Page 92 of The Protégé

He kissed my nose, then my mouth. It was a slow and seductive kiss that made me want to stay in bed with him forever. His cock hardened under my thigh. “Someone’s perky again.”

“He’s always perky around you. Horny bastard.” He kissed my forehead.

Laughing, I wondered about us. Where would this relationship be next week? A month from now? What exactly were these feelings blossoming between us?

Though I enjoyed being with him, I had to know if this relationship was going anywhere. My life has been one obstacle after another. I needed something hopeful. I supposed a causal relationship could work. We could meet up for amazing sex and that would be it.

But I knew myself. I couldn’t be casual with Orion. I’d get attached to him emotionally. That was already happening. He was constantly in my thoughts. The attraction between us was indescribable. It ran deeper than what I could explain. There was something special here, and I wanted to find out.

Sitting up, I reached for a sheet to cover myself. I couldn’t have a serious conversation with him staring at my bare chest.

“Can you confirm something for me?” I tightened the sheet around me as though it could protect me. “What’s going to happen tomorrow?”

“What do you mean?”

I rolled my eyes. Here was this intelligent man who managed a successful empire, and yet he was clueless about what I was hinting at.

He smirked. “You know, your eye roll was one of the irresistible traits I noticed about you. It’s sexy.”

I rolled my eyes again, but a small smile formed on my lips.

I loved his facial expression when he looked at me. The warmth in his eyes was sunlight, giving me life, a reminder of the wonderful things that existed around me. The world didn’t seem so dangerous anymore, and the burden didn’t seem so heavy. Anything was possible.

When I was a kid, it was easy to believe that anything was possible. But adult responsibilities made that difficult. The cruelty I’d seen in the world as a reporter jaded me. Despite that, I remembered that spark again because of him.

“I was in a hotel lobby in New York for a conference and heard a woman raving about your blog. She said the writeranswers odd questions.” He pushed himself up, tossed a pillow behind him for support. “I was curious and had time to kill while waiting for a colleague to show up.”

“Are you ever late?”

“Not if I can help it. The day you hit my car I was five minutes late.”

“Maybe the Universe wanted you to be late so I could hit your car.” I grinned.

“Then I have to thank him for that.” He pointed to the ceiling. “I’d been following your blog and reading the strange submissions you received. There are some weirdos out there. I loved how you replied to them. With sarcasm and sass.” He pulled me close. “It was fun for me. So that’s what I did after a rough day or when I needed a break from something.”

He didn’t know what that comment did to me. The blog had been my heart, and to know that it had connected us years ago made it more special.

“It was fun for me too.”

“Why did you stop? I was disappointed.”

“When my show started, it took up a lot of time. I also started Musepaper and began a new relationship. I didn’t have time for the blog.”

“What happened to your relationship?” he asked.

I shrugged. “It ended a year ago. He was a reporter too. More popular now that he’s in New York.”

“What’s his name?”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“He’s not important,” I said.

He looked at me for a moment. “I enjoyed reading your articles on Musepaper too.”

“Sounds like you’ve been stalking me.” I smirked.

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