Just Before My Wedding: Trapped By My Ruthless Boss novel Chapter 82

16:40 Fri, May 22 d

Chapter 82

Chapter 82

KISAREL

M

“But what am I supposed to do while you’re away?” I stood up from the bed, frustration pulling at every word. “I can’t just sit here while you go on a dinner date with my cousin, Oceans. I mean…

He stepped out of the bathroom, and whatever I was about to say next dissolved somewhere between my throat and the open air

Water dripped from his hair, dark strands clinging to his forehead and the back of his neck. Droplets traced slow paths down his bare chest, following the lines of muscle, disappearing into the low–slung towel around his waist, like even water knew better than to move carelessly on him.

He had brought me to his house after the confrontation at the office and after he had reminded me exactly how much of my life he controlled.

“Why?” He asked, his silver–grey eyes fixed on me. They were softer than they had been in the office. And immediately, the argument I had been building died in my throat.

He crossed to the dresser and pulled out a white, crisp shirt. He held it, staring at the fabric like it might tell him what to say.

“The dinner won’t take long,” he said finally. “Two hours. Or less. Then I’ll come back.”

I knew all the wrong lines we had already crossed and all the ones still lying in front of us like open graves.

Still, A stupid part of me felt a sting at the fact that he was going out with Moonie.

Stupid me.

Those were feelings that I shouldn’t even entertain for a second.

But, it still stung in a way that made me feel stupid.

“Do you even hear how ridiculous that sounds?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest because my hands were beginning to shake again. “So I’m supposed to sit here and wait for you to come back from a dinner date with your fiancée?”

He turned to face me. His bare chest was still wet in places, his towel sliding lower down his hips, and I hated that I noticed. I hated that my body reacted to him even after all his threats and everything-

“Yes,” he said. “That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“I know that makes me cruel.” he added. “I am cruel, Kiss. I have never pretended otherwise.”

My breath trembled.

“But I am trying not to be cruel with you.”

I opened my mouth to argue. To tell him that I wasn’t a dog he could leave waiting by the door. To remind him that I had a life, a fiance, a future that didn’t involve sitting in his bedroom while he played house with my cousin.

But he crossed the room before I could speak.

He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could feel the warmth coming off his skin. His chest was inches from mine

A drop of water slid down his temple, followed the line of his jaw, and fell onto his collarbone.

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16:40 Fri, May 22 d

Chapter 82

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“I don’t know how to do this cleanly,” he said. “I don’t know how to want you politely. I don’t know how to love you in a way that doesn’t make me want to lock every door between you and the rest of the world”

I almost scoffed.

Love?

Did he just say love?

A laugh almost escaped me, but it turned into something close to a sob. I pressed my lips together quickly, refusing to let it fall apart.

His gaze dropped to my mouth.

“I need you here,” he said quietly. “When I come back. I need to know you’re here.”

“God. Oceans, why?”

He reached up and touched my face. His palm was warm against my cheek, slightly rough, and his thumb traced the arch of my cheekbone with a tenderness that made my chest ache,

“Because I walk into that room with her and pretend.” His voice dropped. “I have to smile. I have to hold her hand. I have to play the part. And the only thing that could get me through it is knowing that when it’s over, you’ll be here.”

I swear. I wanted to step back. I desperately wanted to remind him that I wasn’t his to come home to. That I had my own life, my own obligations, my own wedding to plan.

But, I didn’t.

“I have gotten to love you so much it pisses me off.”

“Oceans-”

“Stop being afraid of me.” His thumb pressed gently against my lower lip. “I meant what I said. About falling for you. About all of it. I know you don’t believe me. I know you think this is just-” He paused, searching for the word “just possession. Just control. But it’s not.”

I stared at him. His eyes were darker than usual, almost grey, and something in them made my throat tight.

“I have not loved anyone this way in eleven years.” His voice cracked slightly on the last word. “The last time I did, I swore I would never do it again.”

“She was the only person I ever loved this way. The only person I let close enough to know how to hurt me properly.” His mouth tightened. “And she did.”

“When it ended, I made a decision. No woman gets that version of me again. No one gets close enough to make me stupid. No one gets the power to make me choose them over myself.” He paused, his eyes moving over my face. “I kept that promise for eleven years.”

His hand slid from my face to my neck, his fingers curling around the back of my head.

“And then you walked into my office.” He let out a breath that was almost a laugh, but there was no humor in it. “You were wearing those ridiculous glasses and that nervous smile, and I told myself it was just attraction. Just lust. That it would burn

out.”

“It didn’t.

I wanted to look away, but I could not. His eyes would not let me. His hand at my neck would not let me.

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16:40 Fri, May 22 M·

Chapter 82

I couldn’t breathe. His face was so close. His hand was so warm. The vulnerability in his eyes was so raw, so unguarded, that I almost couldn’t look at it.

This was Oceans at his lowest.

And God help me, it was reaching parts of me I had been trying so hard to close.

“I have fallen for you,” he said. “Completely Irreversibly. And I don’t know what to do with it.”

My heart was doing something painful behind my ribs. Something that felt like cracking open.

“You can’t say things like that.” I whispered.

“I can.” his face drew closer to mine. “I love you.” The words came out of him like a burden he had been carrying for a long time and had finally put down. “I know what that means coming from me. I know what it costs to say it and I know what it costs you to hear it. But I love you, Kiss. And I am done pretending I don’t.”

The tear that ran down my face arrived without permission.

His thumb caught it before it reached my jaw.

He pulled me into him, his both arms wrapping around me fully, with my face against his bare chest.

He held me with an all–encompassing grip, like he had not held anyone like this in a very long time and was remembering what it felt like.

I pressed my hands flat against his chest.

“This can’t work,” I said against his skin. My voice came out wet and muffled. “You know it can’t. We both have people. We both have weddings in three months. We can’t keep doing this and pretending there won’t be consequences. We can’t keep hurting-”

He pulled back just enough to look at my face.

Then he kissed me before the next words formed.

He kissed me with a slowness that was its own kind of devastating – his mouth on mine was soft and intentional and patient, his hands cradling my face like I was something he had been afraid of losing for a long time and was only now allowing himself to hold properly.

I kissed him back,

God help me, I kissed him back with everything I had and everything I had been pretending I didn’t have.

I felt the full, terrifying, irreversible weight of what I had just admitted to both of us without saying a single word.

He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine as we breathed in the same air.

“This can’t work,” I said quietly.

the weddings, the “Leave that for later.” His voice was rough at the edges. His forehead still against mine, his thumbs still at my jaw. “Just love me back. That’s all I’m asking right now.” He pulled back enough to look at me. “The bridge consequences, all of it

we cross it when we get there. Together.” His eyes held mine. “But right now, just love me back,

Kiss.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Who else feels that something is about to go terribly wrong? Let me know what you think in the

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