“We’ll see about that.” I can’t stop looking at him.
“Fine.” He pops a brow. “But I’ll tell you this: just say the word and we’ll put us both out of this misery of pretending.”
“Pretending what?”
“Pretending we don’t want each other.”
He’s gorgeous in this morning sun. I want to grab his face and slam his lips to mine. I want to tell him a ridiculous lie—one he will recognize in an instant. Like how the sky is green and the grass is blue just to see what it would feel to have his hand cracking across the sensitive skin on my ass, but I don’t. My breath is absolutely criminal at this point.
He must read my mind when he says, “I have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom cabinet.”
“I have a perfectly good toothbrush at home,” I whisper, cursing my breath brushing across his lips.
“Stay.” One word. It’s the only word needed to make the blood drain to my toes.
“I can’t.”
“Do you have work today?”
“No.”
“Writing?”
“No.”
His eyes trail from my mouth to my eyes. “We’ll let that first lie slide of you saying you can’t since you haven’t given the go ahead yet on letting me spank you. But please stay, Wallflower.”
“I… shouldn’t.”
I’ve spent years telling myself feelings weren’t for me. Falling for someone isn’t worth the risk that comes with it. The heartbreak. The betrayal. The death. What is there to show for it if in the end it turns out to all be a lie? Is the risk truly worth the reward? But Holt has managed to tear down every single one of my beliefs on falling in love. He’s testing me, making me believe my heart isn’t completely dead.
Logic tells me not to stay. To go home full of shame and pretend the time with him hasn’t meant anything. But that would be the biggest lie I’ve ever told myself.
“Stay here today,” he says, bringing his mouth dangerously close to mine. I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone as much as I do him. “You can shower. You can get whatever clothes you need afterward. Then I want to take you out tonight.”
One brick from the wall Holt has torn down has managed to fall back into place. I crash back down to earth with that last statement. He wants to take me out to create fresh media content.
“You want to take me out.” I nod, pulling back slightly. I fall back against the headboard again. “I’m guessing the headlines are starving for another Holt Capuleti dating story, huh?”
“They are.” His fingers pinch the front of his shirt I’m wearing, and he pulls me forward. I sit up as he tugs me back toward him. “But that’s not why I’m wanting to take you out, Selene.”
“Why are you, then?” I ask, breathless.
“Because I don’t want you to go. I want to know what it feels like to come home from work and see you here.”
“Bold of you to assume I would want the same thing.”
His blue eyes flash. “Tell me you don’t.”
I breathe. Count to three. Then I breathe again.
“Consider your answer, Wallflower.” His voice wraps around me, heating my inner thighs. “I may just start collecting your little white lies for later.”
“Oh, yeah?” I ask, having no doubt he means it.
“Yeah.” He nods, cracking another smile.
Then I go against everything I’ve ever told myself since I was eighteen. “Where’s this toothbrush?”
