Page 30 of Beck and Call

I felt the urge to cover myself. "This, when I start to get close to you, you retreat. Why?"

"Nothing. Maybe I was just born this way, broken."

"I don't think you're broken, just a little bruised. You know what though? Bruises heal."

He picked his pants up off the floor and slipped them on. "You'd know about that, would you?"

I grabbed my dress and slipped back into it. "You know what? Don't tell me. It's clear I'm making the same mistake a lot of women make, mistaking sex for more."

Stepping into my shoes, I headed for the door. He caught up to me and grabbed my elbow. "I'm sorry. I'll tell you someday, but I'm not ready right now. Can you wait for me?"

"I feel like I've been waiting forever for you," I admitted.

"So, would a little longer hurt?"

"It's agony," I whispered.

The silence stretched out between us, and I didn't feel like he wanted me in his apartment any longer. I kept moving toward the door.

"Don't go." He ran around me. "Please, stay."

"Do you really want me to stay?"

"Evie, I never wanted you to go last night. Asking you to move in here wasn't a knee jerk reaction. I'm tired of living in this ivory tower alone."

I smiled at him. He was nothing if not contradictory. Cold and passionate. Demanding and compromising. At least with him I'd never be bored.

"I'll stay. For now."

* * *

We went back to his room, and he tucked me against him in his giant king-sized bed. From what I'd seen of his work ethic and schedule this seemed like a luxury he rarely indulged in.

"How are you able to do this, lay here with me?"

"I own the company."

"I've seen your schedule. I know you work practically every minute you're awake. How am I making your life better? You just blew off four meetings and a dinner, all because I was upset."

He ran his hand through my hair, tucking some of it behind my ear. "This is the first time in almost twenty years I've gone after something, someone, I've wanted that had nothing to do with my company. You make me want more from life."

"You already have everything."

"It certainly looks that way, but there are some things no amount of money can buy, unfortunately."

"What?"

"Just, the most important things. Are you hungry?"

He did it again. "Changing the subject?"

"For now."

"Fine, I'll let you." I laughed at myself. "Listen to me. Of course, if you aren't ready to tell me whatever it is that's bothering you, I won’t push it. I'm doing the same thing to you that you did to me last night. I'm pressuring you to do something you aren't ready for."

"If I was ready, would it change your decision to move in?"

"Maybe? I can't say. Why do we have to run through all the steps of getting to know each other?" I ran my hand up his chest. "This is pretty good right now, isn't it? What if me moving in here ruins this?"

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