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“It does,” I admit tentatively, and he smiles.
There’s enough chemistry between us to create a reaction of epic proportions, a reaction that could level this city, but just because it feels right doesn’t make it right.
How is this supposed to work with him owning me for the next thirty days? Is it going to extend into the next nine months? The next eighteen years?
Oh my god.
We need to slam on the brakes before we crash.
“But…” I say, and his smile falls.
His thumb stops stroking me and his grip tightens as if he’s afraid I might pull away. For one split second, his face is completely open, his expression unguarded, and I glimpse apprehension. True apprehension.
Of what, though? Of losing me?
We’ve only had one night together. He doesn’t even know me… Yet, I feel the same apprehension of potentially losing him.
It’s beyond nuts.
Fuck, I really wish I had a guidebook right now. I feel like I’m in uncharted waters and floundering.
“I want to get to know you, Bry,” I admit and squeeze his hand back. “I don’t want to rush into anything foolishly…”
Especially if I am pregnant.
Bry nods his head slowly and a determined glint appears in his eyes. “I want to get to know you too, Zoe.”
I smile in relief.
Good. Maybe things can slow down a bit.
He gives my hand one more squeeze and then lifts it up to his mouth.
His lips brush across my knuckles before he murmurs, “I want to know everything about you.”
My heart flutters behind my ribs and my lungs pull in air faster. It’s all the small things. All these small things are creating great big feelings.
He places a kiss on top of my hand before leaning back. “Starting tonight.”
“Tonight?” I squeak.
“Yes, tonight,” he says, his eyes burning into me. “You’re staying with me.”
So much for slowing down.
I want to stay with him. More than anything else in the world, I want to stay the night with him. I want a repeat of what happened last night, but this time I want to wake up in bed beside him and not have to leave.
Scowling at my hesitation, he goes on before I can explain. “You agreed, Zoe.”
Shit. I did agree to that.
“I agreed.” I nod my head, and he flashes me his devastating smile. “But I can’t stay with you tonight.”
His smile fades away.
“My cat,” I rush to explain. “I left her all alone last night. I’d hate to do it to her two nights in a row.”
Especially because when she gets pissed at me she tends to leave a little present in my shoes for me to find.
“I see…” he says thoughtfully, his gaze dropping to our joined hands. “Then we’ll stay at your place tonight.”
His eyes lift back to mine and the hard glint gleaming across them makes me want to squirm in my seat.
If he were anyone else, any other man, I might take offense that he’s assuming I’ve agreed to let him stay the night at my place without asking. But he’s not any other man, he’s Bry. And fuck, his assertiveness, his sheer authority, sends little chills through me.
“My place,” I find myself agreeing.
Lifting my hand, he places a tender kiss against the top of it before gently releasing it. Picking up the menu, I can’t help but notice how everything he does, every little movement and action, is carried out by his body with supreme and powerful confidence.
A confidence, I realize, I wouldn’t mind having all over me.
“Zoe,” he says, snapping me out of reverie.
“Yes?” I blink at him as heat warms my cheeks.
Lids lowering, that devastating grin of his turns devilish as he informs me, “I never rush into anything foolishly.”
Fourteen
Bryce
The whole damn meal is an ordeal. All I can think about is dragging Zoe out of the restaurant and cramming my cock so far into her body that there is absolutely no way she isn’t carrying my child. But, and I know it’s a huge but, she needs to eat, and if she is indeed pregnant so does the baby.
A nagging little voice of reason reminds me that I should be freaked out that she could be pregnant with my child after only knowing her for less than twenty-four hours.
But I’m not.
This is who I am. I make a decision and I fucking go for it. I don’t waste time when I know what I want.
I want Zoe.
She, on the other hand, is conflicted, but she’s mine now. There’s nothing that is holding me back from taking what’s is rightfully my due. Whether she knows it or not, she was mine the moment she got into my car.
After paying our bill and leaving a generous tip, I wrap my fingers around Zoe’s hand. She’s been quiet and contemplative, but she accepts my grip.
I keep her close, maybe too close, as we walk out of the restaurant and head for my car. The need to protect her, to take care of her, roars in my blood.
