Sitting at the conference table for our weekly team meeting, I was moderately engrossed in what James was saying. Okay, so that was a complete lie. Really, I was trying, but something kept stealing my focus. In reality, I was feigning attention and staring somewhat blankly at James' head, out the window, and at anything really except for the sexy as hell smirk on Joshua Matthews' face that was directed straight at me.

In all honesty, it didn't really matter that I wasn't looking at him. I could feel his stare as if it was heating my whole body from the inside out. I took a shaky breath, and I just knew that action made his smirk grow even wider. He was well aware of the effect he was having on me and he had absolutely no intention of letting up. I should have figured.

I looked over to shoot him a glare, signalling for him to cut it out, which of course turned out to do more harm than good as I was now looking directly at that devilishly handsome face of his. What had begun as just a temptation had long since become a legimitate issue; now I felt like if I didn't kiss him in the next thirty seconds, I would combust.

As if fate was on my side, James gave a few closing words and adjourned the meeting immediately afterward. Our eyes locked and the contact didn't break as we gathered up our respective pens and notebooks. Just when I thought I was home free, Elizabeth approached me to talk about event coordinators for the upcoming MOMA Garden Party, because that was, of course, a pressing issue as it was happening in less than two weeks. I loved Elizabeth, truly I did, but at the present moment there was only one person whose attention I craved. How could I have ever thought that fate was on my side?

I tried to focus on what Elizabeth was saying, but out of the the corner of my eye I saw Josh approach us on his way out the door. His knuckles just barely grazed mine as he passed and holy crap! I had to bite my lip and close my eyes to keep myself from turning around and jumping him right then and there. I really needed to get a grip on this whole becoming completely unhinged when we were in the same room thing.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked, voice full of confusion. I snapped back to reality, noticing for the first time that we were indeed the only ones left in the room.

"Oh yeah. Fine," I answered, rolling my shoulders back. "What were you saying again?"

"I asked what you were packing for the Hamptons." she replied looking from me to the door.

"We're going to the Hamptons?" Am I missing something here?

"Yeah, this coming weekend. Some sort of team building retreat," she said, returning her gaze to me. "Do you listen to anything during the meetings?" she asked.

"Uh. Well. No. Not really," At least I was being honest.

"You do seem a little more preoccupied than usual though," she commented, her eyes once again going from me to the empty doorway. "And what was that with all the looks between you and-wait" she gave me a questioning look. "Does this mean..?" she triailed off, but I knew exactly where her train of thought was going. I was caught and there was no way I was talking myself out of this one. Her face lit up as I nodded slowly, feeling a blush creep its way across my cheeks. "Well it's about time." I had expected a never-ending stream of questions, but that was her only comment. Elizabeth looked positively smug that she had figured it out.

"You knew?" I asked, panic rising in my chest.

"Oh yeah. Everyone knew." she replied, as if this was common knowledge which only succeeded in sending my already overzealous panic into overdrive. "Okay, everyone knew how Josh felt," she clarified. "You," she said pointing a finger at me, "well you were a little bit harder to figure out," she finished with a smile.

I looked down at the floor, smiling too.

"Ladies!" said Dylan, poking his head back into the conference room. "We're all waiting on you."

Ah, yes, the traditional staff lunch together after meetings. How could I forget? Elizabeth put her arm around me as she led me out and we followed Dylan down the hallway.

I didn't end up seeing Josh at our staff lunch, or for the rest of the day for that matter. He had sent me a text message saying he had to run a couple errands for James. It was two hours later as I was sitting on the floor looking at photos of contemporary paintings with Elizabeth before I realized how much I missed him already. I'd be lying if I said it didn't take me by surprise.

5 o'clock came and went. Everyone else went home, but there I was sitting on top of Joshua's desk waiting for him. His keys were here, so I knew he would be back eventually. Sitting with my legs crossed, I perused the various articles on top of his desk. A few sketches in particular caught my eye.

I picked one up. It appeared to be an architectural sketch of a house, but I couldn't be entirely sure. I was so engrossed in its meticulous details that I didn't hear the sound of footsteps approaching.

"I was hoping you would still be here." Josh said from the doorway. I looked up at the sound of his voice and he met my gaze with a warm smile. "Hi," he said as he walked over to join me. I set the paper down, jumped off his desk, and smiled as he reached me and pulled me toward him.

"Hi," I said shyly. For some reason, I had picked that day to wear heels, so it ended up being a lot easier for me to bury my face in his neck. I sighed, unable to fully comprehend the utter state of bliss his nearness brought to me. I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of him and he buried his face in my hair.

When we finally broke apart, my gaze shifted to the sketches on his desk, reminding me of them. "What are these?" I asked, gesturing toward them.

"Oh, just some things I work on in my spare time," he answered with a shrug, moving around to shove them both into his top drawer. My hand stopped him. "It's more of a hobby than anything," he said.

"Don't put them away. They're beautiful and important to you. Don't try to make them less than what they are." I grabbed one from his hand. He looked slightly uncomfortable with me looking at it, but at least he didn't try to take it away this time.

"It's a house, isn't it?" I asked.

He nodded, moving around to stand next to me again. "It's what I would like to build some day."

"For yourself?" I asked, still mesmerized by what I was holding. The detail was astonishing.

"I'd build it for anyone really," he shrugged. "I just want it to exist some day."

I handed it back to him. "It looks wonderful. I think. I don't really understand what it all means, you know, the symbols, dimensions, and everything," I admitted with a blush. He looked down and smiled at me.

"I guess I will just have to teach you then," he said as he repositioned himself behind me, encasing me between his arms so he could more easily hold the drawing in front of me.

I leaned back against his chest as he explained the different symbols and pointed out the different aspects that made his design unique. I could hear the excitement in his voice as he talked and it made me feel so unbelievably happy and privileged that he was sharing this part of himself with me.

"I was right," I said as he finished and set the paper down on the desk behind him. "It is wonderful."

I smiled as he moved behind me again and wrapped his arms around my waist. I looked up at him. He turned his face towards me, the air suddenly turning electric as our faces were now only mere inches apart. "Thank you," he said before slowly leaning down to kiss me. As nice as it felt, the fact that my back still being pressed against his chest made it slightly more awkward than it should have been. I turned, sliding my hands up his chest, around his neck, and burying them in his hair.

"Can I take you to dinner?" he asked a little bit later, resting his forehead against mine.

"Actually, your brother's family, Shawn, my mom, and my sister are coming over for dinner. Something about wanting to celebrate Riley and mine's first apartment or something? I'm not too sure," I answered with a shrug, pulling my head back slightly to gaze at him.

"Convenient how you had to go to work and leave Shawn to do all of your unpacking," he commented with a knowing smile.

I grinned. "You do know you're invited, right?" I asked, deflecting his comment and trailing a single finger down the side of his face. He shuddered at my touch and though I felt bad for teasing him, I also couldn't help myself.

"Yeah, I know. I'm there," he answered as if his being there wasn't even a question, before pulling me close again. His eyes turned serious, but his hands were trailing up and down my back so I knew it couldn't be anything to be nervous about. "Look, I know you said you weren't afraid anymore, but I still think we need to talk…"

"About what?" I asked, treading carefully. If I had learned anything about relationships, it was that we need to talk was almost never good.

"Well, about what you want…what this is, what you want me to be to you, you know," he listed off.

I looked over to the right and nodded as I mulled his questions over in my head. What did I want? "What do you want?" I asked before answering, not because I felt insecure in what I felt, but because I genuinely needed to know.

"You," he simply answered. "I have wanted you for a long time, Maya."

I lifted my gaze back to meet his, hoping he couldn't feel how fast my heart was beating underneath my shirt. "How long exactly?" I asked, genuinely surprised. I had assumed this was all brand new to him, that I had been the only one waiting.

"I wish I could say exactly," he said reaching a hand to scratch the back of his head as he contemplated my question. "I do know I finally admitted it to myself my sophomore year of college," he answered with a shrug.

"Really?" I asked, unable to hide the schoolgirl smile that I could feel stretching across my face.

"Are you kidding? You grew too beautiful and wonderful to ignore," he replied as he brushed a few fallen strands back behind my ear. I nuzzled my face against his hand as he tried to pull it away. He got the message and left it resting on my cheek. "You still are."

I felt stupid, but my eyes were already welling up, overcome with emotion. I could feel some of them begin to spill over, trailing down my cheeks. I moved my hand up to brush them away, but he beat me to it, wiping them away with the pad of his thumb.

"What is it?" he asked, worried that he had said something wrong. I shook my head.

"I don't think I have ever been as happy as I am right now," I answered truthfully. He smiled down at me. The tenderness in his eyes was overwhelming, but I stepped closer, winding my fingers through his hair as I rested my forehead against his again.

"It's always been you, Josh. Always," I whispered. "I'm in it for the long game," I said, wondering if he remembered the first time I had said those words to him. I had meant them as much back then as I did now.

"Me too," he whispered just before leaning down to capture my lips with his.

Needless to say, we were late for dinner.

A/N:

Sorry for the delay! I've actually started working on something else. Something I think all of you will really like. I hope.

For all of you that keep asking if this story is over, well it's not over until I say it's over people! And it's not over!