Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
TAJ
If it weren’t for the fact that Olivia’s warm, soft body was tucked close as she slept in my arms, I might have thought I dreamt it all up.
The kiss. The fact that she’d asked me to do it. Her agreeing to spend the night in my bed. The confirmation that she was staying in town.
I’d been hoping for all of it for long enough, so it was entirely possible I’d imagined it and fooled myself into believing I’d gotten so lucky.
I recalled those brief moments yesterday afternoon when she’d been working herself up to tell me the truth, and I’d immediately assumed the worst. She’d once mentioned looking at me as a problem solver, and in those horrible moments, my mind had been racing and scrambling to come up with ideas of how to get her to stay.
In the end, I’d resorted to begging, because what else could I do?
And Olivia had given me something far greater than I ever hoped for. Not only did she tell me she had no intention of leaving, but she also asked me if I’d find a way to give her a reason to stay.
I was going to give her more than one reason. I was going to give her dozens. Hundreds, if she’d allow it.
From the moment she’d made it clear that she was interested and wanted physical affection, everything changed for me.
Weeks of wanting more, of hoping to get to this place, had finally become a reality.
And until it’d happened, I hadn’t realized just how much tension I’d been carrying around.
The moment she told me what I’d been dying to hear, it was like having a huge weight lifted off my chest. Like I could finally breathe again.
We spent an obscene amount of time kissing on my couch. And the moment I got the sense things were getting too hot, that we were heading to a place we wouldn’t be able to return from, we settled in and returned to watching the movie. The rest of the evening had just been more of that.
Kissing, cuddling, having dinner, eating dessert, and more kissing.
In a way, yesterday had been a dream.
But I tipped my chin down, saw her sleeping in my arms, and knew it’d been real. Olivia slept so peacefully as I took in every gorgeous feature, knowing her physical beauty was just one small part of who this woman really was.
It was her joyful spirit, confident mindset, and utter zest for life and everything in it that pulled me toward her like a magnet.
The overwhelming desire to do whatever it took to make sure she was always happy consumed me. If only I could manage to make that happen simply by kissing her, I’d be a very happy man.
God, her kiss.
To touch my mouth to those lips for the first time after weeks of fantasizing about doing it had me feeling feverish. My heart pounded as I tasted her, and when she moaned, I don’t know how I kept myself from losing control completely.
I couldn’t wait to do it again today.
Propping my head up with one hand, my other went to the side of her neck. My thumb brushed lightly over the skin along the front of her throat, savoring the softness. Moving along her jaw and over her cheek, my fingers drifted back into her silky hair.
I massaged her scalp and nearly lost my mind when she moaned and cuddled closer in response.
My fingers remained in her hair, massaging, and after a few more beats of silence, Olivia gave me the gift of hearing her raspy morning voice.
“I may never want to sleep outside of your arms ever again if this is how you intend to wake me in the mornings.”
My hand stopped moving, cupping the back of her skull. “You’re saying that almost as though that’d be a bad thing. Like it wouldn’t be ideal for me to wake up with you in my arms.”
Olivia nuzzled her face against my chest, inhaled deeply, and tipped her chin up to look at me. A slow smile spread across her face. “Good morning, Taj.”
“Good morning, Olivia.” I released the grip on her hair and allowed my hand to drift down to her shoulder.
“So, even when you’re on a break from work, you wake early?” she asked.
“I’m capable of sleeping in. It’s just that I don’t tend to, and on a morning like this one, I don’t want to waste any time.”
She eyed me curiously. “Wasting time? What is it that you have to accomplish today?”
Wanting to feel her skin beneath my fingertips, they drifted down past the sleeve of her shirt, and I traced random patterns along her arm. “I still need to work out some of the specifics, but I’ve got a few things I don’t want to miss out on.”
“Like what?”
My eyes dropped to her mouth. “Kissing you.”
“Mmm. You did a lot of that yesterday,” she noted.
“And you’re suggesting that was enough?” I countered.
Olivia’s eyes danced with amusement. “Not at all. What else?”
“Maybe more cuddling. Definitely more cuddling.”
“I see. That’s it?” Her belly growled, and she shoved her face back against my chest to hide her embarrassment.
Laughter spilled out of me. “Feeding you seems necessary and appropriate as well.”
“I’m mortified.”
“Why?”
Refusing to look at me, she explained, “We kissed for the first time yesterday. My stomach growling isn’t exactly the sexiest thing that could’ve happened right now.”
My hand drifted into her hair again, and I tugged gently to urge her to look at me.
“I find you unbelievably sexy. You’re a human, and you require food to survive.
I’m not turned off in the least, especially not when you’ve got this sweet body pressed against mine and are talking to me with that seductive, raspy voice this morning. ”
She bit her lip. “Okay.”
Smiling, I dropped my hand to her hip. “I’m still in disbelief.”
Confusion washed over her. “About what?”
I gripped her hip a bit tighter. “I guess I’m shocked about what you said last night. That you’re going to stay in town and that you’ve developed feelings for me. As much as I hoped for that, I really didn’t expect it.”
Olivia lifted her hand to the side of my face.
She rested her palm against my cheek and stroked her thumb along the skin by my lip.
“It’s shocking to me that you think it’d be impossible for me not to feel something for you.
You’re an incredible man, Taj. I’ve never met anyone like you, and that’s an excellent thing. ”
Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. “I’m just so glad you’re staying.”
She smiled. “Me, too.”
Following a beat of silence, I asked, “So, before we get up and I make you breakfast, do you have anything specific you’d like to do today?”
“No. Well, maybe some of the things you mentioned,” she said. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, though.”
“And?”
“I’d like to spend the rest of the time you have available over this break being with you and enjoying uninterrupted time together. Since you have admitted you work a lot, I think it’s wise to take advantage of this time you have off, if you want the same. But…”
“But what?”
She let out a long breath. “It goes back to making the decision to stay here. And I think that at the start of the new year, I want to put in the effort to build a meaningful life here in Rising Sun. Part of that involves you and opening my heart to exploring whatever this is going to be between us. It’s about finding some real friendships with genuine people. But it also involves work.”
I could’ve been content to stay in this bed all day talking to her about all the ways she and I could explore what was happening between us, but I got the distinct feeling she wanted to discuss her career. “Are you saying you intend to give up modeling?”
Olivia rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.
“Being a model was a career that was chosen for me. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it for those that love it.
And I can’t say it hasn’t put me in a decent financial position.
I did it for as long as I did it because it was all I knew.
It still is. But I wasn’t happy. I want to do something that I wake up feeling excited about every single day. I just don’t know what that is.”
With my arm draped over her abdomen, I tickled the sliver of exposed skin at her hip.
“If there’s anything I can do to help you figure that out, I want you to come to me.
I could steamroll your plans and tell you where to look or even hire you to work at Blackman Boards, but I don’t want to do that.
I want you to find something that’s going to light you up inside.
You’ve had enough of people telling you what to do, so I’ll be happy to sit back and watch you go on this ride to figuring it out.
And whenever you want advice or just need someone to listen to you, I’ll be here. ”
Tears filled her eyes, one escaping and sliding back into her hair before she tore her gaze away from the ceiling to look at me. “If I haven’t already told you, I feel extremely lucky to have met you.”
I chuckled. “You might have mentioned it.”
Olivia wiped at her eyes.
“You know what I just realized?” I asked.
“What?”
“You’re going to be a very busy woman in a few days if you intend to sort out all these aspects of your life.”
She nodded. “I suspect that’s true.”
“That’s even more of a reason I’m glad I woke up early today. We’ve got to take advantage of this precious time we’ve got left before that happens. So, I think, if you’re alright with it, I’d like to kiss you before we head downstairs for breakfast.”
Her eyes were shining as she replied, “I was wondering how much longer you were going to keep me waiting.”
Laughing, I buried my face in her neck and covered part of her body with mine. Olivia’s arms wrapped around me, and we spent the next few minutes having a proper morning kissing session.
But when her belly growled again, I lifted her in my arms and carried her downstairs for breakfast.
“I’ve ruined everything.”
Olivia sounded like she was in agony for multiple reasons, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for her.
“You didn’t ruin anything. There’s always next year.”