Page 32 of Filthy Rich

I reached for her again, but she stopped me with her palm against my chest. I could feel a slight tremble in her touch as she held me back. “I think we should watchInside Outnow.”

“Okay,” I said, remembering my vow to let her set the pace. It had to be that way or this wasn’t going to work. I did understand clearly now after her revelation at dinner. Brooke was a woman who needed some level of control over her situation because the terrible loss of her husband and baby had afforded her none. I got it.

“I just—I’d like to be comfortable while we watch it.” She gestured down to her boots.

“Of course. You should change and get comfortable. I’ll show you to your room and then just come back out here when you’re ready. I’ll change, too. We want to enjoy this together.”

She nodded and did that thing where she rolled her lips together as if she were suppressing a smile. I knew it because her golden eyes still smiled at me.

At the door to her bedroom, she turned back toward me, looking a little hesitant but still determined. “We’re just going to watch the movie, Caleb.”

Ahh...the rules for the night were being set. I could live with her rules as long as she kept letting me in a little bit at a time. I could be patient.

I couldn’t resist brushing her blushing cheek with my thumb, though. “We’re just going to watch the movie, Brooke.”

She smiled at me, and I fell a little bit more in love with her.

This evening had to be one of the most interesting one I’d ever experienced. For one thing, I’d never done anything like it before. My agenda with women after we’d retired behind closed doors was all about getting naked and fucking. End of. Once it was over, I went on my way. I never stayed the night with any of them. Janice had “slept” here a total of two nights in six months, and she was the only one who had ever received an invitation.

I’d never worn sweats and a T-shirt while cuddling on the sofa to watch an animated film. I don’t think I’d watched anything animated sinceToy Storywhen I was eleven, to be honest.

Brooke was still gorgeous, even with her hair in a long braid and thick gray socks on her feet. The pink flannel pants she’d picked out at Target swallowed up the shape of her killer legs but I liked knowing she was comfortable and warm after a long, cold, rainy day.

Inside Outwas a total surprise. More so the enjoyment I got from watching Brooke watch the movie. She knew it by heart, but she didn’t do anything spoilerish to ruin it for me. She letme hold her close against me with my arm around her so I could get my fingers woven into her thick braid. I already had a fascination with her hair and ached to have it spread out with my hands buried in it. We played the dancing fingers game with my other hand. I’d never done that with anyone before, either.

But I would have happily danced fingers with her all night long.

It was close to midnight when the credits started rolling, and I knew it was time to end the party. Bedtime. She was falling asleep and I was almost there myself. I wasn’t disappointed, though.Was this what normal couples did? The boyfriend-girlfriend thing?The whole evening with her had been better than anything I’d ever done, and I’d happily accept any more evenings like this one she might generously throw my way. I knew I’d get to see her in the morning, too, and I couldn’t fucking wait to experience the whole breakfast-before-work thing with her.

So I helped her up from the couch and delivered her to the guestroom with only one sleepy kiss goodnight. “Thank you, Caleb, for inviting me to stay here,” she said while stifling a yawn, “and for being patient...with me.” She held the side of my face with her hand and studied me with her beautiful amber eyes. “I love that you are always such a gentleman.”

Again, something I’d not been before—not with any woman I’d ever wanted sexually at least. Even as I had the thought, I understood it was far more than sex with Brooke. It was just a drivingwantto be with her.

“Thank you, Brooke, for accepting my invitation to stay here tonight,” I whispered against her lips because I liked to mimic her words. “And for giving me the chance to deserve you whenever you’re ready,” I added before stealing another kiss.

The conversation we had before saying goodnight was pretty damn surreal when I stopped to think about the topic—to fuck ornot to fuck. The contrast between how strange, and how normal it felt to discuss with her was starting to mess with my head.

No, not true.

My head had been messed up from the moment she first spoke to me.

Her crying woke me sometime later. Once I figured out what I was hearing, I listened in like a voyeur, imagining the reasons she was plagued by terrible grief.

A shout of anguish so great it gave me pain just hearing it, cut a path straight into my heart. Then softer sounds of crying followed, burrowing underneath my skin until I couldn’t take it another second.

I bolted out of bed and threw on the sweats I’d worn earlier. And then I went into her room and scooped her up into my arms. She didn’t even protest when I carried her across the hall and put her into my bed. Or when I crawled in next to her and pulled her against my body.

She just cried. And let me hold her and run my fingers over her hair.

It was the most natural thing in the world, and so I just went with it, figuring she would start talking if she wanted to.

“I dreamed of the accident. I never have before...that I can remember,” she said eventually.

“Tell me about your husband.”

“It’s not a nice story. I don’t think you’ll want to hear it because you won’t feel good afterward.”

“But I want to comfort you. Help you feel better. Will talking about it help, Brooke?” I breathed in the flowery scent of her hair and focused on the sensation of having her against me.

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