Page 85 of Brighter Together

Tommy

The hotel-room door has barely clicked shut before Ella turns towards me.

For a moment, we simply stand there.

All evening there has been something between us to hide behind. Dinner. The view. The possibility of a waiter appearing. Jokes about research and compatibility and whether I’m as good in bed as I seem to think I am.

Now there is only the quiet hotel room, the enormous bed behind her and the knowledge that she asked me to bring her here.

Ella looks at me and gives a small, nervous smile.

“Should I order something from room service,” I ask. It’s a stupid question but I’m going with it.

“We just had dinner,” she says with a smile.

“I’m buying time.”

Her eyebrows lift. “Are you nervous?”

“A bit.”

She looks genuinely surprised by that.

I shrug. “I’ve wanted you since not long after you started working for me. We’ve spent the last few days turning my life completely upside down and now you’re standing in my hotel room telling me you want to sleep with me. Of course I’m fucking nervous.”

Her expression softens.

“I’m glad.”

“How so?”

“I’d be worried if I was the only one.”

All the confidence she had on the roof hasn’t disappeared, but there is vulnerability underneath it now.

This is the first time there won’t be an easy excuse afterwards. We can’t blame a moment in the car or getting carried away on a rooftop. If we sleep together now, we are both choosing it.

I step towards her and touch her cheek.

“You can still change your mind.”

Her lips twitch. “I dragged you off a roof and told you to take me to your room.”

“I remember.”

“Then stop checking every thirty seconds.”

“I’m trying very hard to be responsible.”

“You’re ruining your reputation.”

“What reputation?”

“The one you’ve apparently built in your own head as some kind of irresistible sex god.”

I laugh. “Never claimed that.”

“You came close,” she winks, then slides both hands up my chest.