Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 104820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
She swallowed hard. “I’m not sure about that, Arch,” she said carefully. “I am still your caregiver, after all, and going as your date would be really unprofessional. If my company finds out I’ve been romantic with a client, I’d probably get fired. And possibly never be able to work again in this industry, because you’re so famous, and everyone would always associate my fall from grace with you.”
Saying it out loud made her realize the truth of it and what a precarious situation she’d put herself in. She was too good at her job to lose it. She’d lost everything once before, when her husband, the man she’d foolishly trusted, had gambled all their money away. She’d built herself back up, slowly. She didn’t have much in the way of savings, but she had a little and a job she enjoyed. She couldn’t allow herself to be that vulnerable ever again, and yet, here she was, on the road to potential disaster.
Arch’s face fell. He’d obviously thought she would jump at the chance to attend a film festival with him. But then, his eyes lit up once more. She could almost see a lightbulb go on over his head. “But doesn’t coming with me count as work? Like, what if I trip on the red carpet? Wouldn’t that be the perfect reason to have my caregiver with me? To prevent further injury?”
“Wait, there’s a red carpet?” Now she was even more horrified. It didn’t sound like the small awards ceremony he’d made it out to be.
He shrugged, as though it were no big deal. “There’s always a red carpet.”
Of course red carpets were no big deal to him—he walked them all the time. He knew how to pose for the hundreds of cameras flashing in his face. How to deal with being stopped to sign autographs. She’d witnessed firsthand how he took fame in stride. Being approached by strangers was nothing to him.
But just the thought terrified her.
“I can see you’re worried,” he said, “but if I let the Helping Hands agency know that you’re going to accompany me for work, will that be okay with you?”
She should say no. But he’d just made it so easy for her to justify saying yes. He was still her client, and he was still healing.
After a long pause, she finally nodded. “All right. I’ll go with you. But not as a romantic plus-one. Only as your caregiver.”
She barely had time to take her next breath when he bent down to kiss her.
And with that kiss, all her fears were forgotten. At least for the moment—when all she could think about was how much she wanted him.
* * *
Though they’d had a big, long day together out and about in Monterey County, Arch wasn’t the least bit tired. On the contrary, he was full of energy.
And it was all down to being with Tessa.
With her brilliant care of him and his broken bone, she had returned him to himself. But it was more than that. The way she’d kissed him on the pier had been so damned good. He’d never been happier knowing that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. That was why he’d forced himself to wait for her to make the first move—so that he’d have no doubt that she felt their connection too. It was also a massive deal to him that she’d confided in him her passion for painting.
Tessa flicked on a lamp, then went to get them both ice water. When she came back, he was no longer in his solo lounger, but on the couch.
“Why did you move?”
“So that there would be room for both of us.” He didn’t need to add and so we can kiss more, because some things were so obvious they didn’t need to be spoken out loud.
It all felt so natural, being in his home with her, holding her in his arms, kissing her.
But if he wanted things to go any further, he was going to have go out of his way not only to be truthful with her, but also to apologize if he did something that put him in the wrong. If he didn’t want her to hide anything from him, he had to be the same way.
“I need to say something to you. Something important.”
Tessa stiffened. Inwardly, he cursed himself. He’d put her back on her guard—that same guard he’d worked so hard to take down. He made a mental note to think more carefully about the way he phrased things, not just blurt them out.
Tessa’s eyes were wary, as though she was mentally running through a whole host of awful things he could have done. “What is it?” she asked. “You’re not secretly married to Sonia, are you?”
He grimaced. “No, of course not. I know we already talked about this on the pier, but I’m just really sorry that I didn’t tell you earlier that I knew about your painting. I don’t want you to think I’ll do it again—that I’ll keep things from you in the future. I want you to know—to believe—that I’ll always be honest with you.”