Page 86 of A Million Times, Yes
He nodded.
“My God, Jordan.” I peeked at the glass behind me. “You literally live in the stars. A life that’s more dreamy than a fairy tale.”
“Can you get used to that?” His face leaned toward mine, his hands now surrounding my mouth. “Because this is who I am. This is how I live my life. I need you to know that, Maya. And I need you to know what to expect.”
“Like?”
He chuckled. “Like I don’t fuck with airports. I fly private. I have a driver who takes me back and forth to work and wherever I need to go. I bounce between my three homes, and I only stay in luxury five-star hotels when I travel elsewhere. Do I eat at diners, sure—but for the most part, the places I go are either Michelin rated or the highest sought-after restaurants in the area.” He paused. “The person whose eyes you’re staring into right now hasn’t changed. This is who I’ve been all along—you’re just learning about the side you didn’t know.” He tilted my face up even higher. “I’m the same man who wants to love your entire body. Who wants to spend every day with you.” His gaze dropped to my lips. “I need to know if that’s what you want too.”
I took in the deepest breath, holding in the air while I dug through my brain to find a starting point. Because this was definitely a lot. “When you walked out onto the ice at the Bears game and then I plugged your name into Google that night and learned, not only about the NHL but about your career as a Worthington, I had a feeling welived in very different worlds. I mean ... you’re a billionaire. Nothing you’ve said should really surprise me.”
“But it did.”
I sighed. “Three homes?” I let out a small laugh. “Yes, I’m still surprised by all of it. Why, I don’t know. It’s not like I expected you to live in a building like mine and take the T or the bus to work.”
“But there’s nothing wrong with any of that either.”
“No. There isn’t.”
His thumbs pressed into my cheeks. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I know.” My hands lowered to his chest. “I think part of what you’re asking is not only can I handle your level of wealth, but can I move on from what drove us apart.” His gaze intensified as I continued, “And the answer to that is yes. I’m much happier with you than I am without you. Our worlds are vastly different, and yours just happened to intertwine with mine in a not-so positive way in the past, but I can’t blame you for that.” My head tilted, and I gave him a grin. “I believe what you said about your family. I don’t think they would intentionally try to ruin anyone’s life. It was an unfortunate event that I need to move on from. And ... maybe if it hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be who I am today. That’s the way I need to look at it.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead and kissed me, breathing me in several times before he pulled back. “I think what I hear you saying is that ... you’re mine.”
His question was serious; I just couldn’t help but giggle. “I think that’s what I’m saying, yes.”
The words were barely out of my mouth before he kissed me. Before he pushed my back against the wall of glass and ravaged my mouth in a way that I knew he was just getting started. Before his tongue slipped in and took hold of me in a way that I’d missed. And in a way that made me moan.
“Fuck me,” he groaned. “If I keep that up, we’re not going to have dinner, and I spent a long time on that meal.”
“I can smell it. Whatever it is, it’s making my stomach growl.”
“Beef Wellington.” He hid a smile. “In full transparency, I have a chef. He comes several times a week and prepares all my meals and juices, even my almond and cashew milks he makes from scratch. He’s the man of my kitchen since I’d rather spend those hours running or at the gym or at the office or relaxing. But tonight, I wanted to do something a little different.”
“Are you saying ... you cooked?”
“I did.”
“And what made you want to do that?”
He was wearing his contacts tonight, and the dark circles beneath his green eyes were almost gone. “If I’m being honest, it’s not a lot of fun to cook for myself, but I do enjoy it.” He pressed his nose against mine. “You’re the first woman I’ve ever cooked for.”
I batted my lashes. “I feel extremely honored.”
“Don’t say that yet. You haven’t tried it.”
I laughed. “If it tastes anything like it smells, I’m going to love it.”
He grabbed my hand. “It just needs to be cut. Everything else is ready. Come on, let’s eat.”
I squeezed his hand and stilled my feet, causing him to turn around. “Before we do that, I have a favor to ask.”
“Anything.”
“You’ve shown me most of your condo, I believe, but what I haven’t seen is any of your hockey stuff. I have to think you have something here that will show me what that period of your life looked like.”
“Yes, I certainly have plenty of that.” He chuckled.
