CHAPTER THIRTEEN #2
His lips spread into a delicious smile. “Because I want to be alone with you, Daisy.”
“I mean…why me?”
I was so ordinary, and he was like a shooting star: beautiful and distant and fleeting to the human eye. He was a top-quality man, and I was…nobody.
Oliver’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Because I haven’t stopped thinking about you, and I’ve tried. I even tried to stop coming around that library, knowing you’d be there, huddled at some corner desk, that beautiful hair shrouding your beautiful face. I was hoping to forget about you.”
He paused.
“Then I realized you’re not a fixture in that place. You’ve become a fixture inside my head.”
I felt my being bloom at his words.
It was the first time I felt…like I was worth something in someone’s eyes.
I bit my lip, trying to contain my excitement. “I can come over, but I have to be home by ten.”
That was when June went to bed, and I never wanted to burden her by making her look after Rowe longer than she needed to.
Oliver slid out and came to a stand, smirking down at me. “I’ll get you dinner. What do you like to eat?”
I slid out of the booth, the coffee forgotten. “You don’t have to—”
“If you won’t tell me, I’ll decide,” he warned, amused. “And it might be pickles on toast.”
I laughed. “I like…Chinese?”
He played with his keys, nodding. “Chinese it is.”
Instead of letting me trail after him, he took me by the hand, and I felt his warmth reach my soul.
We had barely made it to his car when I felt his hands around me. He spun me around, and a sharp breath escaped as my back pressed against the car.
My mouth opened to ask what he was doing when his head dropped and his mouth pressed against mine.
I stilled, shocked for a brief moment as the warmth of his lips eagerly took mine. He kissed me deeply, and I let him, opening my mouth to let him in. I felt his fingers in my hair. Felt his other hand on my hip, squeezing there as his body crowded around me.
He kissed me hard, and I groaned at the immediate pleasure that ripped through me. My fingers trembled as I pressed my hand against his shirt, gripping it. I felt the muscle underneath his top, and I shivered again as I imagined him naked and touching me.
I was panting hard when he finally pulled away. My eyes remained closed as I caught my breath.
I felt his grin as he kissed me gently this time, whispering, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, Daisy.”
I licked my lips, trying to capture the taste of him again.
He stepped back, and I opened my eyes to look at him. Even though it was warm, I felt cold when he moved away and walked around the car.
“Chinese at my place, and then I want to do that again.”
He unlocked the car, and I slid in when he did.
My heart was hammering. Crazy butterflies and nerves settled in the pit of my stomach as I imagined doing that again with him.
I didn’t realize I was shaking until he wrapped a hand around mine midway through the drive and asked, “Are you all right?”
I swallowed and finally looked at him. His eyes were on mine. We were stopped at a red light.
I tried to smile, but nothing happened to my lips.
I hesitantly admitted, “I’m not on birth control.”
Oliver blinked, his brows drawing together slowly. “That’s all right. If you want to be intimate, I have condoms, but I’m not demanding it, Daisy.”
“I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be.”
“I haven’t been with another guy since Colt…” I winced even saying his name aloud.
The light turned green, and Oliver drove. This time, he didn’t speak for a few minutes.
I anxiously bit my nail, wondering if my lack of experience was a bad thing. What if he thought I wasn’t as mature as he seemed to think I was?
I was twenty-one, but I hadn’t lived much of a life beyond raising my boy and trying to survive one day at a time. Others my age were close to finishing their degrees. I hadn’t even started mine.
Suddenly, all my insecurities and fears boiled to the surface.
Had I just ruined things with Oliver?
I really liked him. I thought about him all the time, and him kissing me was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me, outside of having Rowe, of course.
“How long did it take before you got pregnant with your son?” Oliver suddenly asked.
I braved a glance in his direction. He looked thoughtful, his eyes pinned on the road before us.
“Not long.”
“Once? Twice? How many times?”
“Three times,” I admitted, feeling my cheeks burn.
“Did you enjoy it?”
I squirmed in my seat, uncomfortable with the question, but at the same time, I didn’t want to drive Oliver away.
“It hurt every time.”
“Did he act like he knew what he was doing?”
I blinked. “I don’t like thinking about it.”
“Try.” He glanced at me briefly. “For me.”
I didn’t want to think about being sixteen and being intimate with Colt. It made my stomach turn. None of it had been good. I couldn’t remember what the hell I had been thinking.
It felt like another reality.
So I lied in that moment and replied, “He was clumsy.”
“What were you?”
I swallowed. “Stupid.”
His hand, still wrapped around mine, squeezed gently. “Not anymore. Not with me, okay?”
I nodded, my heart skipping a beat. “Okay.”
He looked at me, and his lips curved. “I’m going to look after you, Daisy. I promise.”
I blinked back tears and smiled, entranced by him.
Where did this man come from?
There was no way a girl like me could be so lucky…
And yet here I was, holding Oliver Black’s hand.
Please don’t mess this up, Daisy.
I would do everything in my power not to.