Page 44 of Incipient

With happy thoughts and contentedness swirling around in my brain, the room fell silent. I wasn’t sure how much time had gone by before I realized Trace had stopped talking and shuffling around the room. I peeked out from the corner of my eye and found him leaning against his desk, staring at me. His arms were crossed, and his expression was unreadable, but he looked every bit the Adonis that he always was.

“What are you staring at?” Feeling self-conscious, I perked up on the bed and gave myself a quick once over for any blaring anomalies. Everything seemed in order.

“You,” he answered without missing a beat.

The room temperature seemed to be climbing again. “Do I have something on my face?” I asked as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and then wiped under my eyes, hoping to god I didn’t have mascara dripping down my face or blood smeared under my lip, because I was totally that kind of girl.

He smirked. “No.”

“Then why are you staring at me like that?” I asked, half laughing, half flustered.

“Because you’re gorgeous and it’s hard not to stare at you,” he answered plainly, though the intensity in his eyes made my heart miss an entire beat.

I didn’t need a mirror to know I was blushing. “Give me a break, Trace,” I said, trying to snap some sense into him while also simmering down the ache that was starting to grow in me. “I’m a total mess right now.” I popped up from the bed and rushed over to grab the duffel bag I’d left by the dresser.

Another beat of silence followed by the strange sensation that his eyes were still trained on me. I chanced another glance at him and confirmed my suspicion.

The air suddenly felt heavy with unfinished business and almost kisses that never were.

“You want to take a picture?” I asked teasingly as I dug out a change of clothes. “It’ll last you much longer.”

“Nah,” he said as his gaze travelled down the length of my body, slow and appreciating. “I prefer the real thing.”

My cheeks flushed with heat. “I thought you said you were planning on staying away from me?”

“That’s not what I said,” he reminded, his arms still folded across his broad chest. “You’re the one that’s confused about us, Jemma. Not me. I’m just trying to give you time to figure out what you really want.”

My heart sank to my feet becauseconfusionwasn’t the problem I was facing. My problem was I was in love with two different men in two completely different ways and no amount of space in the world could undo that.

“How about that food?” I asked sheepishly, changing the subject as I tossed my change of clothes on the bed.

Trace’s dimples pressed in as he continued to watch me, his face impassive. “What are you in the mood for?”

“What are my options?”

He laughed huskily. “Literally anything in the world.”

I flattened my palms on my hips and fixed him with a look. “Oh, you’re going to port us to Greece for some Greek food, are you?”

He shrugged like it was no big deal. “I will if you want Greek food,” he answered, completely serious.

Dang. He wasn’t even kidding, and with his ability to teleport himself anywhere in the world (and beyond), he could totally do it. “I think we’ve had enough adventure for one day. How about we just keep it simple and order some pizza?”

“If that’s what you want,” he said as he pushed off the desk and made his way over to me. All the light in the room felt as though it were moving with him—competing for a chance to illuminate him. “Is that what you want?” he asked, way too seductively for something that had nothing to do with sex.

I mean, at least I didn’t think it had anything to do with sex. Of course, it didn’t have anything to do with sex! We were talking about food, not sex, for crying out loud.Oh, my god, stop thinking about sex!

“Jemma?” Trace prompted when I stood there like a total doorknob.

“Yup, pizza’s what I want. Let’s do pizza. I mean, totally, let’s…order that pizza.” I inwardly cringed, wishing with every cell in my body that the accent rug would jump up from the ground and ram itself into my mouth.

“Pizza it is.”

“Yes. Great. Pizza.”Kill me now.

His brows knitted as he examined me. “You okay?” he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.

Nope. Not at all.“Yeah, totally.”

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