Page 92 of The Playboy

“Macon …” She looked at the private plane, her stare returning to me. “This is far too much. I mean, the clothes werea lot, a lot. This is—”

“Here’s something else you need to know about me. When I’m craving croissants, I fly to Paris. I go to Siesta Key in Florida when I want to feel the softest sand under my feet. When I want to unplug from the world, I go to Puerto Natales in Chile. I don’t hold back—ever. I follow what’s calling to me, and I indulge.” I spread my fingers across her cheek. “This is how I live my life, Brooklyn, and how I want to live it with you.” I allowed those words to wrap around her the way my hand was doing.

“Those dreams and goals you’ve mentioned are important to you—I know that. And after you graduate, all of them are going to come true. That’s important to me as well, but so is this. This is what you’ll also have if you’re with me—a balance between work and play—and I promise we’ll maintain it.”

“I … don’t even know what to say.” Her lips hung open. “Have I already said that tonight? Because if I haven’t, I meant to, and now, it needs to be voiced again.” She took a breath. “And again.”

I pulled her bottom lip with my teeth, needing the taste, the sensation, and eventually released it. “We’re going to have so much fucking fun tonight.”

FOURTEEN

Brooklyn

“This is …” My voice faded away as I glanced toward the ceiling of the sushi restaurant in Honolulu that Macon had brought me to, at the wooden design that hung across it, shaped like waves to represent the sea. “So incredibly beautiful. I can’t …” I gazed toward the walls painted in these elaborate, colorful fish, at the dark blue floor with tiny hints of glitter speckled within, like the moonlight capturing just the tips of the waves. And finally, I met his face. “Believe I’m here …” I finished. “That you took me to this restaurant. That we flew on a private plane. That you put this whole evening together because I’d mentioned sushi was my favorite flavor, which made no sense at the time, but it turned into this …”

An act of kindness and generosity that I would never get over.

Macon found whatever it was that I liked or needed, and that was what he gave me each time we were together. Whether it was physical, like burying his face between my legs because he knew I was obsessed with his tongue. Or gifts, like the ones I’d hung in the closet tonight, which I needed for my upcoming interview—something I was positive he’d assumed since I wore the same outfit almost every time he saw me. Or professional, like allowing me the opportunity to fight for a job that I wanted more than anything.

He was a giver.

A man who thrived off the satisfaction he saw spreading across my face or he heard in my breath or he felt within my body.

I’d never met anyone like this before.

And aside from the complications of us working for the same company and how that would affect things if we broke up, could I really turn down the chance of being with someone as amazing as him?

Despite the muddiness around me.

The busyness.

The responsibilities I had until I graduated.

Because in less than two months, that would all clear up. I would have a job—that was it. Something I could surely manage after balancing all of this.

All I would have to do was say yes—a word he was ready to hear.

“All it took was a simple mention of sushi,” he said, his gaze swallowing me whole. “And now, we’re here, at the best place in Hawaii.”

“All it took for someone like you,” I corrected. I leaned across the small table that was decorated with so many tiny plates that I was nervous I was going to knock one onto the floor. “This isn’t normal, Macon. This is … completely bananas.”

He laughed at my description.

An expression so carefree and honest and incredibly handsome on him that it made me ache. I took in the way his mouth parted and how his throat bobbed and how his lips were emphasized by the perfectness of his dark beard. He was more than just the most attractive man I’d ever seen. More than gracious and dominant and sexy.

He was everything.

But I couldn’t get lost in that thought. I had to keep it together. I had to remember that there was nothing wrong with going slow. That I had a lot of major changes coming up, and I didn’t want to be influenced by this gorgeous man, whose eyes were currently stripping me naked.

Whose presence was making me want those clothes to peel right off my body.

I cleared my throat and said, “I don’t know a single person, except you, who has ever flown privately, let alone taken a plane to dinner.” I lifted the small cup of sake and held it. “If I haven’t already said it enough, I’m saying it again. Thank you.”

“You’ve said it more than enough.” He lifted his sake and clinked it against mine. “You realize this is our first official date.”

My brows rose as I sipped the drink. “What about the diner?”

“That wasn’t a date. That was me begging you to come out to eat with me and giving you almost no other choice until you caved. Hopefully, we’re past the begging phase.”

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