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“M-more?”
“More,” he said firmly. “So now there’s no going back, there’s only going forward. Which is why I couldn’t let you sleep on a bench in the foyer, or leave you alone when you were sick, or let your foolish ass try to work while you were sick.”
“I’m not a foolish ass.”
“Baby, try to concentrate and listen to me.”
“How can I when you’re . . . when you’re . . .” she trailed off.
“When I’m what?” he asked in a low voice.
“When you’re touching me!”
Touching her?
“You mean my hand touching your cheek?”
“Yes, I mean your hand touching my cheek!”
“Because I could do so much more touching . . . I want to do so much more,” he told her with a smile.
“But . . . but . . . why?” The bewilderment on her face floored him, wiping away his smile.
Didn’t she know?
Didn’t she look in the mirror? Or realize the way that men noticed her?
Then again, she made disappearing an artform, didn’t she? Always trying to hide the light that shone out of her.
A light that had taken him a while to see. But now . . .
“Rainbow, are you fishing for compliments?” he asked.
“What? No! You know I’m not.”
“And how would I know that when you’re the most beautiful, sexy woman I’ve ever seen in my life?”
Something like shame filled her face and her shoulders hunched.
Oh no. He didn’t like that.
Not. At. All.
“Aston Symonds, you look at me right the fuck now.”
Her gaze snapped to him.
“What was that look about?”
He waited to see if she’d snap back at him. That was their game. But she bit her lip, still looking unsure. And he really didn’t like that either.
She clearly didn’t know her own worth. He’d gotten hints of that in the five months or so since they’d first met. But now it was undeniable.
“You know, if I’m not allowed to lie to you, then you should do me the same in return.”
“How am I lying to you?” he asked.
“I’m not beautiful, Maxim! Anyone can see that. I’m not sexy. Or sensual or gorgeous. I know you’ve been with plenty of women. I’ve seen them on your arm in the gossip columns.”
So she had looked him up. Too bad, she’d seen things he wished she hadn’t.
“And I’ve seen those women. They’re gorgeous and sexy. I. Am. Not.”
“Then what are you?” he whispered.
He wanted all this poisonous shit laid out on the table. He wanted it out of her head. Because he was going to have to lay a few truths on his girl.
“Wow, are you enjoying torturing me?” she asked.
“Not at all. Tell me. What are you if you’re not beautiful?”
“I’m plain, all right? I’m not going to turn anyone’s head. Look at me! I stick out like a sore thumb here. Boring, forgettable, and chubby. The only reason anyone would notice me is because of my awesome dance moves.”
Was she being sarcastic? He studied her face. Hell. She really thought she had awesome dance moves.
He filed that away to remember later.
“Have you had your eyes tested lately?”
“No.” She looked confused.
“You should. You’re obviously going blind.”
“Maxim—” she protested.
“And together with those short-term memory issues, I’m starting to get concerned.”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “I am not blind, you daft man. I know what I see when I look in the mirror. Someone chubby, plain, and forgettable.”
“Then your eyes are lying or your mirror is. Because that isn’t what I see and it isn’t what anyone else sees.”
“You don’t have to try so hard to get into my pants. I bet any woman out there would want you.”
“That so?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, that doesn’t really matter to me much when the only woman I want is standing right in front of me, giving me sass.”
“Giving you sass?”
“Yep, giving me sass, putting herself down and earning herself a punishment.”
She gulped heavily.
“You are not punishing me.”
“Oh, I am.” Drawing back, he grabbed her hips and spun her. “Hands on the wall, baby.”
“Maxim.”
He waited to see if she’d try to move away, would protest more. He’d let her move if it was what she really wanted. This was only sexy if they both consented to it. But he knew she wanted him.
She just had a problem with self-worth.
And that was something he could help her with. Because he’d been there. And he’d conquered that asshole.
Sort of.
“Hands on the wall, Rainbow.” He made his voice go low and stern.
“You suck.”
He grinned, knowing he had her. Particularly when her hands slammed down on the wall.
“Happy?”
“Not yet. I won’t be truly happy until my girl knows her own self-worth. Until she looks in the mirror and sees staring back at her the sexy goddess that I see.”
“Maybe you’re the one that needs glasses.”
“My eyesight is perfect.”
“Then you need your head examined.”
“I know what I’m doing, Rainbow.”
“Do you?” she murmured. “I don’t think you do. You and me . . . we aren’t made for each other.”
