Page 49 of Sleep

“No, Pickle, not your sugar daddy. No rent. No obligations. Just come spend time with me.”

“I can’t take advantage of you like that.”

He moved away.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Need to take that conference call.”

“I’ll let myself out.”

His head dropped again. Fuck.

“Can I at least kiss you goodbye?” I asked, cringing at how desperate I sounded. Out of control.

He stopped by his office door, his back to me. Those legs…

“Sorry,” I continued my unhinged word vomit. “I didn’t mean to upset you or be ungrateful, but men like you usually scare me, intimidate me. You don’t. You’re so sweet and funny and weird and different from how I thought you would be, and I don’t know how to handle this.”

Honesty was one thing, but I was clearly losing it.

“I don’t know how to handle this either,” he said to the door. “But if you’re leaving, then at least tell me when I’ll see you again.”

I could hear his computer making noises. Ringing sounds. Pings.

“I’ll come…by.”

“That sounds like a goodbye.”

Who knew? Jonny Templar had snark too. Sad snark. And I couldn’t bear it. We’d taken so many steps forward over the past twenty-four hours, and now I’d taken a giant one back.

I was scared, almost as scared as him, but I couldn’t leave it like this. So I walked up and wrapped my arms around him, pressed my chest to his back and nuzzled into his neck, no doubt smearing make-up on his collar. It didn’t matter.

“Let me get my head on straight. Sort myself out,” I murmured.

“Ducks,” he said.

The ringing was driving me mad. It was probably driving him mad too, but he turned around and gently placed his hands around my face, his thumb stroking across my cheek.

“Stubble,” he whispered. “I wasn’t sure you had that.”

“Of course I have that.”

“I like it. I like this lip gloss too. You’re beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

I stood there, lost in the moment, wondering where I’d go from here because my bravado had already left the building and I wanted to stay here for the rest of the day and have Jonny tell me how beautiful I was.

And really, it had to be a sign of how lost I was that I missed the cues, the build-up, because next thing his lips met mine in the softest of kisses, sticking a little to my gloss, which made him smile. I could feel it.

“Now I’ll be able to taste you for the rest of the day.”

“Seductive bastard.”

He laughed and took a step back. Then he went inside his office and closed the door in my face.

I couldn’t stop smiling as I took the lift down and even half-blew a kiss to the concierge…before he scurried off to bring my car up from the garage.

“You’ll need the…” I began but didn’t bother finishing the sentence, as I’d shoved my hand in my coat pocket and discovered that once again, Mr Templar had nabbed my keys. Make that a manipulative, seductive bastard.

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