I Came To Kiss You

Eva's POV

My beat-up Toyota coughed in agitation for new repairs as I found myself a free spot in the expansive car park before the strip mall, where I had my office.

I leaned back, reaching for a small bundle of three iced coffees from the boxes of decor samples, fabric swatches, and cardboard that dominated the backseat.

They filled the car with a musty smell that the faulty car AC was ever powerless against.

I strode fast to my office. Mia, my best friend and my only staff, was by the door to receive me the moment I stepped in.

“Good morning, twinnie,” Mia teased me with a smile.

A ploy to keep me off guard, and I fell for it. Because the next second, she lunged for the iced coffee and the little bag of cookies in my hands. Her movement fast and feral.

I laughed as I walked deeper into the office, watching Mia munch greedily at the cookies. It was a two-room office. My office and Mia’s. It had always been the both of us against the world since we met in college.

Event planning was my dream, and Mia was living it with me until she found her own dream, she had said.

“Thought you said you were dieting, that your new boyfriend wanted you to burn some fat.” It was my turn to tease Mia. My eyes lazing over her massive body. We both know that dieting and Mia was a match that couldn't happen.

“Well, I quit just this morning, and that shit made me hungry,” she said as she resumed on the second cup of iced coffee.

When was she never hungry?

“Why?”

“He left me. Steve left me,” she answered sharply. Her face crumbled in a grimace. Her chin trembled as her eyes prepared for a flood of tears.

Then I regretted ever starting up the conversation, knowing I would have to play the comforting friend this morning, as I have been doing for almost every month of our friendship.

“Are you done with the themes, decor, and lighting designs for the Radcliffe-Hayes wedding?” I said, changing the topic as I strode to my office. Hoping that perhaps it might save me the impending earful she would unleash.

“Yes. I left them on your table. We’ll go through them when I am done eating,” she said.

My lips pressed in a secret and amused grin as I continued for my office. My plan worked. She didn't launch into her breakup story.

The glass door opened behind me with a long swishing noise. I turned to watch the third cup of coffee drop from Mia’s fat hands, coffee spilling onto the tiles. Her eyes trained towards the door.

She sucked in a forceful breath. And so did I after I followed her eyes to the door. But it was for different reasons.

While she stared at Gavin with adoration. Her palms pressing lightly against her cheeks as they turned red. I was staring at Gavin with trepidation.

What was he doing here? How had he found this place?

I forced a lump down my throat as I watched him stroll in leisurely, carrying himself with pride as always.

He was dressed in a three-piece suit that should look ordinary. But his powerful body and gorgeous face made it almost ethereal. He looked like an angel, if angels wear suits.

My cheeks burned as the memory of last night flashed in my mind, stirred by the sight of him.

I had escaped yesterday, but I doubt if I could escape today.

I bolted fast for my office, preparing to shut the door on him. But his oxford got in the way.

“You can't run away from me, Eva,” he said. With the little space his foot had gotten him, he pushed to be let into my office.

I struggled, but he was too strong and big for me. I clenched my teeth, releasing the door. “What do you want, Gavin?” I asked, slipping him a hard smile. My jaw tight.

“Haven't I made that clear already, Eva?” he answered. He dropped with a flare into one of the aging client chairs in the room. “I want you.”

Like yesterday, I felt my heart race again at that honest and brisk confession.

“And I don't want you,” I replied without thinking. Leaning on my table, I held the flirtatious and calculative sway of his eyes.

“Then can I have him, Eva? I want him." Mia said from the door, her voice tinged low, heavy with emotions.

We both turned to the door to find her, hugging the wall with her massive body. Her pupils enlarging on him. Her eyes swaying on him as if lethargic, as if she was being hypnotized by him.

“No. For God's sake, Mia," I snapped at her.

I rose from the desk, shoved her out, and slammed the door on her. Seems I wasn't going to escape the earful this morning. Because the moment Gavin leaves, Mia is going to grill me to the bone about him.

Mia was always a sucker for men, and for a man like Gavin. She was a complete idiot. But first, I have to get Gavin out of here. And from what I know of him, that didn't seem like an easy task.

He was on his feet already. He leaned on the table with his arms folded, his eyes watching me come. The usual harmless grin playing on his lips.

“Why didn't you want her to have me? Are you jealous already?" he teased.

“Definitely not,” I flinched. “I was just protecting my friend from another heartbreak. She had one just this morning. And that's by the way. Why are you here? How did you find my office?" I asked. The questions preying on my mind since the moment he walked in.

“Which question do you want an answer to first?” he returned with a question of his.

I steeled my quickening pulse with a hard exhale and crossed my arms.

“How did you find my office?” I repeated the question.

He grinned. “Your neighbors. You’d be amazed how much information you can get with a few dollar bills."

I shook my head gently. Obviously, that’ll be the answer. One of the biggest disadvantages of living in an apartment block was that everyone knew each other too well.

“And what are you doing here?”

He paused now. He rose gently from the table. The blue of his eyes flashed as they studied me. He ambled to me, his movement careful.

I tried not to, but I couldn't help it. My body was reacting to him as if he had command over it and not me. I couldn't stop my heart from racing with each step he took toward me.

He planted himself before me again. His deep blue eyes fixed on me. “I came for us to continue where we left off yesterday. I came to kiss you."