Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (25 page)

I’m glad that I’ve
taken this time to be apart from him romantically, but still see him
almost every day. It’s really hard not to kiss him or jump him. But
I think it’s proving to me that we really are meant to be together.
That it’s not just lust. Although I’m definitely in lust with him
almost as much as I’m in love with him.

I have just finished
eating a sandwich at my desk when Maggie comes into the office.

“Hi Chloe. I was
hoping that we could talk.”

“Sure, please have a
seat.”

“Actually, I was
hoping that we could go into one of the conference rooms. I wanted to
have some privacy.”

“Oh, umm, sure. Let
me see which one is available and transfer the phone calls.” I
check the schedule on my computer and then lead her down the hall. We
go inside and sit down.

“Chloe, I need to
thank you again for what you did for me and my family. It was truly
selfless, and I’m so sorry for the three years that it cost you. As
well as all of the pain.”

“You’re welcome,
Maggie. I love all of you, and I’d do it again.”

“I know. Your love
for my family and Ryan, in particular, is what I wanted to talk to
you about.”

“I do love Ryan,
Maggie. I’m just not sure if that’s enough.”

“It’s not enough by
itself, Chloe. You two have more than love, though. My son respects
you and your talent. He truly likes you and thinks of you as a
friend.”

“But he doesn’t
trust me. And I’m not sure that I can trust him while I’m gone. I
don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but three months is a long
time for a guy like Ryan.”

“While I don’t
particularly like to talk about my sons’ sex lives, I’m not
blind. I saw the many women that Ryan used to try and forget about
you. I also know that it never worked for him. It’s painful to see
your child hurting and making the wrong choices to try to fix that
hurt. Gary and I know that the boys need to make their own mistakes
and learn from them, so we try not to interfere.

“As for trust, Ryan
does trust you, Chloe. The problem is that when you left him so
suddenly, he began to doubt his own self- worth. All of those women
were throwing themselves at him, but the woman he wanted didn’t
want him anymore. His heart knows that you’re his and only his, but
his brain had some trouble processing it. Even if we hadn’t seen
that video, he knew he was wrong about you and Adam. He told me he
realized almost immediately after accusing you of being with him that
he was wrong.

“Your trust in him is
not something that I can decide for you, Chloe. I just want to remind
you that while he had sex with those other women, that is all that he
did with them. None of them slept over at his condo, and he didn’t
actually sleep at their places, either. He may have taken them to
dinner and a show, but we were never introduced to anyone. They were
merely a substitute for the woman who owned his heart. You, Chloe.
There’s never been anyone for my son except for you. I think if you
look deep inside your own heart, you’ll know that what I’m
telling you is true. You can be gone for three months and know that
my son will never cheat on you or cause you to mistrust him.”

I started crying
somewhere in the middle of what she was telling me. I know that she’s
right. “Wow. Ryan told me that he wouldn’t fight fair. And Owen
told me that you were all going to help him, but I didn’t expect
you to come to me like this.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve
upset you, dear, but I love you both so much. I want you to spend the
next two weeks that you still have here with my son. Making some more
happy memories before you go to London.”

“I want that too,
Maggie. You haven’t upset me. You’ve made what I knew already
more clear to me. Now, I need to clean myself up and find Ryan.”

We hug and walk out of
the conference room. Before I can make it to the private bathroom in
the office, Ryan spots us.

“Chloe, are you
okay?”

“Hi Ry. Yeah, I am. I
just need to go and wash my face. Then I’d like to talk to you if
you have time before your meeting.”

“I always have time
for you.”

“I’ll be back in a
minute. Thanks again, Maggie.”

“You’re very
welcome my dear.” I hug her again and walk into the bathroom

“What was she
thanking you for, Mom?” I hear Ryan ask as I close the door.

“You’ll see.” Is
all she tells him.

* * *

Ryan

I don’t know what
just happened with my mom and Chloe, but I’m kind of freaking out.
While it’s only a couple of minutes before Chloe comes into my
office, it seems like hours. She looks a little shy as she stands
there, biting her bottom lip.

“You need to stop
biting your lip, Chlo. I’ve been doing a good job of reining in my
insatiable lust for you these past two weeks, but my self-control
does have limits.”

“Oh, sorry. You’ve
done a great job with everything these last two weeks. I just had a
good talk with your mom.”

“A good talk? You
were crying.”

“Yeah. She reinforced
some things for me that I’d come to realize already on my own.”

“Like?”

“That we have more
than just love between us. There’s friendship and respect, too.
Also, I realize that we do trust each other. That part took me the
longest to understand, but I do now.”

“What are you saying,
Chloe?”

“I’d like to spend
these two weeks before I leave for London with you.”

“With me how?”

“Well, I’d like to
be your girlfriend again and hang out with you.”

“Hang out?”

“You know. Dinner and
movies and stuff.”

“Stuff?”

“Are you going to
make me spell it out?”

“Yes, I think that I
am.” I’m smirking on the outside and freaking out on the inside.
I did it. I won her back.

She walks over to my desk to grab
paper and a pen. She writes for a few seconds and then hands it to
me. My cock’s at full attention as she leans over. She licks her
lips as she meets my eyes. This is the first note that she’s given
to me since we got back from Chicago.

Reason #75 that you are AWESOME and I LOVE YOU: Your insatiable
lust for me is the hottest thing ever. I want your beautiful cock
inside of me all day and night.

Holy fucking shit. I’ve
won a ton of negotiations before, but victory had never been this
sweet. Or this hot. “We still have to work, and I think my family
will want to see you some more before you go, but my cock is yours
whenever we can manage it. And definitely every night.”

“So, I can play with
you later?”

“Play with me? Is my
cock a toy now?”

“Mm-hmm. My favorite
one.”

She kisses me hard and
then turns to walk out the door. I follow her a couple of minutes
later as I head to the meeting. I had to calm down enough to walk
straight. I’m going to show her how much I love and want her over
these next three months. If one of those British guys touches her,
I’ll kill him. I may defer to her when I know she needs me to, or
because I like her being in control sometimes, but I’m an alpha to
my core. And she’s mine.

* * *

Chloe

Tomorrow, I leave for
London. These past two weeks have been amazing. Last night, Gary and
Maggie threw me a going away party at their house. The family was all
there, as well as my dad, Yasmin, Erika, Sean, Sam, Danny, and Candi.
Many of my co-workers also attended. I love my job, but I’m excited
for the new hotel that I’m working on to be built. I’ll miss
everyone, but they all promised to keep in touch.

Tonight, Ryan and I are
finally using the tickets for Love. I’m wearing a black dress with
sleeves that look like stained glass windows. I feel like it has a
little bit of a 60’s vibe. My hair is down and flowing over my
back. I got ready at the guesthouse because Ry wants to pick me up.
He rings the bell, and I grab the box I want to give him tonight. We
are on our reasons #100 and I wanted something special to go along
with my note.

I struggle a little as
I open the door with the box in my hands.

“Whoa, Chloe. Let me
help you with that. What is this anyway?”

“It’s your 100th
reason gift.”

“100th reason gift?”

“Yeah. Umm, since you
let me catch up after I started writing to you again, we’re at our
100th love notes. It’s fine if you didn’t get me something. It’s
stupid. Give me back the box.”

“It’s not stupid,
sweetheart. And I was kidding about not knowing. I have something for
you, too.”

“You do?”

“Yep. I’ll give it
to you when we go back to my place later.”

“I thought I was
going to get that anyway.”

“Mind out of the
gutter, woman. I have a real present for you. After you open it, you
can play with your favorite toy.”

“All night?”

“Of course. But don’t
you need sleep for the plane?”

“I can sleep on the
plane. I want to ravish you all night.”

“I’m totally on
board with that. Now, let’s go see this show.”

We get to the Mirage
and go through the backstage tour, which is really cool. The show is
beyond words. Ryan and I both love it. We go hang out in the
Revolution Lounge for a little while and then raid the gift shop.
It’s the perfect night so far.

We’re both a little
quiet as Ryan drives us down the street to his condo. He carries the
box inside, and I ask him to set it on his bed. He raises his
eyebrows but complies. He grabs his present off the coffee table and
brings it into the bedroom. I’m sitting cross legged on the bed and
he sits next to me, stretching out his long legs.

I grab the box. “You
go first.”

He smiles and leans over to pull the
rolled paper off the top and then unroll it.

Reason #100 that you are AWESOME and I LOVE YOU: You didn’t give
up on me.

“Never,” he says as
he leans over again to take the bow off the box and open it. His eyes
widen when he sees the contents. “Chlo, are these what I think they
are?”

“If you think they’re
all of my first drafts from when we were apart, then yes. I saved
them all for you.”

“Oh, sweetheart.”
He grabs my face and holds it as he kisses me tenderly, before
pulling back and smiling at me. “Your turn.”

I open the envelope and butterfly
confetti falls all over me. “I love it already.” I lean over and
give Ryan a quick peck on the lips before unfolding the paper.

Reason #100 that you are AWESOME and I LOVE YOU: You didn’t give
up on me.

“Our reasons are the
same. Oh, Ry.” Tears start to form in my eyes. Ryan pulls me close.

“Of course they’re
the same. We’re two parts of one whole, Chloe. Now, this is a no
tears zone. I want to make you laugh and scream tonight, but not cry.
Please open your gift.”

“Stop saying things
like that if you don’t want me to cry.”

“Hey, you’re the
one who asked for the romance. I’m just being honest in a romantic
way.”

I laugh then and reach
for the present. I recognize it. “This is the box from the
glassworks in Seattle, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. I wanted
to save it for a special time.”

I open the box and pull
out something wrapped in layers of bubble wrap. I unwrap it to find a
glass piece depicting a griffin with a butterfly sitting on its nose.
“Ryan, it’s beautiful. You had this made?”

“Yeah. I wanted
something that represented both of us.”

“I love it. I’m
going to put it in my flat in London and look at it every day when
I’m missing you.”

“Let me give you
something else to remember me by,” Ryan says as he slides down
lower on the bed and pulls my dress up.

We really don’t get
any sleep and only stop in the morning because I have to go back to
the guesthouse to get my luggage. Ryan drives me to the airport. Owen
and I are flying out on a Griffin jet. He won’t be there the entire
three months, but he has to go meet with the owners and architect
about his art. It’s hard to let Ryan go, but I eventually pull back
and climb the stairs to the plane.

“I’ll see you at
the ball, Chlo. I love you.”

“I love you too, Ry.”

* * *

Ryan

Chloe has been in
London for a month now. It’s been rough, but we talk every night.
Well, it’s morning for her and night for me. Either way, it helps
to hear her voice every day. I’ve gone out to some clubs with Luke,
but as I told Chloe before she left, no one else interests me. It’s
not like women haven’t tried. But my cock agrees with my heart and
mind. It doesn’t so much as stir for the scantily clad women who
approach me. It would rather have my hand and thoughts of my woman
than be inside of someone else. My hand’s definitely getting a
workout every morning, as well as most nights.

Owen has made a couple
of trips back and forth, and we send gifts and notes through him.
I’ve given her a few different butterfly figurines and pieces of
jewelry, and she sent me her first drafts of the different parts of
the hotel. I sent something special with Owen yesterday, and so we’re
having our first Skype at 11 tonight my time, so I can see her face
when she opens it.

The day drags on, and
I’m glad that I can go to the gym for a couple of hours to kill
some time before the Skype. As I’m heading back to my condo, my new
neighbor comes out of her door. She’s a leggy blonde with fake
tits, and a year ago, I probably would have had her in my bed. But
now, she doesn’t do it for me at all.

“Hi. I just moved in,
and I was hoping to borrow some spices from one of the neighbors.”

“Spices?”

“Yeah, you know, what
you add to your meal to make it well, spicier.” She looks me over
as she says this, and it makes me a little uncomfortable.

“Umm, yeah. I know
what they are.”