Page 40 of Come A Little Closer

Dropping the condom, he kissed me again, far more gently this time, and then he propped himself up on his elbows to look into my eyes. “We should take this slow.”

“What?” I stared back at him, completely confused. “I want you, Niall. Don’t you⁠—”

He chuckled darkly, arching an eyebrow at me as he moved his hips again, allowing me to feel just how much he wanted me too. “Trust me, Tallulah. I want to just do it, but I think it’ll be better if we slow down.”

“How much?”

He tilted his head at me, then moved until he was beside me instead of on top of me. His hand skated down until his fingertips rested on top of my mound. “Just no sex for now?”

My heart was slamming against my ribs. I wanted him so, so much, but I knew he was right. Instead of arguing, I reached for him and wrapped my fingers around his shaft, stroking as I turned my mouth back to his.

“Okay, but just for now.”

Niall groaned when I started moving faster, slanting his lips over mine and kissing me hard. He dipped his fingers back into me. It turned out there were a lot of ways to bring each other pleasure that I hadn’t experienced before, and we explored each other’s bodies with our hands until finally, we erupted at the same time, Niall’s release coating my hand and stomach as I screamed his name once more.

We fell asleep together without even cleaning up, but when I woke up the next morning, he was gone. I sat up slowly, blinking against the intrusion of light pouring in through his windows and knowing that if it was this bright, I’d slept late.

Very late.

I looked around, listening carefully for any signs of him, but there were none. His shower wasn’t running and he didn’t seem to be rummaging around his giant closet either. My lips pursed, but I didn’t know what to think. Maybe the ghosts had spirited him away.

I did notice a few aches in my body after everything we’d done together though, but they were good aches. The best aches. I even smiled as I climbed out of bed and donned the shirt he’d been wearing last night, but as I took off to look for him, I suddenly realized his house didn’t give me the same kind of welcoming feeling it had before.

It was huge, and daunting, and expensive.

I’d received all the invoices from the vendors who’d been involved with the party and I knew approximately how much he’d spent—and it was a frightening amount of money that he’d paid without batting an eye.

As I wandered around, finally heading downstairs and wondering if I should just sneak out, I thought about my own situation and how I’d ended up strolling around the house of my billionaire boss. I was a nobody from California who’d cut herself off from her family and I was essentially running from the train wreck I’d left behind when I divorced Carter.

I’d thought I’d put all these doubts behind me, but they were back in full this morning. Niall had a personal shopper and I couldn’t even afford to shop for myself.

Eventually, the scent of something sweet wafting from the kitchen told me where to find him, and while the urge to sneak out was strong, I couldn’t do that to him.

Especially not if he was even cooking me breakfast again.

I walked in to find him flipping pancakes behind the stove, wearing only his boxer briefs and a black T-shirt. Pausing in the door, I felt tears prickling the backs of my eyes. The sight of him making me a plate of pancakes and the grin that spread on his lips when he spun to find me standing there gutted me.

He was a good guy—such a good guy—and so handsome, and considerate, and understanding, and yet, he and I would never be together. Not really. I wasn’t selfish enough to trick a guy like him into diving into the cesspool of bullshit that was my life.

18

NIALL

Real happiness wasn’t an emotion I was terribly familiar with. Contentedness was more my speed, but I’d woken up this morning genuinely happy.

Having Tallulah in my arms when I’d opened my eyes had filled me with warmth and a strange appreciation for the new day we’d entered together. I’d been looking forward to spending it with her, but as I stood across the kitchen from her now, seeing moisture shimming in her eyes, my heart sank.

“What’s wrong? I promise I washed my hands.”

She blinked like a deer in headlights. “Nothing’s wrong. You just shouldn’t be cooking me breakfast.”

“Why not?” I asked, confused. “I’m starving and I figured you might be too.”

“Yes, but…” She trailed off, her gaze drifting to the windows behind me as she shook her head.

I let out a long exhale through my nose, swiping my tongue across my lips as I wondered why she looked like she was about to cry. “I know we’re taking things slow, but that doesn’t mean we can’t eat together, right? It’ll be weird if you just watch me eat all these.”

She shook her head miserably as she started wringing her hands. “You just shouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.”