7. Lyric

CHAPTER 7

LYRIC

"I'm not ready to go back to work in the morning," I murmur, staring out Josh's kitchen window at the moonlight spilling across the pond. We spent all day yesterday fishing from it. We went into town this morning after Harmony dropped off clothes for me, did a little shopping, and had lunch before coming back to spend the afternoon floating around the pond in a little boat.

I can't remember the last time I was this happy. I feel like I'm living in a fairytale. Albeit, my hot, cranky boss is more Prince Adam than Prince Charming most of the time, but still… the entire weekend has been magical. I don't want to return to the real world tomorrow and find that all the magic has worn off.

"Working beside you is the best part of my day," he murmurs, stepping up behind me to slip his arms around my waist. He tugs me back against his chest, running his lips across my temple. "Now, I get to do this while we're there. There's no bad here, sweet girl."

I smile, turning my face up to his. "When you put it that way…"

His lips brush mine in a soft kiss that quickly spirals. Somehow, I end up wrapped around him with his hands on my ass and my back against the sliding glass door.

"I can do this, too," he growls, slipping his hand between our bodies. He flicks my panties aside with ease, his eyes locked on my face. "And this…"

I gasp, bucking my hips into his hand as his thumb rolls across my clit and one thick finger slips inside me. "Yes," I moan. "Definitely do that. Don't ever stop doing that."

"Thought you'd like it." He chuckles, kissing the side of my throat.

I cling to him, whimpering his name as he fucks me with his fingers, quickly driving me up the ledge. Right when I'm on the verge of a powerful orgasm, he pauses.

"Look at me, Lyric."

My eyes flutter as I force myself to focus on him.

"I love you," he whispers. "That isn't going to change just because we're back at work tomorrow."

My heart flutters at the sincerity in his voice and the softness in his eyes. Why am I even worried about this? Of course, tomorrow isn't going to change anything between us. We're finally right where we've both wanted to be.

"I love you, too," I breathe.

He locks eyes with me, holding me captive in his gaze as he sends me tumbling over the edge into an orgasm. Pleasure radiates through my entire body, turning me to mush in his arms.

"Fucking stunning," he growls, slanting his mouth down over mine in a hard kiss. I cling to his shoulders as he devours my lips…

Right up until the doorbell rings.

He pulls back with a curse, his brows furrowed. "Who the fuck is at my door?"

The doorbell rings again, and then someone knocks.

"Don't know, but it sounds like you better go find out," I say with a soft laugh, squirming for him to put me down. "Sounds important."

He pegs me with a hot look, his eyes wild with lust as he lowers me back to the floor. "Stay right there. Don't even think about moving, baby. I'm not finished with you."

"Whatever you say, boss man." I smirk at him, leaning up against the glass door as he turns to stride into the living room, muttering under his breath about killing whoever the hell is ringing his doorbell at this hour. It's not even late. It's barely even seven o'clock. He's just cranky because he wants to come.

Which explains so much about the last two weeks, honestly. He's a tyrant when he doesn't get what he wants… and what he wants is me. I was just too blind to let myself see it, too afraid to let myself hope. But the blinders are off now and I'm full of hope. For the first time, I feel peaceful, hopeful. Like nothing can break us.

"Uh, Lyric? You might want to come in here!" he shouts from the living room. "Preferably before your sisters shiv me between the ribs."

My sisters? Oh no.

I quickly tug his t-shirt down over my hips and hurry toward the living room to rescue him from the chaos that is my three sisters.

"Guys, I told you that I'd be home…" I trail off when I find all three of them squared off with Josh, glaring daggers at him. Even Harmony looks like she's thinking about shivving him, and Harmony doesn't have a tough bone in her body. If any of my sisters are pushovers, it's her. Melody may look delicate, but she's tough. And Lyra is a badass. But Harmony is as sweet as they come.

"There you are," Josh says, relief in his voice.

"What's going on?" I ask, glancing between the four of them.

"We came to ask him the same thing," Lyra sniffs, tossing her long ponytail over her shoulder as she crosses her arms. "We had dinner with Finn and the MC tonight and learned a few things."

"Mmhmm," Harmony says.

"W-what things?" I glance between Lyra and Josh, who looks guilty as hell.

"I can explain, sweet girl," he murmurs.

"Explain what?" I demand, my heart in my throat as he takes a step toward me.

He hesitates for a long moment, clearly searching for words.

"Are you going to tell her, or are we?" Lyra growls, her hazel eyes flashing.

He mutters a curse. "After I found out that you were working two jobs, I was worried as fuck about you," he says, taking another step toward me. "I needed to know what I could do to help you, and I was afraid you wouldn't take any help I tried to offer because I'd fucked everything up so badly, so I went to Giant Carmichael to get information on you. I asked him to send me everything he knew about you."

"Josh, you didn't," I whisper.

"He found out that you entered the contest to win a free year from the matchmaking service, so I hunted her down and convinced her to let you win." He licks his lips. "Except I made sure you were only going to date me."

"You rigged the contest."

He nods. "I couldn't risk you going out with someone else, sweet girl. When you brought it up on Friday, I already knew about it. You asked your question, and I told you to go because I knew you were going to meet me."

"Now tell her the rest," Harmony says quietly.

"I should have told you before I kissed you Friday, but I knew there was a chance you would kick my ass to the curb if you knew the truth, so I kept putting it off." He exhales a breath. "I'm crazy about you, Lyric. I've been so fucking in love with you that I can't think straight. I'm sorry if I hurt you by not telling you, but I'm not sorry for doing whatever I have to do to ensure you're taken care of. I'm not sorry for not wanting to share you. And I'm not fucking sorry for making you mine. I'll never be sorry for that."

My heart pounds against my ribcage, my head spinning. I don't know what to think. Am I mad that he looked into me? Not really. Am I mad that he rigged the contest? No. I didn't even want to go out with anyone else. But he should have told me.

"You can't just go around bending the world to your will to get what you want." I sigh. "It doesn't work that way. You spent two weeks growling and snapping at me instead of communicating. And now, you've done all of this instead of just talking to me. Your life would be so much easier if you just talked."

"You want me to talk?" He steps up in front of me, tipping my chin back until my eyes meet his. "I spent two weeks terrified if I told you how I felt, the best thing in my life would disappear," he says. "I spent two weeks trying to figure out how to make you fall in love with me when you're perfect and I'm an asshole. I spent two weeks not getting a single fucking thing done because all I could think about was you sitting at your desk. And then I found out that you were working two jobs right under my nose and I missed it. I should have spent those two weeks taking care of you, but I had my head up my ass."

"Yep," Lyra mutters, though the word lacks heat.

Josh ignores her. "I spent all that time worried about losing you instead of doing what I should have been doing to make sure that didn't happen. I'm not trying to bend the world to my will, sweet girl. I'm trying to shape it into one that's a little softer for you. And I hope like hell that version of it has you by my side for the rest of my life."

My heart flutters, any lingering doubts or resistance crumbling to dust. How can I be mad when he's trying so hard? Maybe he didn't get it exactly right, but no one is perfect. And I don't expect him to be. I didn't fall for him because he's perfect. I fell because he's grumpy and growly and bossy and so damn sweet. That's enough for me. No. It's everything to me.

"I love you," I whisper, blinking away tears. "I don't need the world to be softer, Josh. So long as you're in it, it's perfect exactly the way it is."

He drags me into his arms, his lips coming down on mine in a hard kiss. "Fuck, I love you, Lyric." He touches his forehead to mine, lingering for a moment before he pulls back to face my sisters again. "I realize I have a lot of work to do to win your trust, but I worship the ground she walks on. I'm not going to hurt her. I promise you that."

"If she loves you, we love you," Melody says, practically dancing forward to hug him.

Harmony comes next, giving him a quick hug. "Be nice to her, Josh. She deserves it," she says quietly.

"Lyra?" I ask, practically holding my breath.

My twin narrows her eyes at Josh. "I have one more question before I decide to forgive you," she says.

"You can ask me anything."

"Did you have anything to do with the two of you being discussed in the Silver Spoon Single Serve?"

Josh looks startled. "The what?"

"The gossip column," Harmony says. "Giant said you two were in it, so we looked. They're gossiping about you two all over the place in it."

"Uh, what the fuck is it?" Josh glances between my sisters, clearly confused.

Lyra huffs a breath and pulls out her phone. She swipes the touchscreen, and then her fingers dance across the screen before she clears her throat. "Don't tell HR, but it looks like more than contracts are being negotiated at the new consulting firm in town," she reads. "Guess which Hot Boss was spotted getting cozy with his adorable assistant at a local steakhouse on Friday night with a little help from our local matchmaker? Rumor has it, he's negotiating a few contracts of his own where she's concerned. Will he convince her to sign on the dotted line?"

"Jesus Christ," Josh mutters when Lyra lowers the phone, hitting him with a pointed look. "I had nothing to do with that. But I have a feeling I know who did."

"Who?" Harmony asks.

Josh hesitates. "I can't say." His gaze flits to mine. "I'm sworn to secrecy. But I'll handle this, sweet girl, and make sure they keep our fucking names out of the paper. This wasn't part of our deal."

"Wait a minute!" Melody cries, narrowing her eyes at him. "You're saying the matchmaker and the person who runs the gossip column is the same person?"

Josh's lips compress into a thin line. "I didn't say that."

"You didn't deny it, either," I point out. Interesting.

"That's genius marketing," Harmony whispers. "She makes matches and then hard launches them in her column. When people see them around town, they know who was responsible and flock to the dating service for help." She flicks her gaze at Lyra. "Maybe you should call her for help."

Lyra glowers at her, making Melody giggle.

"I'll handle it," Josh murmurs to me, brushing his thumb down the side of my cheek. "Make sure we don't show up in the column again."

"Leave it," I say, tipping my head back to look up at him.

He blinks down at me. "You want me to leave it?"

"Why not? She did help get us together, even if you strong-armed her into it. You own the company and we don't have anything to hide, so the gossip isn't hurting anyone." I shrug. "Let her have her fun. You kind of deserve it, you know."

"Oh, I do, do I?" He smiles down at me, tugging me into his arms. "Well, if the whole town is sneaking around, trying to catch glimpses of me, you'll be in the same boat, baby."

"Well, then I guess you'll just have to stick beside me to make sure I'm nice and protected, won't you?" I tease, snuggling up against his chest.

"Oh, fuck yeah," he growls, running his hand down my back toward my ass.

"Nope!" Lyra cries suddenly. "Absolutely no touching her ass while we're standing here, Joshua Edward Brunts. I just forgave you. Don't make me take it back."

"Did she just full-name me?" he whispers, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Uh-huh, she did," I whisper back, trying not to laugh.

"What? You think you're the only one who can investigate people?" She smirks, a self-satisfied gleam in her eye. "Giant is basically family to us. He was more than happy to dig up dirt on you for me." She bats her lashes at him. "He said next time, call at a decent hour."

"That son of a bitch," Josh breathes, making Melody and Harmony laugh. Even Lyra cracks a smile.

I exhale a tiny breath, melting into Josh. My sisters and the love of my life are getting along. This is better than magic. This is a dream come true.