for a mailroom girl like me. It wasn’t my job that held me back, but the limitations I’d placed on myself.
I wanted Colton. I wanted him in my life too, and I was done being afraid that I wouldn’t be good enough. I was enough—for him and for me.
Placing my hand on his cheek, I slowly brought my lips to his. “Take me home,” I whispered against them. His gaze dropped, and he nodded. I smiled, realizing he didn’t understand what I’d meant. So, when I brushed my thumb across his bottom lip, I added, “Take me back to your place.”
His breath hitched, and his eyes heated right before he devoured my lips.
25
Frances
Two weeks later, my blue heels clicked against the white marble floor of Crawford Corporation. My gray pencil skirt and gray blazer blended perfectly with the other suits as I walked toward the elevator. Three of us entered at the same time, and I found myself at the back.
