Page 42 of Unrealistic Expectations

She was past worrying that he only felt like home to her because she’d only ever had home in instability. Years of therapy and training in giving therapy had gotten her past that. She was beginning to think that people slotted themselves into roles in dating as a sort of armor, and you couldn’t always tell what was underneath. It certainly felt like Galvin’s suit of armor had fallen to the wayside, but she would survive if it hadn’t, and she was being a fool.

Luckily, they didn’t have to spend too much more time with his parents after the dinner and awards. They got up as soon as the dancing started, leaving Jessica and Galvin alone at the table.

He was like a different person as soon as they left, and Jessica was finally able to relax. “We can leave if you want,” he said.

Jessica shook her head. “It’s your night, and you deserve to celebrate.” She lifted her glass. “To the best architect in L.A.”

He smiled back at her, and it warmed her to her toes. She couldn’t help the flood of heat in her veins every time he looked at her like that—desire in every line of his face. She almost couldn’t believe that she’d compared his appearance to his parents. The materials might be the same, but they were completely different on him. Like his home and the residences he designed, there was warmth and care in every line.

“I think you might be the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.

A bit of cold wiggled its way into her core then. “I’m afraid that being with me might only expose you to more bad publicity.” She couldn’t get over feeling that an arrangement that might have served both of them at the beginning might just ruin his reputation.

“I need you to stop thinking about that.” He took a sip of his champagne and waited until she took a sip of hers. “What can I do to take your mind off it?”

When he’d picked her up that night, she’d planned on telling him that it was a bad idea for them to continue seeing each other, because of the particular shade of spotlight her bestseller status had brought. She’d also assumed that he wouldn’t want to have sex with her after she told him that. But the way he looked at her—like he was thinking about how her mouth would feel wrapped around his cock—and the way he leaned in close enough to kiss the spot at the base of her neck that he knew drove her crazy, told her that he was definitely thinking he could take her mind off their troubles with sex.

She wasn’t sure that it was healthy to not finish this conversation. They were both skating very close to the edge of something dangerous, and she should be clinging to some semblance of common sense. But the way he made her feel rendered that impossible.

“You’re incorrigible. And your parents are around here somewhere.” Maybe that would have the effect of a cold shower.

“I don’t care if they see me boost you up on this table and eat my dessert right here.” He was so filthy that it should have made her blush and shy away. She’d certainly never even fantasized about someone saying something like that to her, but it felt right coming from him. It felt like the truth, and it reflected how she felt about him, too.

He wouldn’t put her at risk of public indecency charges, but the fact that he wanted her so much and didn’t care who knew was heady.

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Mr. Baker.”

He straightened so that his mouth wasn’t millimeters from her throat and took her hand, tracing circles in the palm. She wondered at the fact that this was even more arousing than getting close to heavy petting in public. “I think the only thing that’s necessary is me and you and a flat surface as soon as possible.”

The heady way he touched her was making her forget that this was temporary. That was really the problem, wasn’t it? They couldn’t just get lost in their sexual connection and stay there. “You’re really hard to resist.” It just slipped out.

His touch paused, and Jessica was mortified. “Why would you resist me?” he asked. “You’re trying to break up with me already?”

When he kissed her behind her ear, it made it difficult to think clearly. “In the car—”

“That’s why you were so quiet.” He stopped then. “And I just rolled over and didn’t listen to you. I begged you to come in here with me, and you obliged because you’re a good person. You just think my usefulness has come to an end.” There was hurt in his voice.

“No, that’s not it—”

He dropped her hand then, and she was desperate to have him touching her and saying inappropriate things to her again.

“I get it. Now that this reporter is poking around, you’re worried that you won’t be able to keep up the facade of actually caring about me.”

“Galvin, shut your mouth and listen.”

—

Jessica had never used her stern, therapist voice with him before. It was a little bit shocking, so he shut his mouth. He’d known something was bothering her tonight, but he hadn’t thought she was going to break things off with him.

He really should have been expecting it. Once her book had gotten the attention it deserved, he wouldn’t be useful to her anymore. And now he was a liability—an embarrassment. Just like he was to his parents. He scanned the room for them just so he wouldn’t have to look at Jessica right now. She would see way too much on his face. She always saw too much. And he’d thought she’d genuinely liked what she was starting to see.

But he was wrong.

This should be easier. He’d been broken up with plenty of times—for not calling when he said he would, for refusing to propose after six months, for refusing to uproot his whole life and move to a commune—but he’d never been broken up with because it wouldn’t look good for them to be seen together. It reminded him way too much of how he’d felt when no one in his life seemed to like him very much—not his parents, most of his teachers, or even some of his classmates.

And Jessica was the first person he’d been open and vulnerable with in his adult life. This was a disaster.

“Listen to me,” Jessica said.

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