Page 28 of Hire A Cuddler

“The contract needs to be changed. I don’t want your money. If you want to provide for any child we may have, that’s fine, but I want my name taken off of it.”

“No, that’s not part of the deal.”

I pull back, out of his reach, to put some distance between us. “It’s important to me, King. You will always think I agreed to this—hell, whatever this is—a fake marriage because I wanted your money, and that is not the case.”

“Why are you doing it?”

I lift my head and look straight into his eyes. “Because I’m comfortable with you, well, more comfortable than I’ve ever been with anyone, and I want to have kids. This is my chance—hell, it could be my only chance.”

He nods. “I’ll have the contract reworded, butjust so you know, peaches, I will always take care of you.”

I figure it’s best to change the subject. “Where will we live? Will we live together?”

“Yes, of course, we will. To anyone else this is real. We will live at my house… in Whiskey Run. If we ever need to stay in the city, I have an apartment in Jasper, too.”

“Are you going to see other women?”

He reaches for me, putting his hands on my shoulders. I didn’t realize how worried I was about it until he starts shaking his head. “No, I wouldn’t do that to you. Plus, I haven’t looked at another woman since I first saw you. I’m consumed by you.”

My heart starts to race. This is embarrassing to talk about, but it’s important to get it out there. “What if we do this… what if we get married… and I can’t, you know, perform?”

He tilts his head and smiles. “I can wait.”

“What if I have another panic attack?”

His forehead creases. “That scared the hell out of me the first time, but I’ll stick by you, Haven. I’ll talk you through it just like last time.”

“Are we working on some kind of timeframe or anything like that?”

He shrugs, and it’s killing me how easygoing heis about this. “I want us married soon. Everything else—there’s no pressure.”

I lift my head, searching his eyes. I’m still not sure about any of this or if I’m making the right decision, but I know if I told him no, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. “And how long do you plan for us to stay married?”

I hold my breath, trying not to let any disappointment show. I keep telling myself I can do this. It’s a part I’m playing—it’s not real, but I’m not sure if my heart is planning on playing along. He shakes his head. “Let’s not put an end date on it.”

Finally, when I feel like I’ve got all the answers I wanted, I nod my head. “Okay.”

His hands tighten on my shoulders. “No more questions or requests?”

I lick my dry lips and nod. “Yeah, just one.”

His hands cup up on each side of my neck, and he holds me there. It doesn’t slide by me that he’s touching me and I’m not freaking out. As a matter of fact, he’s gone out of his way to touch me the whole time I’ve been here. It’s almost like he’s trying to get me accustomed to his touch.

“Anything,” he says.

I look into his eyes and force the words out. “I think before we do this, we should kiss.”

He leans in, and his voice is husky. “You want me to kiss you?”

I wet my dry lips and nod. “Yeah, I mean just to be sure the chemistry is there.”

His hand tangles in my hair, and he holds the base of my neck. He’s looking at me with a small smirk. “You don’t know if we have chemistry?”

I put my hands on his chest and slide them up to his shoulders. “Well, I mean, I know how I feel just when you touch me, but I didn’t know if you wanted to kiss me to make sure you were really attracted to me, that’s all.” I blow out a breath, a little embarrassed. “I just thought before we did this, you’d at least like to…”

I trail off because I’ve said too much. I sound like a desperate fiend, begging him to kiss me or something. I just thought before we did this we should at least kiss.

He lifts my chin so I have no choice but to look at him. “I don’t have to kiss you to know I’m attracted to you. I’ve held back because I don’t want to freak you out, but we should be upfront about this. I want you, peaches. I want you more than I’ve wanted anything in my life. When I hold you, I haveto will my body not to react.” He leans down, and I can feel his breath on my cheek. “The chemistry is there, and it’s undeniable.”

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