Page 51 of Your Second Chance
“Eh, I like the light more than I mind the view,” she murmured.
Finally, I pushed open the door to my bedroom. “And this is the primary.” I stepped inside.
Nova burst into laughter behind me, making me pause.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“What?” I turned to her, worried for a moment that I might’ve left a pair of boxers on the floor or something equally mortifying.
“This ishuge,” she shouted, wandering deeper into the space. Her gaze landed on the en suite bathroom, and she practically bolted toward it.
“Oh, Ollie,” she said dramatically, standing in front of the massive glass shower and the freestanding tub.
I couldn’t help but grin, watching her soak it all in. “What?” I asked innocently.
“This tub.” She gestured to it like it was the crown jewel of the house. “I could live in here.”
“Be my guest,” I joked. “But I’m charging rent.”
She laughed, shaking her head as she stepped back into the bedroom, still looking around with wide eyes. I watched her from the doorway, letting the moment settle.
When she turned to me, her expression shifted to something softer and unguarded. I took a step toward her, and she didn’t hesitate. She slowly brought her arms up, slipping them around my neck, pulling me into her warmth.
“Ollie,” she whispered, resting her forehead against mine.
Her lips met mine gently at first, tentative. Then again, deeper this time. I kissed her back, resting my hands at her waist.
As she threaded her fingers through my hair, she breathed into me, like she didn’t want to let go. I didn’t either, but I pulled back, just enough to meet her eyes.
“I can’t,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I owe you a date.”
She looked up at me, eyes shining. “Fuck the date,” she said, smiling like maybe—for the first time in a long time—she finally felt safe.
“No. I can’t. I promised us this.” I ran a hand through my hair, trying to steady myself. “As much as I want to fuck my date, I want you to see that I want more than your body. I wanteverything you’ll give me, and if I take you right here, right now, you won’t believe it.”
She chuckled. “Okay, Romeo, calm down. We don’t need the whole soliloquy.”
“Fair enough.”
“I’d kill for a house like this. Pomegranate would love it.”
“Shewilllove it,” I muttered to myself because I couldn’t tell her that I wanted her to move in with me. Not yet. She’d run.
“Let me get dressed. I never showed you the garden out back, but help yourself.”
“There’s an outdoor space? In London?” Her mouth dropped open, and she happily skipped downstairs.
I chuckled as I heard her squeal from outside. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a sweater, and a new overcoat. I fixed my hair and then followed her downstairs, scared that if I left her alone for too long, I’d come down to an empty house.
“One day,” she muttered when I found her in the kitchen, hands running over the cabinets and the marble countertop. “One day, when I’m rich, I am going to have a kitchen like this.”
One day, when you’re mine, you can have all of this.
20
nova
“I thought Camden Market was for tourists.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Especially on the weekend.”
