Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I remained quiet, listening.
“You see, the question becomes, if you’re never actually home, do you, in fact, have one? Isn’t home where you feel grounded? Where there is nurturing, if not from others, then simply from being in a space that belongs to you alone?”
“Of course,” I agreed. “Mine is like that. I walk in, and whatever went on outside doesn’t matter now that I’m inside.”
“Yes. Exactly. Home is that feeling of being cared for.”
I smiled at him. “What are you trying to say?”
“I haven’t had that in so long, but last night, and then this morning… I felt like I was home.”
His words hit me down deep.
“I just love everything with you. I love kissing you and having sex with you and hugging you and holding you and I—I’ve been overwhelmed since you first took my hand, and all of it, everything I told you, and simply the time we’ve spent together has been intense…which is why when I woke up and you were gone, I was utterly bereft.”
Which was to say, I’d scared him by not being where he expected me to be. “Okay,” I said, smiling. “Bereft is a good word.”
“It does encapsulate my feelings quite well,” he replied, giving me a trace of a smile in return. “I thought for a second that my normal had been a dream, and I didn’t want it to end.”
I exhaled sharply. “Saying I’m a dream is gonna get you laid again.”
“Well, I should certainly hope so,” he said, staring at me like I was something he wanted. I’d been looked at like that before sex but never after.
To be honest, him saying how he felt had me tumbling headfirst into his web. I hated game-playing, and Ash Lennox was apparently not the kind of man who was anything but upfront. He said exactly how he felt, and since I was the same, whatever line there was between us was getting blurrier by the second. Already, overnight, I was getting used to him. And it was stupid. He could have anyone he wanted, and it made no sense that he would possibly want to settle for a mere mortal.
“I don’t want you naked under my robe, talking to strangers in our room,” he apprised me, his voice strained.
“Those aren’t strangers. They work with me at Torus.”
“Wonderful. I still want you in clothes. As soon as I walked out there, all I could think was, he’s got nothing on under that robe.”
“You didn’t want me out there in just this?” I baited him, undoing the sash and letting the expensive robe fall open.
“No,” he assured me, stepping in close, slipping his hands around my hips. “And until I figure out what precisely I do want from you, I would appreciate it if you had clothes on when there’s more than just you and me in the room.”
“You don’t know what you want?” I asked, studying his face, how he was staring at me, and how every time I took a step back, he took one forward.
“Clearly, I want to be all over you.”
“Which is good, but not enough,” I said, moving toward the closet, only to have him step in front of me, barring my path.
“I thought you wanted me in clothes?”
“I do, but I need to tell you something more important before you get the wrong idea.”
“Which would be what?”
“That I don’t know what I want.”
I crossed my arms. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
“No. Not really. I—I want to spend time with you. Beyond that, I don’t know, but I certainly don’t want you not to be there when I wake up.”
I shrugged. “But that’s just for this week.”
His brows furrowed.
“Actors are supposed to be good at expressing themselves, and you’re not into playing games, so…what?”
“You’re driving me a little crazy.”
“You just have to be honest.”
Another sharp exhale from him. “I don’t have any idea what this could be or…if it can be anything, but I already know I won’t be able to get on a plane and fly away from you if there’s no plan for a next time.”
I grinned. “So you’re telling me you don’t want this—us—to just be a hot memory.”
He took a breath. “No, I don’t.”
“You want to see me again.”
“Yes, I do. I need to.”
“So you’re planning to do what?” I pressed because it was necessary. “Come visit me in Chicago?”
“Of course.”
His quick reply, plus that of course, stated so matter-of-factly, made me smile like a simpleton, and I couldn’t have cared less.
“And you? Would you come to LA?” He leaned in and kissed the side of my neck. “Is that doable?”
“I would love to fly out there and visit you,” I said, then kissed him. It wasn’t long, but I did taste him.
He pulled back and looked at me.
“What?”
“You mean it.”
“Why wouldn’t I mean it?” I squinted at him.