Chapter 50 It's hard to act professional with you around
He pauses buttoning his jeans up and he stares across at me. The stormy look in his eyes makes everything in me come to an abrupt halt.
“I haven’t been near anyone since you came back into my life, Shia.” He runs his hand through his hair, hanging it off the back of his neck, he exhales loudly.
All I can do is stare at him, my blood heating, goose bumps racing across my skin.
“You ask what I want from you?” His eyes move to my lips, then my eyes. “I want you, Shia. I just want you. All day, every day.”
His words are so simple and so easy.
My heart stutters.
I’m stunned. I literally don’t know what to say.
He wants me? I wasn’t just another lay to him.
I have waited about a decade to hear Natte say he wants me, and now, here, at quite possibly the worst time in my life he could say it … and he’s saying it, and I have no clue how to respond.
“What?” is the best I can muster up.
“I get it Shia, it was a one time thing for you, it’s fine you want to stay with your boyfriend Will. Why would you want me?” he mutters, backing up, turning for the door.
It’s clearly not fine. And he clearly doesn’t get it. I’m not entirely sure I do.
One thing I do know is everything has just got so much more complicated than I could have ever imagined. But a very big part of me doesn’t care. Because he doesn’t just want one night. Natte wants more. He wants me.
“No. Wait.” I rush forward, grabbing hold of his arm, stopping him. “You’ve got it wrong. I thought this was just a one off for you. I didn’t know this … us … that you wanted an … us.”
He stares down at me with his blue, blue eyes. “It’s all I want.”
My heart sighs and scatters across the floor.
I look up into his eyes. “I’ve wanted you for the last decade, Natte. I want to be with you.”
He stares down at me, hope evident in his eyes. “And your boyfriend Will?”
Will.
“I’ll talk to him,” I swallow. “When I go back home after this. I’ll talk to him then.”
He frowns.
“I can’t do it over the phone, Natte. He deserves more than that from me, and it’s only a few hours away.”
He nods, but I can see the reluctance in his agreement.
Then he takes my face in his hands and leans his mouth down to mine and kisses me. A long, slow delicious kiss.
My whole body responds to him.
“So you’re mine?” he murmurs.
“Yes,” I breathe, barely believing I’m saying the words, that this is even happening.
“You’re wearing my T-shirt.” His finger traces over the fabric on my breast and my nipple instantly hardens. “I like you in my clothes … but I also like you out of them.” He takes hold of the hem of his T-shirt, his fingers skimming my skin as he lifts it over my head, dropping it to the floor. “But I like being inside you even more,” he whispers, pulling me up tight against his firm body.
He starts to kiss my neck, as he backs me up toward the bed. “You didn’t have any plans for today did you?” he murmurs against my skin.
“Um…no.” Even if I did they would have been cancelled for sure.
“Good. Because you’re not leaving this room today, and neither am I.”
He picks me up, putting me on the bed, he pulls his jeans and boxer shorts off in one, and climbs on top of me, ready for round two.
And once again, Pine and my night life back in my apartment disappear off into the ether.
After we've both relaxed from the morning tension a question pops in my head.
“And what about you?” I ask. “What happens when this merger goes through? When you own the place I work at?”
A glimpse of his usual funny smile returns to his eyes. “Then I guess I’ll have to pretend I’m a very professional boss.”
I snort. “You? Professional?”
He grins. “Hey. I can be professional.”
“Liar,” I tease, nudging him lightly. “You’re the least subtle person I know.”
He catches my hand before I can pull away, holding it against his chest. His heartbeat is strong and steady beneath my palm. “Maybe,” he says, softer now. “But I can try. For you.”
My breath catches.
“You don’t have to try to be someone else,” I tell him. “Just… don’t make this harder than it already is.”
He tilts his head, considering that. “Pretending we’re nothing in public is going to be hard.”
“It’s only for now,” I say quickly. “Until everything settles. Until I sort things out with Will. Until the merger is done. After that…”
I trail off, unsure how to finish the thought.
“After that?” he prompts gently.
“After that, we won’t have to hide,” I say.
He nods once, as if committing that promise to memory. “Okay. For now, we play it cool.”
“Very cool,” I add.
He huffs a quiet laugh. “You realize we’re terrible liars when it comes to each other, right?”
“Speak for yourself,” I say, though my smile gives me away.
He leans closer to me, his forehead resting lightly against mine. “You’ve never been able to lie to me,” he murmurs. “Not really.”
My eyes close briefly. He’s right.
He always has been.
We stayed one more night at the resort Denmark, and now I'm in my apartment, tomorrow Natte is acquiring Alpine Resort where I work at and surprisingly he's merging it with Pine companies I don't know what is going to happen but I'm going to play it by ear
During the whole daytime at the hotel Natte and I will be sleeping together, and when I say sleeping, we won't do much actual sleeping.
Behind closed doors we’re acting like we’re a couple, and in front of others pretending like nothing is different between us.
I’ve been putting on a façade, acting like everything is okay to Pine when I speak to him on the phone, when it’s clearly not.
I know that I’m the worst kind of person,
but currently I just can’t see past Natte.
All I see is him.
I’m so completely in love, and lust with him.