‘Don’t worry, I didn’t for a second think you meant it.’ For a millisecond, something like regret flashes across her face.
She feels it too.
Maybe this growing affection between us isn’t entirely one-sided.
Did she also feel the panic I felt when she mentioned her LA office? Because she hasn’t brought it up since. It’s clearly another elephant that needs addressing, but not today. Not when I’m sitting in front of her. Because if she knows my body half as well as I know hers, she’ll realise I wasn’t panicking because I don’t want her there. I was panicking because I do.
ChapterTwenty-Five
CHLOE
Last night’s concert was my favourite so far, namely because I got to meet Aurelia Arlington again.
‘You’re still suffering him, I see,’ she said to me. Those exact words. Thankfully, Sasha was nowhere near to hear.
Aurelia’s right in some ways. Suffering is the word for it.
The feelings ripping through me right now are agonising. Every tremulous smile, every fevered kiss, grabs my rapidly swelling heart and twists it upside down. I’m falling in love with the man who’s currently sprawled like a starfish across my bed. The same one who has been exceptionally open that he unequivocally can’t commit.
Seeing Ethan only confirmed it. When Jayden said, “I’m her boyfriend,” in that panty-melting possessive tone, I swear my heart rate cantered like a racehorse.
I thought I loved Ethan.
I didn’t. Not really. I loved the security of being together and that we shared the same drive for business. At least, I thought we did.
And when Jayden stuck up for me, a warm honeyed sensation spread through my veins and heart, plugging the hole in my chest.
My escalating feelings for him are utterly stupid, inappropriate, and futile. He’s leaving tomorrow and we only have three more dates left. I need to get my head together.
Jayden made it clear he’s unavailable. He’s never messed me around. In fact, he treats me better than Ethan ever did, and we weresupposedto be in a committed relationship. Beneath his smart quips and frequent smirks, Jayden Cooper has an underlying honour I’d never have thought he possessed. And when he peels back his mask, and drops the ruthless act, he’s actually very sweet.
Lying on my side, resting my head on my elbow, I stare at him while he sleeps. Sleeping Jayden is so different to awake Jayden. Sleeping Jayden has an endearing vulnerability that awake Jayden wouldn’t dream of revealing.
Thick masculine stubble dots his square jaw, and it’s a battle not to rub my fingers over it. Long black lashes occasionally flutter like he’s dreaming. Is he dreaming of me?
No. That’s a stupid romantic notion.
Ethan might have been right, Jayden is notoriously one of LA’s biggest players, but he’s never made a secret of it. It’s probably why he’s so damn good in bed, with all that experience he’s gained over the years. Unlike Ethan, he doesn’t pretend to be something he’s not.
The call to prayer sounds. Jayden groans, pulling a pillow over his head. ‘I don’t know how you stick that five times a day.’
‘You get used to it. I barely hear it anymore.’
His hand fumbles under the sheets until it lands on my bare hip. A moan of something like approval emerges from his lips and he pulls my body closer, flinging the pillow to the floor. Enormous steely eyes capture mine.
‘Hey.’ He brushes my hair back from my face. It’s a gesture that feels way too loving for people who are merely having casual sex.
A slow smile parts my lips. ‘Hey.’
With a rare serious expression, his finger traces the side of my face and my heart lodges in my throat. ‘I was dreaming about you.’
‘Really? And what was I doing in this dream of yours, exactly?’
‘You were…’ His low voice is weighted with the same sadness that curls around my heart when I think of this thing between us ending.
I’d almost swear he’s on the verge of admitting he feels something similar.
The need to tell him I have feelings for him consumes me, but so does a fear of his rejection, especially given his reaction to my setting up in LA. I kiss my index finger and press it to his lips, silencing him in the gentlest way.
