Page 66 of Call Me Mrs. Taylor

“Something else you gotta learn.” I lean in, my mouth close to her ear, my words just for her. “You can’t always get what you want.”

She turns her head, lips brushing against my cheek. “I already got it,” she murmurs. “The title is just a formality at this point.”

I wish I could argue with that.

A waiter passes by our cabana, side-eyeing us hard. My eyes drop to Raya’s finger, still playing at my waistband.

“Then let’s make it official,” I say. “Me and you.”

For the first time today, I see something unfiltered in her. Something real.

She pulls me in, bringing her lips to mine, kissing me slow and deep. When she pulls back, her eyes are shining, and something inside me stirs.

“Okay,” she says, barely above a whisper.

“One caveat,” I continue. “This whole control thing you have.”

Her face falls, but she recovers quickly.

“I don’t know where it came from or what it does for you,” I say as my fingers trace her jaw, tilting her chin so she can’t look away. “But I need you to let that shit go and let me in. If you’re with me, bewithme. You understand what I’m saying?”

Her slow nod doesn’t fill me with confidence.

“I feel like…maybe you’ve been hurt before.” I slide my hand to her cheek. “It’s okay, we don’t have to get into it. Just know, that ain’t why I’m here.”

She exhales sharply.

“I wanna know you,” I continue. “Inside and out. That’s what I’m like when I’m with somebody. Can you handle that?”

A swallow, then a tight smile.

“I can try.”

It’s not witty, or sexy, or sassy.

It’s honest. Probably the most honest she’s been with me so far. It’s what I saw that day at the cookout. She’s vulnerable.

I hope one day she understands I like that side of her, too.

“You want another drink?” I say, glancing at her empty glass.

She stalls out, staring at me like she didn’t understand the question.

“You good?”

“Yeah,” she says quickly. “Just…just thinking about what you just said.”

“Aww, I got you speechless, huh?”

She breaks, and the sound of her laughter immediately snaps the tension.

And now, I can focus on other things. More important things.

I stare down at her face, those dark eyes, those big pretty lips, and immediately, all I can think about is being inside her. Right now. Fuck that hotel room.

My mind jumps back to that night. Waiting outside her window. Sweating. Staring. The way she held me there. Made me wait. Made mewant. Reduced to a pathetic shell of myself.

And I want to punish her for it.

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