Page 85 of Assistant to the Billionaire CEO

35

STELLA

“Ididn’t think I’d ever wake up next to you,” I whispered.

The bright morning sunlight streamed in through a crack in my curtains, casting a golden trail from the edge of my bed to my window. The larks in my landlord’s tree were singing so loudly that I could hear them from my spot next to Ace.

A part of me waited for him to tell me what we had done was a mistake, but he didn’t.

“You’re mine now,” he murmured instead, wrapping his strong arms around me and pulling me closer. “We’ll wake up next to each other often.”

“I like the sound of that,” I said, humming as I pressed my ear against his tattooed chest, listening to the beating of his heart. The huge tattoo of a dark eagle was eye-level with me, watching me. With my finger, I traced its shadowy wings. Was there a growl as I did so? “So, you’re really not mad at me for what happened?” The eagle’s claws appeared ready to grab me at any moment, so Ace—no, the eagle—could devour me.

“No, I’m not. You were acting on your brother’s instructions, and there’s no point in directing my anger toward you. I can understand that you wanted to help your brother.”

I looked into his eyes, which had turned winter blue. “I could and should have said no. Even when I…when we didn’t…you know.” I gestured between us. “Even then I knew you were anything but dishonest. I just wanted to prove Damon wrong.”

“That’s what I thought,” Ace said. “However, baby, if you ever think about snooping on me again, you’d better up your game. You need to.” He kissed the top of my head and grinned. “I’m surprised I didn’t catch you sooner.”

“I don’t know. I think I was anexcellentdetective under the circumstances,” I teased. “Ex-ce-llent,” I repeated.

“Yep. Excellent detective work there. Way to go,” he teased right back.

“Hey! I said, under the circumstances.”

“What circumstances?” With one hand, he tilted my chin upward. Our eyes met, but it was different this time. It wasn’t a joking or teasing gaze, but a loving one.

“Well, it’s pretty hard to snoop on someone when you have feelings for them. So, those circumstances.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Feelings for them?”

“Yep. You heard me.” I smiled, turned my face, and kissed his chest. Maybe I was being too bold here. Maybe it was too early to tell him, but I just had to. I would burst if I didn’t. His breastbone was hard under my lips, and I could feel his calm pulse.

“You’ve had a crush on me since the beginning then?” he asked.

I looked up at him and nervously bit my bottom lip. “Wanna know a secret?”

“Shoot.”

“I’ve had a crush on you since the first time I saw you,” I admitted.

“The collision in the hall? Phew. In that case, I’m glad you collided with me.” My head bounced around on his chest as he chuckled.

“Well, actually, it was earlier than that…”

First, he just looked at me, but then realization dawned. “That long, huh.” He gave me the cutest smirk. After leaning forward to kiss my lips, he tenderly placed my head back onto his chest and caressed my curls. “I’m glad to hear that. I applaud your exquisite taste in men—even as a teenager.”

Smiling, I enjoyed the feeling of his arms tightening around me.

“Does all this mean that we’re…you know, a thing now?” The moment the question was out of my mouth, I wanted to take it back. It was way too early to express boundaries and expectations. Yes, I did like him, obviously, but maybe he didn’t like me back, at least not likethat.

“A thing?” he asked, staring at me as if I had asked him to have a baby with me or something crazy like that. Which I hadn’t. Maybe for him it was just a one-night “wham bam, thank you, ma’am” kind of thing.

“Yeah, like in a relationship.” Jesus. I was making things worse. What the hell was wrong with me? How pathetic to ask your childhood crushandbossandbrother’s best friend if they wanted to be in a relationship just after hooking up. Sure, I was pretty awesome, butway to scare off a man, Stella.

“A relationship?” he asked.

“Yeah, because let’s face it. I’m a catch,” I said. No way was I going to take the question back. It was now or never. Also, it was fun to be sassy with him, and so far, he had responded well to it. Men liked brave women. “You don’t want to missall this.” I pointed from my head down to my toes, making circular motions.

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