Yours, For Good (Cozy Latine Billionaires #4)

36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Nora

Javier didn't let go of my hand as we walked the Manhattan streets. I liked it too much. It brought butterflies to my stomach— the kind that didn't only fly with the excitement of fresh romance, but had sharp edges on their wings. The scratches reminded me things weren't settled between Javier and I.

"What would you like to do?" he asked. "The night is ours."

"Let's see where the night takes us."

Summer air was balmy against my face. New York lights shone bright on us, keeping the evening well alight. Ads displayed on screens large enough for movie theaters, teasing at stories of action and power and love. Tourists seemed to be everywhere, obvious even to me; locals walked fast to their destination, circumventing the visitors that slowed down, looked up in admiration, and took pictures of everything.

The view reminded me that, once upon a time, being in Manhattan like this, holding someone's hand, would have only belonged in the movies and not to my own life. I watched the buzz of people and flashing lights and it struck me— my life had changed. Just like I had hoped. After a night like tonight, it might change in ways I never counted on as well.

Javier didn't seem to spare people around us a second thought.

He glanced at me. "You smiled more tonight. I get it if you're still hurt and unsure but, maybe… you're less angry?"

He sounded so tentative that it stole another smile from me. I'd noticed his eager eyes all through the night, searching for me. Every time I caught him seeking me out, it softened my heart more and more.

Across the room, his attention pleaded for my mercy, while other people dropped crumbles of evidence in my ears that he had meant to do good. He had listened to what I said in my letters and cared enough to bring change to the JGH.

I sighed. "I've been thinking since… you know. Things in your office? The whole of that day, really. Non stop since… Christmas, in a way."

He nodded. The way he squeezed my hand seemed to be a reflex.

"I am still hurt, Javier. Still angry, but it's not bubbling up out of my pores anymore. As it goes away, though… I feel the pain more… the anxiety."

"Tell me, Nora. Please, let me help. I'll do anything."

"The thing is, I know deep in my gut you mean it. It helps, but it doesn't change that it's pretty clear we won't have friendship."

"Wh— What do you mean?" he stuttered. His next words came out rushed. "I think we can be friends… but friends who are also exploring something else. We can have friendship, too…"

"You said it yourself. Friendship isn't the same as romance, even if it's hard to define. Maybe that's part of the answer— lovers can be friends, but it's rare that lovers can go back to friendship… I think. I don't know, but it scares me."

"I don't want to lose you…"

"That's the exact issue. Despite everything, I don't want to lose you." I swallowed. "I wanted to place my bets on friendship because I know once formed it can last. I don't know how long I can have you for if we try something different."

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. People passed us by, a couple of them evidently annoyed that we had disrupted the flow.

He lifted his free hand to my face. "Is that enough reason not to try?"

"Maybe not if that's all that there was between us, but there's also the issue of trust. You kept me in the dark for so long, Javier. You made me a fool."

"I'll earn back your trust. I'll prove myself to you. Just, please… give me time." His words held the weight of urgency.

"What do you plan to do with that time?"

He dropped his forehead to mine. "I'll show you how reliable I can be. I'll always be there for you. I'll wait and take it as slow as you need me to. I'll prove I'm happy to take your lead and take every risk with you."

I covered his hand with mine on my face. "I need you to realize that if we do that and we get closer, the risk is higher. Maybe in one year or two you'll regret working so hard on it, and what if we break up then?"

"What if we discover we're magical together after all, and suddenly it's been twenty years, and we look back and marvel at where we are?"

My breathing came faster. He gazed at me with hope in the blue of his irises. It latched onto my heart and pulled, inviting me to consider a future like that for us.

"Do you really think we could work in the long term?" I asked.

He pulled me closer to the curb. Someone I hadn't seen strode past us, but we were safer here. Javier never stopped focusing on me, even as he kept us from being run over.

Him in his suit, me in my dress; together on a random Manhattan street, holding hands.

He caressed my face again. "You're nervous. I am too. It's okay. We can answer all these questions together."

All I could do was nod.

We ended up dancing in a random club we came across. This time I didn't have to beg or provoke; Javier led me to the place with a smile tilting his lips.

The music was loud enough to feel it beating in my chest. People in their best outfits danced around us, yet we were overdressed. Javier undid his bowtie and let it hang from his neck. I opened my overshirt buttons, the side panels hanging to my sides and leaving me in my bustier. He undid a couple of buttons of his formal shirt while his eyes dragged down my chest.

He leaned close to my ear. "Can I dance with you like I didn't get to on Halloween?"

"What does that mean?" I put a hand on his chest.

He covered it with his own large palm. "I want to touch you, too. Have my hands on you as we move to the music."

I gave him a slow nod. "I'll ask my scared heart to step aside."

He started moving to the music, on par to the heavy beat of bass in my chest. "Let your heart stay. Mine is trying to join, too. There's room for them both."

His hands fell to my hips. I didn't know if he guided my movements or he followed, but we swayed in sync. My fingers clung to his tie, keeping him close. One, two songs, and our dancing became more sensual. His clean shaven cheek caressing my face, or his temple resting on mine. Our bodies sang together, rubbing and teasing.

The club kept a dim, cold blue light in the space. Different colors sparkled like stars from bulbs in the ceiling. Music was all we could hear, erasing the hundred people around us. I lost myself to our dance. Javier was a magnificent partner, reading my movements before I knew them myself, and matching me on every step of the way.

With assured hands, Javier turned me and pressed me to him. He breathed on my neck, kissed it; my mouth opened in surprise. My heart beat faster, in a heated response to his hands trailing paths on my skin, over my clothes. To his hardening cock, hidden to most people, but large and hard against my ass.

I gasped for air and pushed back. He hissed. All the while, we kept pace to the rhythm blasting through speakers. We could have been alone for all I knew; others might have danced more innocently or have been more overtly sexy. I didn't care. My hands reached back to swim in his hair. His fingers traveled over my hips, my waist, my tummy. Javier and I moved to the music in a way that had my heart galloping in an endless sprint, and it made me forget every doubt.

Despite the heat exuding from a hundred humans moving together, my nipples hardened to pinpoints. If we'd been alone, I would have brought Javier's hands to them. Let him touch me again— touch me more.

I had never been held like this. Never had a dance partner so good, I forgot why we moved like this. Music lifted me up, his body grounded me to the moment, and it all felt like foreplay instead.

I turned in his arms. Lifted my hands to his neck. His lips had parted, his breathing as fast as mine.

He watched me with blue fire in his eyes again. "Nora…"

His hands dug into the flesh where my back met my ass. He pulled me closer.

I lifted my face to his. Licked my lips.

"Nora…"

His lips crashed into mine. We kissed and kissed and yet we swayed and shifted following drums and bass and singing. My arms went around his shoulders and pulled, he kept me close and up on the tips of my feet.

Even as we stopped kissing and fought to catch our breath, our bodies sought each other.

He rested his forehead on mine. "I'm yours, Nora. Please. Let me show you."

I kissed him again. "Can we go to your home?"

We swayed in each other's arms for one beat, two.

"Have you forgiven me?" he finally asked.

"That… might happen. For now, I want to be with you tonight."

He hesitated. Gave me another kiss, like he couldn't help himself.

"You can stop me at any point," he said. "One word from you— hell, a single sigh that sounds unsure and I—"

"I won't stop you. I want to be with you tonight."