Page 65 of The Keeper

“Ah, let me think.” I rested my hands on her thighs. “I don’t have any sexy pillows.”

“Jackass,” she laughed. “You know what I mean.”

“Mmm, I do. You want the truth?”

“Always.”

“This will make me sound like a cad, you know.” I lifted an eyebrow.

“A professional athlete behaving badly? Pfft. Say it isn’t so.”

A barrage of nervous energy flowed through me which was weird because I don’t get nervous with women. But it’s Victoria and I wanted to impress her, not divulge anything super shitty about myself.

“I don’t usually engage in pillow talk,” I confessed. “I mean, not hours and hours of it. Not even five minutes worth.”

“Is that a policy of yours?”

“I don’t have any policies or rules.” I smirked. “Stuff like that breaks too easily.”

“Are you shading me, Maddox?”

“If the policy fits,” I joked.

“Wow,” she exclaimed, her laughter vibrating in every part of me. “And here I thought you liked me.”

I do. I like you too much.

The thought winded me. So did the thing in my chest which is now the feeling in my chest.

“Not to change the subject or anything,” I said, “but how would I go about making a donation to your sister’s charity?”

The laughter faded. Her eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“The animal shelter. Do they have a website or something?”

I’m not too proud to admit I was partly doing this because I wanted to score points with her the same way Noah did. My stomach clenched wondering who the fuck that guy was and how he managed to get her to smile the way she did.

“Um, yeah. Yes,” she responded. “They have a website. I’ll text you the link.” She regarded me curiously. “Why are you doing this?”

I lifted my shoulder in a small shrug. “It sounded important when you spoke about it at dinner. Do you not want me to?”

Her head tilted to the side in this adorable, frustrated movement. “They need all the help they can get, Xavier. I’m not going to turn down your generosity. You just surprised me, that’s all.”

“In a good way?” I leaned back into the cushion and smiled up at her.

The way she straddled my lap in such a graceful, refined manner sent an unexpected shiver up and down my spine. My shirt was much too big on her, so it hung off her shoulder, exposing just enough skin to appear tempting and flirty. Seeing her in my clothes was a massive turn on.

Her gorgeous smile lit me up inside. “Yes, in a good way,” she answered. “What other surprises do you have for me?”

Stay in gentleman mode, stay in gentleman mode.

“All will be revealed in due time.”

The room came to life with her sweet-sounding laugh. In all the years I’ve owned this flat it never felt like this. Like an actual home. A place I’d want to share with someone. Even the air feels different. And it’s all because this stunning woman walked into my life.

Fidgeting with the too-long sleeves of the shirt, she looked at me with pure wonder, like she was seeing me for the first time. Can’t say a woman has ever looked at me in this way before. They’re usually fawning over me or wide-eyed about being in my presence or tossing out over-used pick up lines.

Admittedly, I never shied away from the attention because I liked it.

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