Page 50 of Yours, Finally

"I'll dress as a huaso, too, if you like. We'll just need a manto that goes with my coloring." His voice deepened. "Un sombrero elegante y una faja."

I gulped. Jake had learned Spanish at some point during his years with us, and he'd evidently worked hard at it— he barely had an accent.

"We can make it work…" I managed, resorting to English in the hope it would help me with self control.

"Ahem." Olivia smirked our way. "I think there's a lot I might have missed here."

Jake's lips lifted at the corners. "I hope you don't mind if I steal Vi for a minute?"

My friend cocked her head. "That depends. Are you giving her back?"

"Eventually." He grinned. "I promise."

She arched an eyebrow at him, then smiled at me. "I'll be around for a while longer, but I'm always just a text away."

After some parting words, Jake guided me away with a warm, large hand on my lower back.

That was the night I became the heroine of my own romance, and I asked the man of my affections to give us a chance. With us going away on our own, maybe it would be my opportunity to roll the dice with our future.

"Everything okay?" I glanced at him.

"I think so. We'll see after we talk."

Butterflies fluttered all over inside. Yes, I might be rushing it, or rushing him— he'd been a VP for less than a week, but I couldn't wait any longer. I needed something to reassure me there could be a future between us.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"No idea." He chuckled. "I'm hoping we find somewhere private."

I bit my lip, dying to know what all this was about, hoping I'd get my time to share a thing or two. Maybe I should have practiced a speech, but it was too late for that.

We ended up going back to the welcome hall at the entrance of the building, and ignoring the ropes blocking the stairs. My heart beat fast as we reached a second floor that opened to a large roof patio. We tried several glass doors until we found one unlocked; the patio was undecorated and plain as a result but, in my mind's eye, I could see a lovely party overlooking the city at night.

"Okay." I turned to Jake. "What's going on? This is so secre—"

The word died on my tongue as Jake gazed at me with hunger. I froze, taken by the intensity of his gaze. His lips took on a wolfish smile, his teeth showing in the ravenous tilt of his mouth.

He took a deliberate step my way, and my heart sprinted into a gallop in my chest. Another step, and I gasped.

"Violeta…"

My name, raspy in his throat, stilled me. Centered me. A slow smile stretched across my face.

Clarity filled Jake's blue eyes. The next instant, he strode to me, cradled my head in his hands, and kissed me like there was no tomorrow.

Every synapsis in my brain exploded into its own stellar blast. With every tiny movement of Jake's lips on mine, my system rewrote the way I existed in the world. I was dizzy, and my blood's temperature rose with each passing second. He bit my bottom lip and licked it, weakening the strength of my knees; when my mouth opened in response, he attacked and deepened the kiss. Like he tracked my every move and breath and sound, he knew to hold me up in a tight embrace, when the intensity of feeling could have fell me like a tree.

"Jake—" I tried, but no words formed in my head.

"There's so much we need to say, I know." He kissed my cheek, the curve of my jaw. "But I couldn't go one more minute without kissing you."

"Jake…"

This time, his name came out in a breath.

"I like how you say my name." He pushed me until my back was to a nearby wall. "I want to hear you say it again."

"Make me," I said, before we kissed again.