Chapter 9 #2
And I don’t fucking care. I stroke Reese’s soft hair, tucking that strand behind her ear as she presses her cheek against my chest. “That guy wasn’t him, okay?
” I know his name, but I won’t say it. “He’s ancient history.
And I can say with absolute certainty that whatever he told you was wrong, Reese. Dead wrong.”
She looks up at me, her eyes wide, and I see the hope in them. Just a quick flash, but it’s there. “You weren’t there, Eli.”
“No. But I’m here. And I know if it made you feel any fraction of the way you’re feeling now that he had his head up his ass, okay?”
She’s so close now I can feel the warm puff of her breath against my chin as she laughs. She’s still melted against me, every part of us touching.
And God help me, my body responds. It’s wildly inappropriate to be getting a fucking hard-on at this moment—any moment, with Reese—but my idiot dick doesn’t know that, and it swells as I breathe in this woman in front of me.
I separate that part of us, so she doesn’t feel.
I draw my hand down her spine, hoping she doesn’t notice.
I feel like a lascivious asshole for my body reacting this way.
But I don’t focus on that. I focus on the beautiful, delicate, tough-as-nails woman who’s still here after some prick tried to destroy her. Who rose above her own feelings and agreed to help me.
I remember the words she said right here in this office, when I demanded she tell me what I could do for her in return.
Make my dreams come true.
She presses her forehead against my chest, breathing deeply as if to center herself. I pray it takes forever.
I think of the text on my phone, the one Ben sent me after dinner, with the contact info of the guy out in LA who used to produce his band’s shows. Ben offered to do a tour of the Waterfront Block with me later today, to give me advice about what I want to do in there.
God, I hope she likes it.
Then Reese looks up again, and all of that flies out of my head. I take in her lips, so close I could take them just by tipping my head down.
My cock jumps.
Her still-wet eyelashes flutter against the freckles on her cheek. “Eli,” she breathes.
“Reese,” I respond. My voice is hoarse, my eyes searching hers. My dick thickens. I wonder if she feels it. If I should move. Or do I want her to know I’m getting a hard-on just standing here with her in my arms?
Then the door bangs open.
We jump apart like we were committing a crime.
“Reese, sorry I’m late, I—” The kid who’s burst into the room can’t be more than twenty, wearing a stained white apron. “Oh shit,” he says, as he takes in me and the scowl now draped on my face.
Reese takes a full step back, leaning against the back of her desk as if trying to look casual. But I can see the pulse at her neck fluttering.
I did that. For a moment the heady knowledge of that is so rich I forget about the boy. My dick twitches like an idiot.
“Todd! Remember what happened the last time you didn’t knock?”
The kid’s face goes red, and that’s when I hear a snort behind him. Over his shoulder several of the staff at the prep tables appear to be badly hiding their laughter. Things calm down between my legs.
“He came in while I was changing my shirt,” Reese explains.
“I didn’t see anything!”
“That’s because you freaked out and knocked yourself out on the doorframe as you tried to run.”
That rollercoaster of a story has me biting my cheek to try not to laugh.
Todd clears his throat. “Nobody…they told me you were in here and they didn’t say your uh…your…”
I should say boss, just to scare him, though Reese reports to my sister. Instead, I open my mouth and say, “Boyfriend.”
Reese’s eyes dart to mine. I look back at her, daring her to argue.
“Boyfriend, yeah,” the kid says. “I didn’t know your boyfriend was here.”
She just swallows, her eyes on mine. God, her neck looks so soft, so… kissable.
“So, uh, you work around here?” the kid asks, interrupting my wayward thoughts.
Someone at the prep tables snorts with laughter.
“Todd,” Reese sighs. “Eli owns the hotel.”
Todd’s eyes go wide. “Oh, shit, I uh…”
“Maybe I can help you?” I ask, helpfully.
“Oh, uh, yeah I was hoping to have next Saturday off because—”
“Todd,” Reese says. “Give us a minute, okay?”
She shuts the door hard behind him as raucous laughter explodes on the other side of the frosted glass half door.
I meet Reese’s eyes. Then we both grin and burst out laughing ourselves.
It’s the tension release we both need, and for a moment, I forget everything but how good it feels to laugh. To share a joke with someone without saying a word.
With Reese.
By the time we wind down, new tears are springing from Reese’s eyes.
But these are the good kind.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I’m tempted to let it go, but I remember my appointment with Ben, and glance at it.
“Shit,” I say. “I gotta go, Reese.”
“Yes,” she says. “Me too. Clearly Todd needs me.”
I laugh again. Poor Todd.
I hesitate for a moment, then turn to leave.
But Reese clears her throat. “Wait, Eli.”
When I look back, her smile is gone. “We should talk about”—she waves her hand between us—“this.”
I sober, remembering why I came to the restaurant in the first place, before everything went down.
“Right. About that. I was going to say—” I hesitate.
I was going to offer her an out. Give her one last chance to tell me to call things off with Neil and Kelly, before the cameras get here.
Now, I’m not sure that’s possible, after what her staff just saw.
“Listen,” Reese says, her voice surprisingly calm. “If we’re going to do this, we need to get some things straight.”
My stomach jumps. She’s not backing out. “Okay.”
“The first one—the biggest one—is don’t do that again.”
“Do what?” I try to play it cool, but my eyes go to her plush lips, my idiot body betraying me as she presses them shut. “Don’t what, Reese,” I say, suddenly wanting to hear her say it.
She looks away. “I know we can’t exactly avoid touching each other in public—”
I think of the way we held hands at the restaurant, how good it felt under my arm.
“—but we should keep it to no more than would be natural as a couple also keeping it professional.”
I frown. “You’ll have to clarify.”
I’m rewarded with a pinkness rising to her cheeks.
“I mean no PDAs.”
“Describe a PDA.”
Her cheeks darken further as she realizes I’m teasing her. I grin.
Reese folds her arms. “Don’t try to kiss me.”
I frown as if considering this.
“Eli.”
“Okay,” I say. “Fine, I won’t try to kiss you.”
She blinks as if she wasn’t expecting me to agree so quickly. “Good.”
“Good. Now, you done talking about kissing? Because I really do have to go.”
The corner of Reese’s lips turns up just briefly before she narrows her eyes and points to the door.
When I emerge from the room, I fix a professional expression on my face, willing the staff staring at me to turn away. It isn’t easy while I’m trying not to grin like a fool.