“Wow.” She shook her head.
“Emma, I got carried away.”
“You think?”
“I don’t think anyone picked up on it.”
“But what if they did? All that talk about the ice cream? And the two companies? You made me so nervous! How could everyone not suspect something?” She let out a groan, shaking her head. “They could have asked what this is before we’ve even talked about what this is yet. I mean, are we dating? Are we in a relationship?Are we just… sleeping together? This is all so complicated and there’s just too much potential for people we care about to get hurt because we didn’t think this through.”
She glared at him, waiting for a reply. And God, when she stared at him like that, arresting green eyes full of fire, dark hair cascading down her shoulders, her arms across her chest—it gutted him. He suddenly realized that he had been so concerned with giving her space to work out her feelings that he hadn’t considered the fact that he had kept silent about his own.
“I didn’t think…” He let his voice trail off as he ran a hand through his hair. “That’s it. I didn’t think. I’m sorry.”
Her mouth fell open as if momentarily stunned. Her shock made sense—Knightley could probably count on one hand the amount of times he’d ever apologized to her; now he’d done it twice in twenty-four hours. And suddenly all the other reasons he needed to began to clog his brain.
“And I’m sorry we didn’t talk about any of this yesterday.” He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “That you’ve spent the day wondering where we stand. I thought I was giving you space to steer this, but I wasn’t clear about what I want.”
She shrugged slightly as her gaze fell to the floor. “It’s all right.”
“No. It’s not,” he replied, his voice so deep and clear that her eyes snapped up to meet his again.
“I want you. I want to be with you. And I’m sorry if my past has ever made you doubt my commitment to this. To you. Because I am all in, Emma. Totally and completely. I want strings. With you.”
She didn’t reply, only trapped her bottom lip between her teeth as the last bit of frustration melted from her features.
“And I’m sorry that our lives are already so intertwined that this feels complicated. But it doesn’t feel complicated to me. It feels like the easiest decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “But I’m not sorry I can’t keep my hands off you.”
“Oh really?”
He slowly shook his head.
Her mouth twitched with a grin, mirroring the one on his own face. Then she stood up and made a move toward the bed.
He held up his hand. “Stay right there.”
She sat back down slowly, her brows knitting together.
“Tell me what you want,” he said.
She swallowed, keeping her eyes locked with his. “I want strings too.”
Relief surged through his veins. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “Lots and lots of strings.”
He smiled. “Okay then.”
“I also want your hands and your mouth and orgasms and just… everything.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Ask nicely, then.”
She scoffed.
He leaned back. “Ask. Nicely.”
