“That’s a good thing.”
Eyes shooting to him, I saw the conflict in the twisting of his brows.
“I’m not usually like this.” His jaw tightened. “I’m hard and driven. I don’t let emotions or women in.”
Worry hammered me, and I dreaded his words because the man I knew was not the one he was describing.
“But with you…with you, Tori, I want to be different. I don’t want to be hard and unfeeling, and that…well, that terrifies me.”
I’d suspected he was hiding something from me, and hearing his confession led me to believe something in his past had shaped him into the man he was talking about. A man he hadn’t let me see.
“So, I want to treat you like you’re fragile. Like I could break you if I move too fast. And I don’t want something fast with you, Tori. I don’t want us to burn and fade. I want more.”
My mouth parted as the air fled my body. I freed my hands from his and threw them around his neck, pulling his mouth to mine. “Then we won’t fade,” I said against his lips. “But I want you to kiss me when you want to, to take me in your arms when you have the urge, and to hold me when you need to.”
The tension in his body relaxed, and I felt his smile as his arms wrapped around my waist again. The kiss solidified the moment, warming my soul with its tenderness.
“Us,” I said as our lips separated. “You said us like we’re…” I didn’t want to make assumptions, but he confirmed my thoughts quickly.
“A couple,” he said. There was no question in his statement, only an affirmation.
“Exclusive?” I asked, unsure why. Although this was so new that it seemed fast, even if it also seemed right.
He pulled back, his eyes narrowed, and in that look, I could see the man he’d described, the one he didn’t let into what we had.
“I won’t do any other way,” he said. His tone held possessiveness with an undertone of aggression, and I tilted my head trying to figure out this new side of him. As if he noticed, the darkness left his eyes. “Be my girlfriend, Tori. I don’t want any chance of another man tempting you away from me.”
I threw my head back and laughed, freezing when he kissed my neck. “Please,” he added as his mouth glided to my ear.
“Yes,” I answered. He wrapped his hand around the base of my neck and brought me back to look at him. “And you don’t have to worry about anyone tempting me, Gabe.” I didn’t think there was anyone who could compete. “Now, me, on the other hand…” I narrowed my eyes, pretending to be as confident as he was, which only made his grin grow.
“There’s nothing that tempts me but you. I thought you knew that considering you stole my attention the second I saw you.”
And I did know it because Allison had given up her attempts after day two when his focus remained on me. She’d moved on to flirting with another man in our class, and there were days I wished I had a bag of popcorn with me while I watched the impending disaster.
“I did, but it helps to hear you say it.”
He gave me another kiss before releasing me. “If I remember correctly, you promised me aLord of the Ringsmarathon and pizza.”
My heart somersaulted. Regaining my composure, I glanced at my watch. “It’s only ten in the morning.”
“Then we have two hours of the first movie before we order. Let’s get these boxes unpacked so there’s room on that couch for us to eat and watch the last part before you make me do more manual labor.”
My smile must have been wide enough to deform my face. I watched as he put the beer in my fridge. He had on a pair of khaki shorts that hung over his knees but gave me a perfect view of his sexy calves. The T-shirt he wore was dark navy and brought out the darker tones in his eyes. When he bent, I had to stop my hands from reaching out to trace the pattern the muscles of his back made. He was gorgeous, and he was mine. A giddy excitement bubbled inside me.
Turning back to me, he gave me a questioning look. I threw a smile at him and swiveled to face the piles of boxes, not wanting him to know I’d been checking him out. When I reached up to get the top box from the stack, he was at my back, taking it down before I could get my hands on it.
“Let me do the heavy lifting.”
“You know I’m not weak, right? I work out,” I complained, putting my hands on my hips.
He flashed me a sly grin. “I know, but remember, I want to treat you as if you’re fragile, and that means picking up the boxes.”
Shaking my head, I grabbed my knife and opened a box.
“You sure you don’t mind my being here while you unpack?” he asked as I started pulling things out. “I mean, there might be some things you don’t want me to see.”
I crossed my arms, put my chin on my hand, and pretended to think. “You mean like the box of mementos from all my ex-boyfriends?”
