“Yeah.” It is nice. “It’s been a long time coming.” Six long years I waited for Macey to come back into my life. And now that I have her, I’m never letting her go. A concept Hale’s still getting used to.

Moments later, Macey and Oliver head back our way, and it’s obvious their talk helped. Macey’s gait is lighter, and a small smile adorns her lips as she strolls to my side.

“Come on, Chrissy,” Oliver says. “We’ve got clients to entertain.”

Macey and I watch them walk away into the depths of the club.

“Everything okay?” I kiss the top of her head as she nestles in against me.

“Perfectly fine.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me more about his role here, and that it really wasn’t something out of the ordinary for him to be in a room with a couple, and not to make more of it than it was.”

I’ve told her the same thing three times. “That’s it?”

She nods. “And he said if it would help, he would let me see him naked too. Even the score, you know.”

“Not happening, sweetheart.”

She scoffs. “Even if that’s what I needed to feel better about the situation?”

Narrowing my eyes, I study her. “Is it?”

“Well, no.” Her cheeks pinken slightly as she glances away.

I chuckle. “Good.” I don’t quite know how I’d feel about that now that we’re exclusively together. I lean down and kiss the sensitive spot behind her ear. “Go into my private room and wait for me on the bed.”

“Okay,” she says on an exhale.

“I changed the code.”

“What is it?” she asks, watching me curiously.

Leaning down to whisper near her ear, I breathe in her scent. Lavender and vanilla, my favorite combination. “Your birthday.”

She smiles warmly at me. The truth is, this is not my private room anymore. It’s hers. If it weren’t for her pouting lip, I would have given up the room. Oliver could use a second therapy room, after all.

Lifting up on her toes, Macey treats me to a kiss on my cheek and then saunters away, her round hips swaying enticingly as she goes.

It takes all the willpower I have not to chase after her. My cock is already lengthening in my pants. But I want to take my time making love to her tonight. Intimacy and sex was something I withheld from myself for so long, and now that I have the girl I’ve wanted all along, it’s like I’m making up for lost time. We lay entangled together every night, and I bury myself in her once or twice every day just because I can, and still it’s not enough.

I wonder if it will ever be enough.

Chapter Seventeen

Macey

Six months later

“You didn’t have to do this, you know,” I say, stepping out of the limousine and glancing around at the park-like setting.

“Are you kidding? I wanted to. The chance to see you in a sexy-as-hell dress?” Reece’s hands skim down my sides, sliding over the silky fabric of the wine-colored dress I’m wearing.

My six-inch heels bring me a little closer to his height, and I only have to rise up on my toes to press my lips to his. We share a deep, passionate kiss before I finally pull away.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?” I ask.

“Come with me.”

The driver pulls off into the parking lot in the distance, while Reece takes my hand and guides me over toward the gazebo where he’s obviously taken the time to make sure everything would be perfect for our date. Twinkling white lights crisscross from the ceiling, and soft music plays in the background. A bucket of ice waits with a bottle of champagne, and a little farther away is a blanket laid out on a grassy hill under the stars.

“What’s all this for?” I smile at him. I’m still not used to the way Reece dotes on me, even after six months of dating.

“We’re still catching up on all the things I missed, all the romantic dates I should have taken you on.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

He shakes his head, smirking at me. “Remember when that twerp Jacob took you to prom?”

I grin. “Of course.”

“It should have been me. I still regret that I wasn’t the one who took you.”

As I look around at our surroundings with new eyes—my sexy man dressed in a black suit and tie, me in a formal gown, and the romantic backdrop around us—I realize he’s recreating prom just for us. It brings tears to my eyes. If my world hadn’t fallen apart in Miami, if I hadn’t caught my ex cheating on me, I hate to think if things had been just a little different that I might not be here with the man I love more than anything.

“I thought you and my brother were okay with Jacob.” I suppress the urge to roll my eyes when I remember how they approved all my dates back then by joint decision

“I did approve of him, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t threaten to neuter him if he laid one fucking finger on you.” Reece’s expression darkens. “Wait, he didn’t touch you, did he?”

“Reece Jackson,” I scold. I should let him believe Jacob did, but I’m not that cruel. I wouldn’t put it past Reece to go searching for the guy and make good on his promise.

“Tell me,” he says.

“No, he behaved like a perfect gentleman all night. By the end of the evening, I was wondering what was wrong with me, and why he didn’t find me attractive.”