Page 11 of Hire A Cuddler

“No.”

I can’t see her mouth, but her eyes light up. “Why are you staring at me then?”

“Because you’re beautiful,” I answer without thinking about it.

She folds her arms on the table in front of her. “Wow. Dinner and compliments. You’re really pulling out all the stops today.”

“I’m sorry… if it’s making you uncomfortable…”

My voice trails off as she starts to shake her head.

“No, I get it. I thought about our last appointment all weekend. I know I sounded pitiful… but I don’t want you to pity me.”

“Pity you? I don’t pity you. Why would you think that?”

She looks down at her plate and picks at her food. “It’s not a big deal.”

I reach for her, and when she tenses, I let my hand fall to the table. “Haven, look at me.”

She keeps staring at the table, and I plead with her, “Haven, please.”

She finally lifts her big green eyes to me, and I hate the insecurity I see reflected back at me. I can’t touch her, so I lean forward, trying to shorten the distance between us. “I promise, I felt a lot of things after our last appointment, but not once did I feel pity for you. I enjoyed talking to you, and even though this is not appropriate, I wanted to sit here with you and do something normal together.”

I’m holding my breath, hoping I’m saying the right things, and finally the corner of her mouthlifts, and she nods her head. “Okay. I enjoy talking to you too, King.”

There’s so much more I want to say, but I hold back because I’m already pushing my luck. We continue to eat, and she tells me about her photoshoot today. She asks me about my day, and I’m vague when I tell her it was busy with appointments, which is not totally a lie. I’ve had back-to-back appointments, and they would have continued through the day if I didn’t cancel them all to be here for this.

“Do you want dessert? I can call Janice and—”

She is shaking her head, putting her hand across her stomach. “No, I can’t eat another thing.”

I rest my elbows on the table. “Okay. Next question. Do you want to watch a movie?”

I gesture to the corner of the room, where I have the couch and a large screen television set up. She points at herself. “You want to watch a movie with me?”

I nod at her without speaking.

Her brows draw in with confusion on her face, but she doesn’t push it. “Okay.”

“Comedy, action, or romance?”

I move across the room, and she stands up. “Comedy.”

I turn the television on and look at the movies I downloaded earlier. I turn on the first comedy, and Haven starts to clean up the table.

“Stop. Janice will get that later.”

She stands up and walks toward me at a slow pace. I can see the hesitancy on her face, and I point at the couch. “Sit down. I can sit next to you or I can sit in one of the chairs. It’s up to you. You’re the boss here, Haven.”

She sits down on the couch and looks up at me. She takes a deep breath, and I know it’s hard for her when she says, “You can sit down next to me.”

I move slowly because I don’t want to spook her, and when I sit down, I make sure that no part of my body touches hers.

I point to the well-known comedy on the television. “Is this okay with you?”

She doesn’t look at me as she says, “Yeah, this is funny.”

I lean back in my seat and hate that everything has turned awkward. I’m pushing too hard, but I can’t help it. There’s no doubt I want her, and initially I was drawn to her beauty, but now it’s something more. I want to see her smile, I want to see her happy, and I want to see her get everything she wants out of life. It’s fast—hell it’s all happeningtoo fast, but nothing I do can get her out of my head. I’m constantly thinking about her, worried about her or wondering if she’s okay.

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