Page 52 of Mine for a Moment

“Good,” he whispers. “Because the last thing I want to do is make you mad, darling.” He leans in, his kiss featherlight this time, like he too feels this moment between us is breakable.

“How is your sister?” I ask, my eyes roaming over his face. “I know you were worried about her.”

He smiles, his eyes twinkling. “She’s fine. There’s a lot standing between Zane and Celeste, but they love each other fiercely, so I have no doubt they’ll be okay. It won’t be easy, but they’ll make it through. They’re…honestly, I think they’re meant to be.”

He grabs my hand and entwines our fingers, and I squeeze tightly, loving the feel of his skin against mine. Archer raises our joined hands to his lips and kisses my knuckles softly. “You know what I kept thinking about last weekend?”

I shake my head, lost in his amber eyes.

“What it’d be like to have you at home with me.”

My heart skips a beat, and he smiles, a hint of vulnerability crossing his face. “Celeste very blatantly cheated at a card game we love to play a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was kind of cute how Zane backed up his wife when I called her out on it. Ever since, I’ve just been thinking that it’d be nice to have you there with me.” He looks away, a hint of rosiness along his cheekbones. “I need backup against those two cheaters. I’ll never win a game otherwise.”

The thought of going home with him, as hisgirlfriend, makes the butterflies in my stomach go wild. “I’d love that,” I murmur, my chest rising and falling rapidly. “Archer…”

He reaches for me and wraps one of my curls around his finger. “Hmm?”

“What would you say if I told you the painting is done?”

He freezes, his eyes finding mine. “I’d tell you that I think I want the backdrop to change.”

I study his expression, uncertain what to make of it. Is he trying to postpone the end of this thing between us too—or is he truly just not ready to let her go?

Forty-Three

Archer

“You look gorgeous,” I murmur, my eyes roaming over Serenity standing in front of my penthouse, wearing a pretty blue dress. Her expression instantly conveys shyness, and I grin as I take her hand.

“What are you doing?” she asks, her eyes widening as she tries to pull her hand away. It took some convincing before she agreed to let me take her out on a date after work today, and I’m not sure what I’d have done if she’d said no. I desperately need a dose of my Serenity, and given what she said about her painting being done, we really need to talk—in private, where we’ll be neither rushed nor interrupted.

I catch her hand and entwine our fingers, holding on tightly. “Holding your hand,” I tell her as I pull her into the elevator. “Ezra is still at work, darling. Just let me have this moment with you. I’m tired of sneaking around and not being able to touch you. I miss those nights when we’d just have dinner at my house and we’d lie in bed and watch TV at night. I miss holding you in my arms and watching you traipse through my kitchen in nothing but my T-shirts.”

She squeezes my hand, pure longing in her gaze. “I’ve missed it too,” she says, her voice soft. “It’s crazy how much I miss you when you’re right here. I love spending more time with Ezra, but I hate that it means having to sacrifice time with you.”

I raise our joined hands to my lips and kiss her knuckles, earning myself a pretty little smile that just makes my whole day. “Come on,” I tell her as I lead her to my car. “There’s somewhere I want to take you.”

“Where are we going?” Serenity asks, her hand in mine as I drive down a long, winding road.

“Somewhere special,” I murmur. “I think you’ll like it.”

She sits up as we approach our destination, a soft gasp leaving her lips when I park the car at one of the best hidden spots in the city. “It’s beautiful,” she murmurs, taking in the skyline.

I smile at her, marveling at all of her little expressions. This is what I love most about her—how much she enjoys the simple things in life. Good ice cream and a beautiful view will make her whole day, more than anything money can buy.

“Come on, the sun will begin to set soon,” I tell her as I step out of the car to walk around it. She takes my hand as I help her out of the car, and the way she looks at me…fuck. She makes my heart feel raw, exposed. It’s both thrilling and terrifying.

“What are we doing?” she asks when I grab a freezer bag from the trunk and open one of the back doors. She follows my lead and gets in, but her expression conveys her confusion.

“I just want to sit next to you and feed you ice cream as we watch the sunset.”

Her lips part, an excited little sound on her lips.“Ice cream?”

I laugh as I unpack it for her. “That Ferrero Rocher flavor you wanted to try from that place you like.”

“No way,” she says, her eyes wide. “That store doesn’t do takeaways, and the last few times I went, they were closed.”

I freeze and blink as I try to come up with an excuse, only to realize that I don’t want to lie to her, not even over something so little. “They do takeaways…but only for their owner. I bought the chain.”

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