Page 79 of Plus Size Player

“I am.” I felt myself light up as I thought about how blessed I was to do what I’m passionate about for work. “I’m living my dream. I have my dream job and I’ve just recently taken it to the next level. I’m…” I stopped myself from telling him more. “I’m happy with what I do.”

He reached over and stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers. “I can tell.”

“I want you to be happy like this, too.”

“Thank you.” He fingered a coiled strand of my hair. “Tell me how you feel.”

My stomach fluttered with nervous energy. “About work?”

Silently tracing the shell of my ear, he didn’t say anything for a few moments. “You’re open and private at the same time.”

“What do you mean?” I murmured, shivering from the gentleness of his touch.

“I know you.” His fingertips trailed down my neck. “But there are parts of you that you keep to yourself.”

I took in a shuddering breath as his touch continued its path, following the collar of my robe. “Yeah,” I murmured in distracted agreement.

“There are things that you don’t say with your words, but you say it in other ways.”

I averted my eyes briefly. “Hm.”

The silence that surrounded us was loud.

“I’ve always been surprised you don’t want to talk about work.” He sat back and stared at me. “You light up when you do.”

Oh!The knots in my belly loosened.

“Well, it’s not just you. I’ve made it a point to not talk about my career with anyone I’ve dated,” I explained.

“Why?”

“A few years ago, I went on a first date with a man who asked me what I did. After I told him, he called me big money.” I shook my head. “Red flag!”

That guy also sexualized the fact that I modeled, insisted on looking me up on social media, and then told me that I thought I was hot shit because I had a lot of followers. He called me big money, but he also started acting like he was in competition with me. Just overall jealous behavior, but I wasn’t going to go into all that.

Snickering, he leaned forward. “What?”

I lifted my right hand. “I swear! I never brought up my job witha man again. Calling me big money and ‘joking’ about me paying for dinner was enough for me.”

He tipped my chin up. “Well, it’s a damn shame because the way you look when you talk about what you’re passionate about is sexy as hell.”

I bit my lip to tame my smile. “Well, I’m not the only one.” I pointed at him. “I’m surprised you don’t talk about work. Since you’re always working, I figured it would come up.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t talk about it,” he laughed. “It already takes up so much of my time.”

“Yeah, but you can’t spend as much time working as you do and not love it. It’s your business. It’s your baby.”

“True. But I like to separate business and pleasure. That’s why when I do something for myself”—his eyes swept down my robed body—“I like to leave work where it’s at.”

I shivered. “You might leave it there, but even without talking about it, I know how you get down at work.”

He smirked. “Is that right?”

“I might not know all the specifics, but I know you’re good at what you do because of how successful you are. I know you’re an ambitious go-getter because it’s your business and you built it from the ground up. Your attention to detail is”—I kissed the tips of my fingers—“chef’s kiss, so I know you’re thorough, thoughtful, and focused. You make time to enjoy yourself so that means you delegate freely, and you trust your team—which also means you’re a good judge of character.” Fighting a smile, I leaned closer to him. “And I’ve seen the way you take charge, so I know you handle business.” I quirked an eyebrow. “See, I know you.”

Amused, he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me to him. “Let me do you next.”

I leaned forward, letting him guide my mouth to his. “You can do me now.”

---