Page 101 of Unspoken Words
Connor downed the last of his water and leaned back, his arm on the head of the couch, his foot resting on his opposing thigh. He looked cocky, confident, and sexy all at once. And coupled with his close proximity and the intensity of our discussion, I all of a sudden felt hot. And way too close.
“Tell me about Byron. Is it serious?”
I sat upright. “Huh?”
“Are you two the real deal?”
“Well, yeah. We’ve been living together for over eighteen months.”
“Wow, eighteen months? Sounds very serious.” Cynicism rolled off of his lax body in waves. It pissed me off.
“Byron is lovely. He’s very driven, dedicated, and sweet. And he can cook. He loves to cook. All kinds of things. Exotic things.”
“How’d you meet him?”
“Uni.”
“Where is he now?”
“At home.” I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. “What is this … twenty questions?”
“I’m just curious as to what and where you’re at in life. What’s wrong with that?”
I crossed my arms and rested them on my chest. “It’s nosey.”
“No, it’s not. If we’re going to be partners, we need to know all about each other.”
I smiled and pointed at him. “Firstly, I said we’d give it a trial. And, secondly, my private life is none of your business.”
He raised his hands. “Just tryin’ to get to know the new you.”
Pushing up from the couch, I walked over to the window and looked out at his yard, a plastic cubby house, slide, and various balls littering the lawn, none of them basketballs. “All you need to know is that I’m settled and happy—”
“Settled? As in settled in Darwin? ‘Cause you do know you’ll have to move back to Melbourne to work on the album, right? At least for the short term.”
My skin prickled. I hadn’t exactly thought about it. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about much other than the way my body and mind spun in continuous circles in his presence. “I … uh … I do realise that, yes. I’ll have to stay here for a little while. But I plan on going back and forth. Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out when and if the time comes.”
“When,” he mumbled, as he stood up. Connor stopped just shy of my back, the scent of his cologne and shampoo, asphyxiating me. It was a sweet mixture of spice and minty earth, and it near tranced me into a state of submission.
“Because,” he added, “we are doing this together. You’re the only one I want to work on this album with. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and gently turned me to face him, my entire body humming under his touch. “Whateverit takes.”
My eyes chased his from left to right, right to left and back again. “Fine,” I sighed. “But if you take me for granted, I’ll take one step after another away from you, and you won’t ever get those steps back. Think of it as a game of ‘What’s the Time, Mr Wolf?’ with an answer of Zero o’clock.”
He leaned down, closer to my face. “I won’t take you for granted.”
I couldn’t breathe but still managed to say, “You have before.”
“And I didn’t mean to.”
“Just like you didn’t mean to take a very large piece of my heart?”
His eye twitched, but he didn’t answer, because a thief like Connor knew exactly what was in his loot.
I stepped back so that I could breathe. He’d stolen too much of my air as it was. “Let’s just keep this to what it is: a professional partnership. The album and your career are what is most important.”
He smiled, and his damn dimples sunk into his cheeks. “Thank you.” He pulled me to him in a strong hug, warm, soft lips pressing my head. “Ellie, I’ve fucking missed you.”
“Connor, let me go.”
