Page 85 of Beautiful Beast

“I had fun, too,” I tell her, surprised that I actually mean it.

Her eyes are bright with happiness and she kisses me before taking my hand and resting her head on my shoulder.

She’s getting too attached and wanting more than I can ever provide.

And I have to remind her of the rules.

“But Belle… Remember what I said. We’re having a good time, and I love being with you, but that’s all it’s going to be. When you’re ready to settle down with some nice guy who will give you the white picket fence and 2.2 kids, then you just let me know and I won’t stand in your way. I want you to be happy.”

Even if it’s not with me – and it won’t be.

“You can be that guy,” she says softly.

“No,” I insist. “I don’t want kids. And I’m not anyone’s Prince Charming.”

“You don’t want kids for a stupid reason,” Belle argues. “You aren’t your father. And you’re letting him control your future again. This is the same thing as you not getting involved with Townsend Enterprises because of him. He’s dead, Adam.”

Her comments strike a chord deep inside me.

She isn’t wrong.

It’s not that I don’t want kids, not exactly. I just don’t want to perpetuate the same shitty cycle I grew up in. And there’s more of my father in me than Belle realizes.

It’s why we can’t have sleepovers.

“Plus, I don’t need a prince,” she finishes. “I just need you.”

Her words crack my heart in two and thaw the dead, frozen places inside me that I never thought could freely exist again.

But I’m not about to ruin this girl or her future.

“Belle. I’m serious. We said that we’d keep things casual.”

She’s getting me out of the apartment when it’s not something I ever imagined agreeing to until my face was restored. And we’re mixing our two worlds – now our best friends are going to end up dating or at least in bed together.

This girl wants to be a permanent fixture in my life.

“We are being casual,” she says stubbornly. “It was just dinner.”

We both know it was more than dinner.

Chapter 19

Belle

“Ichangedmymind,”I tell Adam.

We’re getting ready to get in the hot tub on his terrace, wine glasses within reach and the gorgeous red and orange sunset painting everything in a romantic glow.

Buster is chewing on a bone and lying on the outdoor bed Adam got for him – he bought him an indoor bed, too. Clearly, they are smitten with each other.

“About?”

“I want you to be my boyfriend.”

“I’m not into labels,” he returns, “but I’m not with anyone other than you, and I won’t be until you’re ready to move on. Okay?”

“I’m not going to move on. And I mean, that’s like the definition of being someone’s boyfriend.”

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