Page 236 of Duty and Desire
I just stared.
“I like my life how it is,” he continued. “I’ve got work and family and friends. It’s all good. Maybe in five or ten years I’d be interested in marriage and kids, but not now. Let alone not with someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
“That’s right.”
A fiery rage burned within. “Good news, Ziggy. I don’t recall either proposing to you or offering to bear your spawn. You’re free to go, buddy. The door’s right there. Don’t let it hit your ass on the way out!”
The man just smiled. Like I wasn’t about to attack him with my perfect French nail polish. Scour his face with lines and all the rest. What’s worse was, as soon as I saw his smile, my knees turned to water. Oh, man.
“Mae, I spend enough time dealing with photographers and fans at work. Of course I was wary of inviting that sort of thing into my private life,” he said. “However, it’s a part of your life and that’s good enough for me. But you should know, I’m never going to be able to buy you a Bentley or take you on a private jet to Paris. Often I have to work late or travel. No matter how much I want to, I’m not always going to be able to be with you. Can you accept that?”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“It’s pretty much the only thing I’ve been thinking about since I met you.”
And that was big. That was really big. Scarily huge, in fact.
“So what do you say?” he asked calmly. “We could try just fucking, see if we lose interest in each other. But I honestly don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.”
“Huh.”
He waited. I stared. Not much else happened. “Mae, it’s been a shit of a day. And as much fun as this is, I’m exhausted and so are you. What do you say we call it a night and if you want, we can keep arguing some more about it in the morning over breakfast?”
I had nothing.
“I’ll sleep in the chair in your room again. No need to rush things. You can think everything over and let me know when you reach a decision. No pressure, okay?”
My head was a mess.
“Fact of it is, I can’t walk away from you. Already tried going home instead of coming here tonight.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, knew it was the smart thing to do. But I couldn’t do it.”
“I would have been so worried.” It was nothing less than the truth. “Probably wouldn’t have slept at all. I mean, I would have understood, but…”
He nodded. “I know. I needed to see you too.”
I stood there, thinking deep thoughts. My head was a mess and my heart wasn’t much better. Though at the heart of the matter, the man had a point. In fact, he had several of them.
“What do you say, Miss Cooper?”
I raised my chin. “You know I hate it when you call me that?”
“Yes, I do.”
My gaze narrowed and he smiled again. Such an ass. A smokin’ hot one, though. Along with being smart, funny, sweet, and brave. Oh God, I was on the verge of swooning. Game over.“So let me get this straight. My options are, have sex with you, or have sex and attempt a relationship with you?”
“Or there’s number three,” he said. “We go back to being purely professional and never talk about this again. If you’d feel more comfortable, I can have Sam bring in someone else to watch you until the paparazzi leave you alone and you don’t require our services anymore. Whatever you choose, I would still like to crash here tonight. You’d feel safer and get a decent night’s sleep and I’d feel better knowing you weren’t alone and freaking out after everything that’s happened. I can even sleep out here on the couch if you’d prefer instead of in your room.”
“But you’re off the clock, Sam said so.”
“I’m not here to get paid, Mae. I’m here because of you.”
CHAPTER 8
