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“Fine,” she said as I followed in behind her. “Then I'm buying.”
I furrowed my brow at her as we stepped into line, the smell of freshly brewed teas and honey and citrus hanging in the air. It had been a thoroughly perfect day, one we'd spent at a business breakfast meeting, followed by a spontaneous round of shopping where I'd purchased more things than Aspen had even looked at.
“What?” she asked, grinning up at me as she nudged me with her shoulder. “What's the point of having all this expense cash if I don't get to spend it?”
She had a point there, and it wasn't like I would ever tell her what she could and couldn't spend her money on. I knew by now, after spending nearly two months with her, that it was hard for her to allow someone to take care of her. And I understood the reasoning behind it, with her parents never actually playing the role of parent and her having to take on the role herself for her baby sister at a very young age.
The two people she was supposed to be able to count on the most ended up betraying her in the biggest way possible. Naturally, she'd have a hard time allowing people in her life that she trusted enough to depend on. And as the days wore on between us, I hoped that I was getting closer to that category.
She certainly trusted me with her body. The thought speared through me like a line of fire. Ever since we opened that particular box, we hadn't been able to stop. It had been a month of business meetings and events, charities and galas, hockey games and sex.
A lot of sex.
Really good, incredible, earth-shattering sex.
But it wasn't just her body that had me absolutely content as we stood in line at a casual tea shop on a Wednesday afternoon.
It was her.
Somehow, by taking all the pressure off of a real relationship, I'd managed to be totally myself around her and her the same with me. It gave us the ability to cut through the bullshit and be real, and it turned out that we just absolutely got along.
Aspen’s energy matched my insatiable appetite, and her thirst for adventure was likely higher than mine, even though the circumstances of her situation didn't allow her to indulge those whims as often as she'd like.
At least not until I came into her life. Not until I purchased the coffee shop she worked at in order to allow her full time off so she could hop on the jet with me whenever I needed.
And in the beginning, it had been a means to an end. A good business decision on my part, but now? Now I was just thrilled to see her thriving. Not that she hadn't been before, but at least now the woman was getting decent sleep. Well, somewhat decent. I had to say I was guilty of keeping her up a little too late every other night, but I hadn't heard any complaints so far.
“What's good here?” I asked as we moved up in the line.
“They have incredible boba,” she said. “You have to try the lychee green tea with the lychee bursting balls.”
I nodded as we reached the counter and ordered exactly what she said. She ordered herself a mango boba, and we stepped off to the side after she paid for the drinks and waited for our order.
I wrapped my arms around her from behind, tucking my head over her shoulder as I dipped down to whisper into her ear.
“Thank you,” I said my lips grazing the shell.
She arched into the touch, leaning back against me with the ease that had been built between us in the last two months. I didn't even know if anybody knew who I was in this tea shop or if there were any hiding paparazzi outside. I certainly hadn't seen any, but I wasn't holding her for show.
I was holding her because Ilikedit.
Because I liked touching her. Lived for that little grin that shaped her lips whenever I did.
I liked the way her signature scent wafted up to my nose every time I wrapped my arms around her, and I liked the feel of her against me.
I liked her.
I liked her in a way that I’d never liked anyone before.
And I still wasn't sure what to do about it.
“You know you don't have to thank me for buying you a tea,” she said. “Especially not after all you've?—"
“We're not in a competition,” I said, trying to soothe the rambling concerns that I knew were about to spill from herkissable lips. We'd had the conversation before, many times. Despite me paying her for our contractual agreement, she still felt out of balance when it came to gifts and outings and everything extra that came with the gig I'd hired her for. She felt like she owed me, when I tried to explain time and time again, that she gave me more than I ever bargained for by just being her.
“I know it's not a competition,” she said. “But you have to understand it's hard when I can't even pretend to keep up. I'll never be able to treat you the way you treat me, which is like a freaking queen.” She shook her head. “Like royalty.”
I gently spun her around to face me, tipping her chin up as I met her gaze. “You are a queen,” I said. “My queen. One I happily get on my knees for whenever she wants.” I smirked at the little intake a breath that slipped through her lips. “And you make me feel like a king just by being you. Just having you around makes me feel richer than any number in any of my bank accounts.”
