41
Lark
Try not to fall asleep watching my fave Christmas movie after the tenth “just one more scene” time.
—From Lark’s Christmas to-do list
"What are you talking about?" His features are slack with surprise.
I want the title of CEO. But it strikes me that it’s also a diversionary tactic. A way for him to not accept his feelings for me.
Sex with Brody has been stupendous. And emotionally satisfying, in a way I could not have predicted.
The way he looks into my eyes when he takes me? It feels like a kind of claiming. A possessiveness bordering on the side ofprimitiveness. So raw in its intensity that, every time he came inside me, it felt like he marked me as his. Which is why I refuse to believe that he has no feelings for me.
Only he’s too scared to accept it. Grr!
"Why can’t you man up and be truthful about your feelings?" I jut out my chin.
“Man up, huh?”
“I did not expect Brody Davenport, the big bad CEO, to be scared of speaking his mind.”
He sets his jaw. The tips of his ears grow white, which is the first warning that he’s pissed. “I’m not scared.”
“AndI’min love with you.”
There, it’s out there. Take that,Mr. Broody McBroody.
Predictably, he pales. “Y…you love me?”
“That’s what I said.”
He seems taken aback. “You barely know me.”
I roll my eyes. But my voice softens. “I know you’re brilliant and handsome and trying, in your own stubborn way, to make the world a little better. I know you care about your grandfather so much, you’ll bend yourself into knots rather than disappoint him, even when you disagree with him. You let him choose your bride to make him happy.”
I swallow.
“You want to pour your inheritance into veterans’ programs, and you fund startups that make missions safer for our armed forces. You’re one of the most decent men I’ve ever met.”
My heartbeat stumbles.
“I know you put my pleasure first. Always. You pay so much attention to satisfying me, it makes me feel like the most beautiful, most cherished woman in the world.”
Heat rises in my cheeks.
“Not to forget, you let me cover the office in Christmas decorations because it mattered to me.” I chuckle.
“You act like you’re a ruthless, untouchable, grouch-face. But underneath… You’re a teddy bear.”
His features soften. His eyes fill with a combination of lust andneed and a myriad of emotions that I interpret as love. Then he bats them away. A tortured expression fills his features.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Why don’t you tell me how you feel about me? Why can’t you tell me that you love me? Because I see it in your eyes.”
“I want to.” He curls his fingers into fists. “And I promise, I will. I need a little more time.”
