Chapter 34
INEZ
34
“Come here.”
I glance over my back from where I’m sitting on the edge of Nolan’s bed, smoothing my potions and lotions all over my freshly-showered skin.
Stella fell asleep partway through the movie we were watching and Nolan carried his sleeping princess to her room. Then he lured me in here for some adult time. But even after round one in his bed and round two in the shower, we’re still not satisfied. We want more of each other.
I smile a mischievous smile, setting the moisturizer aside and crawling across the mattress to where he’s sitting with his back propped against the headboard. I straddle him, my bare thighs clamped around his hips.
“What?” I ask cheekily, running my hands down his bare chest.
“You need to stop stealing my T-shirts,” he says gravely. His fingers slip beneath the hem, smoothing up the expanse of my back.
At his touch, I’m already arching my spine, pushing my tits up to his face. “Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do about it?” I challenge him.
Grasping the back of my head, he pulls me closer and devours my lips. “I’m going to take it off. Right now.”
I’m happy to play along. Gosh—I can never get enough of this man.
He strips me naked and puts on a condom in a hurry. He bites my neck and licks my tits and whispers into my ear as I bounce on his dick. When I start getting loud, he stuffs his T-shirt into my mouth and I bite down on the fabric as I dig my fingernails into his shoulders. I explode violently. He follows right after me.
When it’s over, I collapse into the tangled sheets. With a kiss to my forehead, Nolan goes and grabs a towel from the bathroom to clean me up. This time, I actually let him.
Being cared for this way feels foreign. It’s not something I’m used to. I’m used to having to figure everything out on my own.
That’s why my heart is doing cartwheels in my chest as Nolan takes his time, running the warm cloth over my most intimate areas.
After I’m all clean, he wraps his body around mine, bringing the sheets around us. He sighs contentedly, his fingers drawing shapes on my skin like he likes to do.
He’s ruminating. I don’t even have to look at him to know that his mind is moving a million miles an hour.
I roll over in the sheets to face him. “What are you thinking about?”
He gives me a little frown in the dimly-lit room. “So nosy. Why are you always trying to get inside my head, Machado?”
“Because you stay locked down tighter than a military compound, Mr. Broody. But every time I look at you, I can see five hundred thoughts moving through your brain. I want to know what they are.”
“Why?” he demands.
I shrug. “Maybe I can help.”
“You, just being here in this bed with me already helps more than you know.” He kisses my forehead. He strokes my cheek with his knuckles. “Now, sleep. You need to build your strength back up. We’re doing butt stuff in the morning.”
I bark out a laugh. “You wish, buster.”
Full disclosure—if Nolan wants to do butt stuff, I’d totally be into it. But a woman’s got to play hard to get sometimes. An air of mystique. Is that what they call it?
“Well, you know where to find me if you decide you need to talk.” I press a kiss to the center of his chest. Then I snuggle against him and try to drift off.
“Fuck it—let’s do this!” he blurts suddenly.
My chest starts hammering. “The…the butt stuff?” I ask, half terrified, half trying to be funny.
Nolan starts laughing and some of the tension in the air dissipates. “A relationship,” he says quietly. “I want to be in a relationship with you. Be my girlfriend, Inez.”
W-whoa…
Nolan Brighton asking me to be his girlfriend was not on my bingo card for tonight. Or for this week. Or for this century, even.
Yet, here we are.
I need to sit up for this conversation. “A relationship?”
He sits up, too. Now, he seems a little less sure of himself. “I…yes, I just mean…” He clears his throat, taking my hands in his. “Saying this to you feels crazy. I never thought we’d ever be having this conversation. But the more I think about it, this just feels right. You and me.”
My leg begins to bounce with nerves. “Yeah, I…I wasn’t expecting this…”
He squeezes my hands. “Look—I’m not asking for a commitment you can’t handle. I know that things are sort of up in the air for you. And you’re not exactly sure what you’ll do or where you’ll go next. I know this whole thing between us is probably temporary. But with you, I’ll take whatever I can get. Whatever you’re willing to give me.”
With each word he says, my pulse pounds faster. “What are you saying, Nolan?”
“What I’m saying is this isn’t just about sex for me. While you’re here in Starlight Falls, I want to spend time with you and genuinely get to know you and enjoy you and learn everything about you. I want to help you and protect you and take care of you. I like you, Inez, and I want…I want you. Just you. I want you to be mine.”
Nolan’s heartfelt monologue leaves me speechless. I can’t lie. I’m taken off-guard. I wasn’t prepared for any of this.
But also, I can’t stop smiling. I’m smiling so big it hurts my face. And I’m not thinking about the talent agents or the auditions or the script in my inbox. All of that is so very far from my mind.
In this moment, I’m just thinking about Nolan and me.
“I like you, too,” is all I can say. Because these emotions I’m feeling weigh so heavily on my windpipe.
“So you’ll be my girl?” he asks, his nostrils twitching with restrained excitement.
I bite down on my bottom lip. That doesn’t stop my smile from growing wider and wider and wider. “I’ll be your girl.”
He squeezes me so very tight, kissing my forehead and my cheeks and the tip of my nose. “I’m so fucking happy, Inez.”
“I am, too…” I nuzzle into his neck.
My boyfriend, my boyfriend, my boyfriend. Nolan Brighton is my boyfriend.
His chest rattles with a tiny chuckle. Like he’s got his own little inside joke. No fair.
“What?” I mumble sleepily.
He tenderly strokes the curve of my ass. “Butt stuff to celebrate?”
I bite his nipple. “Go to sleep, you horn dog.”