Page 116 of Off Camera
“Dinner,” I repeat. “We had a team photoshoot this morning, and there was no time for breakfast. I did have a coffee, though, so I’m not operating on an entirely empty stomach.”
“Avery,” he murmurs. “You need to take care of yourself. The season is only going to get busier and?—”
“I know,” I snap, wincing at my tone. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to get better about setting time aside for my meals while I’m at theoffice, but I’m being pulled in a dozen different directions. It’s hard to put myself first.”
Understanding dawns, and his features sharpen. Reid hums and steps toward me. His fingers hook under my chin and he lifts my head.
I’m not sure I’m breathing.
“People-pleaser,” he says. My eyes widen, and he blows out a laugh, a puff of air. “I didn’t forget.”
“I told you that the night we met.”
“I have a good memory. Here’s what’s going to happen: the nights you come to my place, I’m sending you home with leftovers so you have a meal for the next day. The days you’re busy and don’t have a free minute to order something, I’m going to have food delivered to you. Barry the intern and I are friends, and his job duties now include getting you the food I send.”
“But I?—”
“You can take care of yourself. I see that. Iknowthat. You’re a strong, independent woman, Ave, and that’s badass. But I’d like to help a little bit. If you’ll let me.”
The same sensation I felt the other night when he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight settles in me again.
I felt it during the game too, when he went after Andrew.
It’s the recognition that, yes, this is physical.
Yes, we fuck anywhere and everywhere.
But there’s something else lingering under the surface.
A deeper connection neither of us have explored.
It would be easy for him to brush aside my problems.
Deem them nothisproblem and walk away.
He’s not, though.
He’s offering me a hand. Figuring out how he can carry some of the load, and no one has ever done that for me before.
“Okay,” I whisper. The elevator doors open to my floor, and neither one of us walks out. “You can help.”
“Thank you.” Reid holds out an arm and gestures for me to go ahead. I slip past him, my shoulder grazing against his chest, and heat radiates from him.
I want him.
I want him so badly I can’t think of anything else.
The hunger is gone.
The exhaustion is gone.
All that’s left is the desire to feel his skin against mine.
To sink onto him and fuck him until he’s saying my name like a goddamn prayer.
“Find any ducks lately?” he asks, and I clear my thoughts.
“One this morning in my closet on a shelf I can’t reach. How did you manage that?”
