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“For what?”
“Following through with the raise. You could have easily forgotten about it the second I walked out of your room, but you didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You changed her life,” I tell him. “I saw the way you were in the board meeting. You completely dominated it and I realized that you’re not the kind of guy who will allow anyone to walk all over you, but I got exactly what I asked for and I hardly even put up a fight.”
“Because I wanted that for you, but I needed you to take it. If I had just given it to you, you never would have accepted it. You needed to think that you did it on your own, and besides, you looked so damn proud of yourself. How could I have taken that away?”
His eyes remain on mine and something deepens between us but neither of us are ready to think about what it means. Instead, he reaches up and takes my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. “Come on,” he says, pulling me toward the door. “Enough of this serious talk. If it goes on any longer, one of us is going to accidentally start another war.”
I laugh as I allow him to pull me along and soon enough we’re dropping down onto the couch in the den before he draws me into his arms and for the first time, I truly feel like that’s exactly where I belong.
Chapter 14
A grape flies through the air and I watch as Colton catches it in his mouth. He lays at the other end of the long couch, grinning back at me and looking more relaxed than I’ve seen him all week. “Strippers deserve the utmost respect, don’t you think?” he questions with a grin, continuing with our conversation.
I cross my legs under myself as the movie plays on the screen, completely forgotten about. “I think so. Four of the girls I went to school with were stripping just so they could support themselves after their parents were either murdered or left them to fend for themselves. Putting yourself out there to be sexualized by men just to make a little cash couldn’t be easy.”
“Fair point,” he says, raising his chin for another grape and catching it with ease when I launch it across the room. “What about male strippers?”
“Oh, hell. I have all the respect in the world for those guys. They can come through here and show off their talents any time they want,” I laugh. “Though, I’m going to need to borrow a few dollar bills so I can make it rain.”
“That’s fine,” he says with a wicked grin. “You can have all the dollar bills you want, but you’re going to have to make your ass clap to get them.”
I grab a handful of grapes and launch them across the room, every single one of them missing him completely. “I am not your personal stripper and besides, I don’t think I’m even capable of making my ass clap.”
“Trust me, Jade,” he says, scooping a stray grape off the couch beside him and popping it into his mouth. “If you want to make your ass clap, then you can do it.”
“I don’t know whether to be touched by the faith you have in my abilities or disturbed by how sure you are about it.”
Colton shrugs a shoulder and I watch as his eyes brim with joy. He waves his hand to the space in front of him. “Why don’t you give it a try and save us all this wondering.”
Another grape flies and he barks out a sharp laugh. “Would you quit throwing grapes at me?”
“Quit making crude comments and I won’t have to.”
His hands fly up in surrender. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll behave.”
Yeah, right. Colton Carrington actually sticking to his word? I’ll believe it when I see it. Though for some reason, he has my complete trust. If this was a life or death situation, I’d trust him with my life to stick to his word, but in this situation, not so much.
“You better,” I warn him, holding up the bowl of grapes. “I have plenty to spare.”
His eyes soften and I’m left confused for the millionth time tonight. Things have finally started to ease between us, but I can’t help but keep going back to the comment he made during dinner.
Not yet. He’s not in love with me yet.
He left that whole topic wide open and although I desperately shut it down, I can’t help but want to know more. It was clear by the look on his face that he was giving me his honest truth and if I have to dive deep inside myself, I’d probably find that I felt the same.
I don’t want to love him. That seems like a death trap, but I feel that if we keep getting closer the way we are, I might one day. I certainly have a soft spot for him and every day, it keeps getting softer … stronger.
