Page 114 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Stalker

I barked out a surprised laugh. “No need to be sarcastic. But no, that’s not the reason. It’s just way too messy. Can you imagine me getting someone else’s blood on me?” I shuddered. “I mean besides yours, of course.”

“Of course,” she whispered, leaning into me.

I laid my head on her shoulder, and she laid her head on top of mine.

“I love you so much, Daisy. I never want us to be apart again,” I whispered into the side of her neck. Then I cringed. “Does that sound stalkery?”

“Totally.” She nodded her head but smiled. “But I think I get it now. At least somewhat.”

“You’re not breaking up with me?”

“I’m not breaking up with you. But… what do you want from this relationship?”

I pulled back and looked at her. I tucked some hair behind her ear just so I had a reason to touch her. “Everything.”

Her eyes widened.

“We can go slow. Ish. Slow-ish. I don’t think I do slow very well. At least not with you. I’ve been like a snail with any other woman,” I admitted.

“Their loss.”

I stood up, still holding her hand. “Give me another chance? I can do better, I swear. I might always be a little nuts when it comes to you, but I won’t go full tilt stalker. Not anymore. I promise.”

“Jack, you didn’t throw me in a kidnap van, roofie my water, and lock me in a creepy basement.”

“True. But that’s a pretty low bar.”

She laughed, and I was pleased she was able to do so this close to when it had happened.

“I want the real thing with you, Daisy. When thecontract is up… are you going to leave me?”

“No.”

A swell of relief hit me. I’d been hoping for that for so long, it seemed impossible it was coming true. “Thank goodness.”

A nurse walked in. “Okay, handsome. Time to let Sleeping Beauty get her rest. You can come back at the next visiting hours in…” she looked at the clock, “three hours. Until then, go take care of yourself.”

I must have looked pitiful at the thought of having to leave, because she softened her tone. “If you want her to get better so she can go home with you, she needs her rest.”

I nodded. “I definitely want her home with me.”

“How long have you two been together?”

I looked over my shoulder at Daisy.

“Just since a couple of months,” she said, smiling.

“Oh, I would’ve thought longer the way you two lovebirds have been staring at each other.”

“I feel like I’ve known her forever,” I admitted.

“Ah,” the nurse gave us a knowing smile. “Only the best relationships start that way. That’s how you know you’re meant to be. Maybe you were already together here on Earth before.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Daisy said.

I thought about it for a minute. I didn’t know what I thought about the afterlife or reincarnation or any of that stuff. I’d never put much effort into trying to figure it out. But I believed in souls. And energy. Since laws of physics tell us energy never dies, and souls have energy, it made me think souls go on to live beyond our bodies when we’re gone.

Maybe we did come back and inhabit different bodies. A recycling of souls, if you will. If that were the case, then I could easily believe that Daisy and I were reconnecting souls who’d known each other when we were in different bodies.