“Because you never looked at me?” I challenged. I don’t know why I was standing there, talking to him like this when I should have been dressing and getting the hell out of Dodge, but this conversation intriguedme.
Maybe because I’d always been aware of him. How could I not be? Even before the fame, Travis was irresistible. His charisma, his dimpled smile, and those hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief were known to entice every woman he encountered. In high school, he’d had washboard abs and a dimpled smile that made every girl in a forty-mile radius swoon. He was in even better shape now, and that fact didn’t go unnoticed byme.
“Oh trust me, I’ve always looked at you,” he told me, smirking. “But the point is; I care, you are my friend. So talk to me. What are youfeeling?”
I hesitated, biting my lip. “Overwhelmed,” I finally answered, almost sagging in exhaustion. I was tired of fighting my impulse to trust him. “I’ve never…it’s never been like that forme.”
“You’ve never got off?” Travis arched a brow,surprised.
I blushed, embarrassed. “Well, if I did…it wasn’t likethat.”
He nodded, unable to hide his smug grin. “I won’t lie, hearing that makes me feelgood.”
“I’ll bet,” I replied dryly. He stepped toward me again, his hands tugging my hips againsthim.
“That’s not the only thing bothering you,” he hedged, his eyes reading every raw emotion in mine. “We’re friends,right?”
“…Yes…” Ibreathed.
“Do you trust me, Becky?” he askedthickly.
“I do,” I replied, my answer easy andhonest.
“Then tell me about it. Don’t just repress it. Lean on someone else for a change,” hesaid.
I pulled away from his embrace, walking back to the mattress. I sat down, drawing my robe closer to my body. “This is the first time I’ve been…intimate with someone since…Aiden’sfather.”
Hearing this, Travis frowned as he sank down beside me. “You’re not feeling guilty, areyou?”
“No,” I shook my head animatedly. “It’s not that…it’s just, I haven’t let anyone touch me since then and you…well, you were so gentle and…I just. I didn’t know it could be like that. It scaredme.”
“Why?” he questioned, his voice soft. He brushed a strand of hair out of my face, tucking it behind myear.
“I don’t want to get hurt again,” I whispered, closing my eyes. I couldn’t bear to see the pity inhis.
When I finally did open my eyes, there was no pity; only tenderness and empathy. My heart wavered, along with my certainty andcontrol.
“I will never hurt you. You don’t have to worry about that, Becs,” Travis assured me. “If you just want tonight, I understand, but I personally wouldn’t mind doing that again,” he continued, his eyes caressing me with sincerity. The charismatic, devil-may-care attitude was gone; he was open and sincere. It was a side to him I’d never seen, a startling opposite to his carefreenature.
“So, what…like a friends with benefits thing?” I askeddubiously.
“We don’t have to define it, we can just hang out when I’m back and you’re free. But yeah, basically friends with benefits,” he shrugged, grinning. “I can’t treat you like a one-night stand, Becs. You’re a friend first, and I want to see you again. It could be fun, what do yousay?”
The lump of emotion in my throat made it impossible to speak. My heart was pounding in my chest,maybesandwhat ifscascading down on me like heavyraindrops.
“I don’t know,” I finally said when I found my voice. I stood up on trembling limbs, my heart thundering in my chest as I stared at him with confounded astonishment. I truly hadn’t expected him to want more from me, which was why I’d approached him about this in the first place. I figured he’d be down for one night and content to go on his way, back to his life of concerts and tours and models. “What’s in it foryou?”
“I get to help you face your fear of intimacy, without the pressures of an actual relationship,andI get to have sex. Lots of it. With you,” Travis winked playfully at me. “I’d say we both get something positive out of thisarrangement.”
“But you could have sex with any woman, whyme?”
“You’re real,” he shrugged. “I don’t have to worry about you selling what happens between us to the highest bidder, and you don’t expect me to be any more than I am.” His words were vulnerable and he seemed uncomfortable with hishonesty.
I sank back down beside him, facing him, and chewed on my lower lip as I contemplated hiswords.
“Sex is a great stress reliever,” he pointed out, waggling hiseyebrows.
I stared at him for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons as I fought off a smile. He was right; sexwasa great stress reliever. While my mind was still whirling, my body was as relaxed as if I’d spent the day at the spa. The knots in my neck weren’t bothering me for the first time in days. “If we do this, we’re going to need groundrules.”
