Page 71 of Dirty Shots

Chapter Twenty-one

Anya

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Eventually, they managed to untanglefrom each other and climb from the couch. Eric announced he was going to take her out to dinner, but when she pointed out the only clothes she had with her were the extremely short latex dress, or her other outfit of Eric’s t-shirt and shorts, he agreed to order take-out instead.

He kissed her head. “I’m buying you more clothes before you step outside my apartment door again, though,” he told her. “There’s no way I’m letting you step outside wearing that dress. We can keep it here instead.” He gave her a salacious look and waggled his eyebrows. “In the bedroom.”

She laughed and smacked him playfully on the arm. “You do realize how weird it is that you don’t want me to go outside in a slutty dress, but you’re happy to have my naked photographs hanging in a gallery for all of New York to see.”

He shrugged. “That’s different. When you’re in photographs, it’s not the real you. It’s an image, a beautiful image, but an image nonetheless.” He slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her on the mouth. “The Anya who walks by my side is the real Anya, and I don’t want any other man eyeing you up as we walk down the street.”

She couldn’t help but think about Logan. He didn’t want another guy looking at her, but he was happy for her to pose naked with another man, right in front of him?

“You’re a little crazy, you know that, right?”

He gave a rueful smile. “Yeah, I know.”

They ordered Chinese food, and after it arrived and they’d gorged themselves on noodles, rice, and crackers, Eric headed into his office area to catch up on some work and make a call to Logan.

Anya thought she should probably make her excuses and go back to her room in the dorm. The last thing she wanted was to go back to the comparatively tiny space—compared to Eric’s apartment—and share a room with her roommate rather than snuggle up to a gorgeous, talented man, but Nadine would be wondering what had happened to her. Of course, there was a very real possibility that Nadine wouldn’t have made it home either in the last twenty-four hours. The girl knew how to party.

She checked her cell phone, but didn’t have any missed calls. Deep down she’d hoped to see a missed call, if not from her father, then from her mother, at least. But the screen didn’t say anyone had tried to reach her. She obviously wasn’t being missed too badly.

Sadness swelled up inside her. Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them back and swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. She wished her parents could be happy for her. For the first time in her life, she felt like she’d found her place in the world. She just wished they could accept her for who she was.

Movement in the kitchen caught her attention. Eric had opened the refrigerator and was bent, peering inside.

“You can’t still be hungry?” she said with a laugh. She felt like her stomach bulged, she’d eaten so much.

But Eric straightened, pulling a bottle of white wine out with him. “Nope. I figured we deserved a drink.”

She looked longingly at the bottle. She couldn’t think of anything nicer than curling up on the couch with Eric and a bottle of wine. But she couldn’t stay here all the time. It would be as if she’d moved in without even being asked. The idea of something so permanent felt both amazing and terrifying all at the same time.

She slipped her feet off the couch and planted them on the floor. “I can’t, Eric. I really need to get back to my dorm.”

His face fell. “I’d assumed you weren’t going back tonight.”

“I can’t stay here all the time.”

“Why not?”

“Eric! I can’t! We just met. We’ll get sick of each other within a week.”

He brought the bottle and a couple of glasses over and set them on the coffee table. He leaned over her to nuzzle her neck. “I could never get bored of you.”

She laughed, but pushed him away. “Seriously, Eric. I have to go. I need clean clothes and I have my own work to do.”

“So let’s go and get all of your things. We’ll bring them back here, then it won’t be a problem.”

She stopped and stared at him. “What are you saying?”

“I thought that was obvious. Just move in with me.”

“You’re serious? You want me to move in here?”

“Why not? I love you. I want to be with you all of the time. As long as you feel the same way, I can’t see any reason not to. This place is too big for me on my own. And it feels so empty now when you’re not here. Before I met you, I never noticed, but now all I think about when you’re not around is how much I miss you.”

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