Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 129110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Just as he starts to pull away I grab his tie and bring him back. I run my fingers through his messy hair, urging him closer. His lips taste sweeter than I remember, if that's even possible. His tongue strokes and teases in a way that both melts my fears and yet intensifies them. If we're going to stop it has to be him that pulls away.
He doesn't.
Not right away.
Our kiss deepens and deepens, until my shirt is somehow around my neck, his hands roam and grab, and our moans fill the room. But just before things progress to the point of not stopping, he backs away panting.
It's nearly cruel.
"Come," he pulls me along. "I have dinner.” He brings us to the table and pulls out my chair.
"This is so fancy. I feel so under dressed,” I giggle. It's out of place.
It's all I can do to stop from stripping my remaining clothes off and climbing over the table.
He's in a stunning fitted gray suit. I'm in the clothes I wore to work, wrinkled from the plane, and half undressed from our make out.
It hurts to put everything back on.
"You're perfect."
I freeze at his words.
"I-"
"Just take the compliment," he rolls his eyes.
I nod. Actually, I blush a deeper shade of pink than the outside of this iconic hotel. But as we share a smile I realize my fears are just that. They're worst case scenarios that I want to make sure never happen.
I swallow hard as our gaze locks.
He's thinking about something.
So am I.
Like how I used to buy things for Travis to show him I was worth it - prove that staying with me was a good thing because look at what you get when you do.
How ridiculous.
I was so insecure it never occured to me that maybe I didn't want to stay with him.
Yet tonight Asher did this for me, and because of that those insecurities start to slowly wash away. I'm feeling my worth. And maybe that's stupid. Maybe I shouldn't let others define that for me. But it's hard not to feel important in this moment.
It's a known fact that Asher can have anything or anyone he wants, and he's made it clear that the only thing he wants is me.
He reaches under the table and rubs my leg before turning around and grabbing something.
I can't see what it is until he places it on the table.
An envelope.
Oh.
My envelope.
Our game.
I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.
“I think it’s time we talk about this,” he offers a half smile. “Don’t you?”
"I, uh, didn't bring mine - yours."
"That's okay. You're not ready for what I wrote in it anyway."
I make a face.
"So you want to open mine without me opening yours? That hardly seems fair."
He holds back a smile.
"I just want to clear the air on something and I have a feeling they are one in the same."
I swallow hard, wondering if I look as nervous as I feel. Just when I was starting to relax too. Leave it to Asher to keep me on my toes.
"I can read you like a book. Never opened." He holds out the envelope to show the seal is still in place.
I furrow my eyebrows, not understanding.
"I know what you wrote."
I roll my eyes and shake my head.
"As cocky as you are, there's no way."
"New York," he tisks, handing it to me. "Tell me I'm wrong."
"You're wrong."
He gives me a look. "What you said really stuck with me. That's why you're here," he narrows his stare, feeling me out. "And I want to do this to show you what you mean to me. Why you could never be someone I just up and leave without."
"I don't understand what the envelope has to do with that."
"I was never the intimating one."
I search his face, not getting it, not at first. Then I replay the words.
"I know it was you."
"What?" I gasp.
"The fan I met outside that theater," he bites his lip. "Beautiful girl. She said she was intimidated by me but had it all wrong. It was her. She made me lose all control that day, and something stuck with me. She stuck with me."
The shock on my face must say it all. Because even as I open my mouth to say something and nothing comes out he nods.
“Yeah,” he answers my unasked question. "I remember telling you how wrong you were," he pauses as I gape, wide eyes and all. "I listed the first people I could think of. You had me in such a tizzy," he shakes his head as if remembering, "but what I didn't say to this particular fan is how she, at that very moment, was number one on that list."
I'm still shaking my head. "How-"
"I saw you from across the way and you stopped my world. That alone intimidated the shit out of me."