Page 68 of Heart of Stone
Lifting one hand to the side of my face, he stroked the pad of his thumb along my jaw. “I don’t know. I kind of like the idea of sneaking around with you, doing our best not to get caught.”
A thrill of excitement crawled along my spine. No doubt that would be fun. “But what if someone does catch us? What happens then?”
“Then the word gets out. But I think it could be fun for us to sneak around for a bit while we get to know one another better. Don’t you?”
I couldn’t lie. “Maybe.”
He pinched my chin lightly between his thumb and forefinger. “But you can’t call me sir again.”
My lips twitched. “Does that bother you?”
“It makes me feel old.” His brow furrowed. “Too old for you.”
“Well… you are?—”
“I’m thirty-three. That’s not too old.”
This was the perfect opportunity to get some clarity. “So, you’re okay with being that age and dating a woman who’s still in her twenties?”
“You’re twenty-eight.”
“Yes.”
“It’s only five years.” He leaned his head down and touched his mouth to mine. “So, yes, I’m okay with it if it means I get to call you mine.”
I swallowed roughly. Clarity. The man was giving me clarity.
“Yours?” I did my best to put enough surprise into the single word that it’d urge him to offer more clarification but not so much that it made it sound like I was disgusted.
Because I wasn’t.
If anything, I was terrified by how much I liked the idea of being his.
Reid jerked his head back, his eyes roaming over every inch of my face. “I didn’t think you were anyone else’s.”
“I’m not.”
The corners of his mouth tipped up. “So, why are you questioning what I said?”
“I didn’t realize that was how you felt. I guess… Well, it’s not like you’ve told me much about your personal life that I’d have any idea you were available to make someone yours.”
He chuckled. “So, you thought it was possible I was tied to someone else and casually making out with you?”
I didn’t.
Not at all.
But I wasn’t going to tell him that if it meant I might learn a bit more about the man.
“You know a bit about my past. More specifically, my dating history. I don’t know anything about yours. And while I’m not interested in hearing details, it’d be nice to know that I’m not thegirl you’re calling yours just weeks after you’ve gotten out of a long-term relationship.”
Understanding dawned on his features, and when he spoke, his voice was gentle. Stroking his hand over the outer cap of my shoulder, he said, “I wasn’t in a long-term relationship, Natalia. Especially not a matter of weeks ago. Nothing more than a casual date here and there. That’s it.”
I tucked my chin toward my chest. “And to be clear, this isn’t casual?”
Reid shifted his head slowly from side to side. “Not at all.”
My belly flipped. Three simple words, but they formed such a great answer. I considered the seriousness of his tone and the look in his eyes and weighed it with all that he’d shown me over the last few weeks. Maybe I didn’t have all the answers I needed right now, but the ones I was getting were wonderful.
