‘I wouldn’t exactly say that. I have fear—plenty of it. I just keep it to myself.’
A chink in her armour and at her own hand, a tiny fraction of her innermost self bared.
I’m calling that a win, despite the circumstances.
‘Fear is a very human reaction,’ I say gently. ‘But the flip side is courage. Andthatyou have buckets of. But that doesn’t mean you need to do everything on your own. That’s not courage but sheer bloody mindedness.’
‘Oh, James,’ she says, offering me a hint of a smile. ‘And you were doing so well on the flattery front.’
‘Have I blown it?’
‘I don’t know, have you? I wouldn’t imagine there’s space in this car to even try.’
‘Very droll. But if you’re going to talk about blowing it, perhaps you should put a little skin in the game yourself.’
‘I think you’ll find the skin goes in here.’ The minx pouts, pressing a fingernail to her bottom lip. ‘Why do you suppose the skin of a penis is so silky, anyway?’
I groan like I’m being tortured because I sort of am.
‘If we’re going to have this kind of conversation, I’ll be forced to take you home.’
‘Go on then,’ she says, almost resigned.But for the spark of devilment in her eyes. ‘Take me back to your lair, G.O. Did I tell you this whole sexy CEO look does it for me?’
No need to ask for an explanations as she trails the tips of her fingers down my shirt sleeve.
‘You look so hot in a suit, and I don’t know if you already know, but you have a bum made for jeans.’
‘Are you trying to make me blush? And by blush, I mean hard?’
I’d like to think her increasing openness is a result of her becoming more comfortable around me. But it could be pregnancy hormones, apparently. Whatever it is, I’m loving the results.
‘G.O.?’ I find myself repeating. ‘Would you care to explain the reference to me?’
‘It could stand forgorgeous oneor maybegod.’
‘You’re missing ad.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I know you’ll give that to me later.’
There really is ony one answer to that.
‘Your place or mine?’
27
Miranda
Good morning,beautiful.
Staring down at the phone in my hand, I read my early morning text and try to contain my smile. There are only so many times I can lie to Heather, citing a humorous meme as the reason for my smile.Smile. Sigh. Giggle. Saturday was fun. Well, apart from discovering the kinds of accommodation my income will stretch to. But since, I’ve become the regular recipient of a dozen daily messages. Some sweet, some sexy, some just an enquiry or a short word.
They’re just texts,I silently remind myself. Don’t read into it too much.
Because it would be madness to fall in love with him.
Sheer, unadulterated madness.
But fun. And fun might be totally fine if I only had myself to consider.
