I let out the breath I’ve been holding since Spider moved in. No more overhearing his late-night rendezvous through the walls. No more strange smells wafting from the bathroom. No more digging his hardened food out of my Le Creuset. Just sweet freedom.
I flop onto the couch, enjoying the quiet, when my phone buzzes.
“Lucy,” JP’s husky baritone drawls, doing unspeakable things to my insides. “I have a surprise for you.”
Instinctively, I pull my knees up to my chest, hugging them.
“A surprise?” I reply, feigning nonchalance while my insides twist into pretzels of curiosity and lust.
His chuckle is low and warm. “How do you feel about comic conventions?”
A startled laugh escapes me. “You’re joking!”
Another chuckle, this one raising goose bumps on my skin. “We’re heading to a comic convention in Boston. I got us tickets.”
My mouth opens and closes like a goldfish. The wordNostumbles out, even though I mean yes.
JP Wolfe, hot billionaire enigma, is taking me to a comic convention? “I… I hadn’t pegged you as a comic enthusiast.”
“I’m not. But you are. And I might even let you go all Miss Nova on me.”
A grin spreads across my face. “Funny you should say that. I found a costume among my things from before I lost my memory, and it’s quite something.”
“That’s a sight reserved for my eyes only, then,” he shoots back, his tone dipping lower, darker, evoking images of him peeling that costume off me inch by inch.
“It’s next week, right?”
“That’s right. I can fly us there and back in a day, or we can stay overnight, whatever you prefer.”
I suck in a breath. “I can’t believe you’re willing to go. Either way works for me.”
“Then it’s a date,” he rumbles. “We’ll make a night of it in Boston.”
“Thank you so much,” I say, feeling a lump forming in my throat. “This is awesome. Those tickets sell out really quickly. I haven’t been to that one in years.”
He chuckles, a low sound that warms me. “Well, you can repay me by coming upstate. I want to show you the site for the new wellness center, near Bear Mountain. We can stay at my place.”
“I’d love that,” I breathe, butterflies taking flight in my core. “So what are you up to tonight?” I ask. “If you’re at a loose end, we could hang out. You know, only if you’re not swamped with CEO-y stuff.”
“I have some admin to attend to.”
Disappointment sinks into me. “Oh, okay, no worries.”
There’s a brief pause before he speaks again. “Can I see you tomorrow night?”
My thighs clench involuntarily. “Yeah, tomorrow’s good.”
Lady-wank it is tonight, then.
“But I’ll miss you tonight,” he drawls in a deep voice. If the man ever goes bankrupt again, he’ll make his billions back selling steamy audiobooks.
“You will?” I ask, my voice hitching.
“You have no idea. I gotta go, Lucy. See you.”
My teeth catch my lower lip as a mixture of excitement and apprehension swirls inside me. I’ve been careful not to label anything between us, especially after our conversation where he hinted at being less than perfect in relationships. But this is skirting perilously close to boyfriend territory.
???
