A Convenient Arrangement(44)

“Yes, oh my God, yes, Leo…” Her words trailed away as his face blazed with pleasure.

Her body pulsed, her muscles tightened and together they shot through to the moment of bliss.



*



Lunch turned into dinner, which turned into an overnight, which turned into sleeping with Gwen curled tightly to his side. Deep in the darkness of night, Leo awakened. There beside him was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. A woman who excited him, aroused him, and damn, just simply made him happy. He smiled when she laughed; her jokes were horribly told and yet he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather hear a joke from. Gwen was flowers and ruffles and all things feminine. She reminded him of home, or what home had been and was meant to be. Warmth and good food and kindness and smiles. And that, the very thought that Gwen made him think of all those things he’d never wanted, even renounced—that scared the hell out of him.

She smiled in her sleep. He stroked her thick mane of copper-colored hair. Today had been a brilliant day. A long afternoon leading to a wonderful evening and a luxurious late night. Unscheduled. Unplanned. Unexpected, really. How easily he’d given over his carefully crafted world in a very short time. Had it really been just three weeks since New Year’s?

“Time to get up?” Gwen whispered, her eyelashes fluttering and her sleepy gaze taking in the room.

He pressed his lips to her nose. “Too early. Just can’t sleep.”

“You okay?”

Leo was better than okay. He was great. The best he’d been in perhaps forever. Yes, part of him was frightened by the strength of his feelings, flat-out scared. That part of him wanted to run in terror, but he’d never been a coward and wouldn’t start now. This woman made him think of monogamy, and a relationship, and what permanence between them might look like. He was willing to follow those thoughts wherever they led.

“Just thinking about…us.”

Her smile flickered the tiniest bit. “That’s a lot to think about.”

“Is it?”

She didn’t respond, tipping her head down. Her body tensed for an instant and pulled away from him just the slightest bit. Damn. Had his question, his words, sounded harsh? Uncaring? Cavalier? He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer until the warmth of her skin pressed to his again, nestled snugly against his side.

She sighed. “I mean…” The sentence drifted away unfinished, as though she didn’t know what to say or how to say it. “Is there an ‘us’?”

“Well, I’m not lying here alone in this bed, so I’d definitely say something is going on. Maybe we call it an ‘us.’ Or is that too big of a step for you?” Leo’s tone held a hint of teasing, but seriously, how long did they need to sneak around like two teenagers carrying on? “Maybe it’s time we consider letting the family in on this?”

Even through the darkness, he could see the color drain from her face and fear fill her eyes.

“Why are you so against that?” His fingertips circled the small of her back.

“I just…I wanted this to be between us, to see if…if we were compatible.”

“I’m thinking we’ve proven we’re pretty compatible, or am I missing something here?”

Her chin dropped. “No, but once we tell your family this becomes a thing, and it’s not a thing that we get to completely control. There’ll be comments and questions and opinions and my God, it just becomes an ordeal, and really, I wasn’t sure you wanted an ordeal”—those beautiful blue eyes shone at him through the darkness—“do you?”

Did he? He’d never wanted an ordeal before now and the public, the gossip hounds, the TMZs of the world had come to expect that whomever was on his arm really wasn’t a relationship as much as, well…a convenient arrangement. Now the perception that Leo’s every relationship was based solely on convenience, a purely physical agreement between two consenting adults, was about to go even further with the app and the ad campaign and the interviews and the launch.

But those eyes. When he looked into those eyes…did he care what the world thought? Not really. This relationship was theirs to define, was it not? Besides, just because his affair with Gwen wasn’t a convenient arrangement didn’t mean either of them would be rushing to the altar soon, with a baby and little house with a picket fence to follow. No matter how much this gorgeous lady felt like home.

“Look”—he pressed his lips to the tip of her nose—“I bent my rules for you, now I want you to bend a little for me. I don’t want to hide out anymore. It doesn’t feel right to pretend that nothing is going on between us. It’s feels like a lie, and I don’t want to do that.”