AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Look, Nicholas, I appreciate the offer.’ I wince, knowing it sounds like some kind of real-estate merger. ‘But this was only meant to be one night. I hadn’t—’
‘Had sex in a really long time,’ he supplies, a smile on his lips, as if he’s teasing me, and a smile twitches on my own lips in response.
‘I haven’t had a life in a really long time. No friends, no boyfriend, I barely see my family—though I can’t say that’s a bad thing, actually—but I got... I know it’s kind of sad to admit this, I got lonely, okay? I just wanted one night to be like a regular woman in her twenties. And it was great. You were great. But that’s all it can be between us. I can’t afford to get distracted.’
‘Great. I don’t want to distract you.’ He wiggles his brows. ‘At least, not beyond this month.’
‘Nicholas,’ I groan, lifting my hands to my face and covering my eyes. ‘I can’t do it. This all means too much to me—’
‘I get it.’ I remove my hands to find him watching me. ‘Your work is important to you. But you just said you haven’t had a life in a really long time. So why not give yourself one? Just for a few weeks.’
His words catch in my chest. I frown.
‘I’m not talking about a relationship, and I’m not talking about long-term. I’m literally talking about you and me, doing more of this.’ He gestures towards my desk and the window that still bears my handprints. ‘Dating for a few weeks, having fun, all kinds of fun, until it’s time for me to leave.’
‘And then what?’
‘Then, I go back to my life, and you can go back to working twenty-two hours a day and pretending you’re not a red-blooded woman.’
It’s crazy. But what’s craziest of all is that it makes sense. It’s everything I wanted and never thought I could have. A relationship with clear boundaries, limits on what we get from one another and a stop point that would make it impossible for this to overshadow my real life in any way. It’s exactly the kind of relationship I would create, if I thought there was any likelihood I’d find a guy to go along with it.
It feels almost too good to be true. ‘You want to date me?’
‘Well, I want to fuck you,’ he says with a devilish grin that takes any impertinence out of his correction. ‘But you should be dated. And I’m pretty good at the whole dating thing.’
My heart kicks up a notch. ‘And not at all arrogant with it, right?’
‘It’s not arrogant if it’s true.’
I roll my eyes again but stifle a laugh. ‘I suppose you have a point.’
‘So? Four weeks of debauched fun. What say you, Miss Carmichael?’
My body unequivocally and enthusiastically says ‘yes’. A thousand times over, yes. But I have to think this through. I’m not someone who jumps off the deep end without looking at every angle first. ‘I don’t date clients.’
‘Ever?’ Then, before I can answer, ‘Right, you’re a date virgin.’
‘I am not!’ I splutter, laughing. ‘I have dated.’
‘A millennium ago.’
‘Shut up.’ I punch his shoulder playfully but his eyes flare in a way that promises it could very quickly go from playful to something else entirely if I’m not careful.
‘No one has to know about this.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Could we actually keep this a secret? Is that remotely feasible?
‘What? You’re planning on taking out a full-page ad?’
‘No, but, you’re kind of recognisable, and so am I.’ Temptation is dragging me towards the line of acceptance, though. ‘Why don’t we just, you know, sleep together? My apartment has a basement garage, you c
an come and go and no one needs to know...’
‘No.’ He lifts a hand, curving it around my cheek, his eyes flaring with mine. ‘It’s obvious you’re a total novice and need a first-rate education. I’m going to take you out.’
‘Wine and dine me?’
‘Yes.’
