Page 39 of Price of Victory
“Okay,” he said quietly. “But we need to be careful. If anyone finds out about this…”
“They won’t. Not unless we want them to.” I didn’t need reminding. With Dad’s health the way it was, telling him I was falling hard for—and, let’s face it, inside of—Rhett Morrison would speed up my inheritance and crowning to an undesirably short timeline.
“Do we? Want them to?” His brow furrowed in concern, and I wanted to lean in and kiss the creases away.
The question hung in the air between us, loaded with implications I wasn’t ready to unpack. The idea of being open about whatever this was, of not having to hide or sneak around, was terrifying.
“Let’s just see where this goes first,” I said finally. “Figure out what we are before we worry about what other people think about it.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“Good. Now, come on. We really should get out of here before someone comes looking for us.”
We separated reluctantly, both of us reaching for towels and trying to make ourselves presentable. The intimacy of getting dressed together in the small space was almost as affecting as what we’d just done, domestic in a way that made my chest feel tight with unfamiliar emotion.
As we gathered our gear and prepared to leave, I found myself watching Rhett’s every movement, already addicted to the way he moved, the way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.
“So,” I said as we headed toward the exit. “Your place or mine tonight?”
“Mine,” he said without hesitation. “Lennox is at Oliver’s until tomorrow morning.”
“Perfect.” I couldn’t keep the satisfaction out of my voice, and Rhett shot me a look that was half-amused, half-exasperated.
“You’re awfully confident about this.”
“About what? Getting you naked again? Yeah, I’m pretty confident about that.”
“You’re impossible.” But there was a smile on his face, even if he tried hard to conceal it.
“And yet here you are, inviting me over for a sleepover.”
“It’s not a sleepover. It’s…” He cut himself off, realizing he’d walked into that one.
“It’s what?” I pressed, grinning at his flustered expression.
“It’s whatever it is. We’ll figure it out as we go.”
That seemed to sum up everything about whatever was happening between us. We were making it up as we went along,navigating uncharted territory without a map or compass. It should have been terrifying, and maybe it was, but it was also exhilarating in a way I’d never experienced before.
As we stepped out into the cool evening air, I felt lighter than I had all day. The frustration from my mother’s call was still there, the pressure of family expectations still waiting to be dealt with, but for now, none of that mattered.
What mattered was the way Rhett’s shoulder brushed against mine as we walked, the anticipation building between us, the promise of another night spent discovering exactly what we could be when we stopped fighting it and each other.
I was probably heading for heartbreak, probably making the biggest mistake of my life. But looking at Rhett in the fading light, seeing the way he looked back at me with heat and affection and something that might have been hope, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
For the first time in my life, I was choosing what I wanted over what was expected of me. And what I wanted was him.
FIFTEEN
RHETT
I’d been staringat the same paragraph for twenty minutes, the words blurring together before my eyes. The library was nearly empty at nine thirty on a Thursday night, just a few dedicated graduate students and the occasional undergraduate cramming for an exam scattered throughout the building. I’d chosen a table in the far corner of the third floor specifically to avoid distractions, but my brain refused to cooperate.
Every time I tried to focus on Professor Williams’ assigned reading about stakeholder theory, my mind wandered to yesterday afternoon in the shower. The memory of Aiden’s hands on my skin, the way he’d looked at me like I was something precious and necessary, the sounds he’d made when I’d touched him just right. The recollection sent heat shooting through my entire body, making it impossible to concentrate on corporate governance principles.
I’d been like this for days now, completely unable to function normally. Everything reminded me of him. The scent of similar cologne on other students, the sound of confident laughter echoing through hallways, even the way certain guys moved across campus with that particular brand of arrogance thatAiden had perfected, if not invented. I was becoming obsessed, and it was starting to interfere with everything else in my life.
The rational part of my brain knew this was dangerous. What we were doing was reckless. But the rest of me, the part that was currently making it impossible to read about fiduciary responsibility, didn’t care about rational thought. That part just wanted to see him again, to touch him, to lose myself in the electric connection that seemed to exist whenever we were in the same room.
