“Those kinds of secrets are usually embarrassing. Besides, Mom knew them all.”
“I don’t just want cute secrets. Prove you trust me. Tell me something really dark.”
I lift my head from his chest again, trying to decide. “I’ll tell you two. One isn’t so bad. I’ve read ‘Sense and Sensibility’ twenty-seven times.”
He looks at me incredulously, as if expecting me to laugh at any moment, but when I keep a serious face, he turns us sideways on the couch to see me better. “Why so many times? What is it about that book that fascinates you?”
“The way the contrast between the protagonists is portrayed. The two sisters—one is sense and the other sensibility, and as you can guess, they have totally different reactions to the loss of love.”
“Which one would you be?”
“I’ve asked myself that question a lot. When I was a teenager, I’d definitely have been Marianne, sensibility, but after I lost my mother, I needed to be Elinor, sense, to be able to stay strong. I was alone in the world.” I look away from him because I’m ashamed of opening up so much. “I think today I’m a mix of both.”
His face is serious when I return my gaze to him, and I don’t want to ruin our night.
“And now, ready for the dark secret?”
He seems to realize my maneuver, but lets me go on with it, much to my relief. “Tell me.”
“I’m a fan of nineties horror movies.”
“No way.”
“I swear.The Blair Witch Project,Bride of Chucky,Candyman,Scream.”
“You’re kidding. I have all of them. They’re so much fun, but there are also some eighties classics you have to watch. We need to organize a marathon.”
I try not to show my astonishment, but I can’t. Is Guillermo making plans for the two of us?
Overwhelmed by everything that’s happened tonight, I snuggle into his chest.
He lies back on the couch, pulling me onto him, keeping his arms locked around me.
Chapter 22
“Good morning, Princess Nina! Do you always wake up with such a big smile?”
God, I perfectly understand why her father is so in love with her. The little girl is enchanting. Who wouldn’t be completely at her beck and call when greeted with that smile in the morning?
She’s sitting in the crib, and I think that in a short time, Guillermo will have to lower the height. I have no doubt she’ll quickly learn to climb it. Yesterday, Nina didn’t stop for a second.
I took a quick shower and came to check on her. I would have offered to spend the day with her again, but two things stopped me: one is that I need to change clothes, and the other, the most important one, is that now, in the light of morning, my Cinderella moment is over.
It wasn’t anything he said; I’m the one determined to keep my feet on the ground. Still following the clues from what I’ve read in romances, I’m not going to play the naïve girl whowaits for a marriage proposal after a night of sex—although the sex part didn’t happen.
We spent the night on the couch.
A big, huge, comfortable couch, but still, a couch.
Although he held me close to his body the whole time, I think I received a clear message: No bedroom, no intimacy beyond the sexual.
That didn’t matter while we were sleeping because the feeling of being in his arms was too good, but when I woke up early this morning and lifted my head from his chest, he was already awake and watching me.
I couldn’t decipher what I saw in that look, but I thought he wanted to tell me something and didn’t know how, so to avoid embarrassment for both of us, I got up with the excuse of taking a shower. Then I quickly dressed and came to Nina’s room because now I’m the one needing space.
And that’s why, even though I regret that the poor thing has to spend the day at the office again because as far as I know, the issue with the nanny hasn’t been resolved, I didn’t offer to stay with her, not even at the hotel.
I have no clue what will happen to us from here, but I certainly won’t be the needy girl who hangs around the boss.
