“Oh my God,” I whisper, opening my eyes. I watch in fascination as Asher brings his fingers to his mouth and licks them clean. This causes another spasm. Then his mouth is on mine, kissing me deep and wet. When he pulls his mouth away, we are both trying to catch our breath. “Maybe I'm using you for amazing orgasms,” I say quietly.
“Yeah, maybe,” he chuckles and kisses my nose. I feel my face go soft.
“No, I'm definitely in love with you.” I whisper my confession. It still amazes me that this guy, who seems so rough around the edges, is always soft with me.
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you too.” Tears sting my nose and I take a deep breath.
Asher picks up the wrapped box off the floor where it had fallen and hands it to me. “What’s this?” I ask.
“Your other gift.” He smiles his cocky grin and I can’t help but to roll my eyes. I slowly unwrap the silver paper and lift the lid on the small jewelry box. My heart feels like it is going to jump out of my chest with the anticipation.
“Wow,” I whisper, staring down at the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen. Two silver hearts intertwined, becoming one, similar to an eternity symbol. I take it out of the box and hold it in my hand, not sure if he even knows the significance of the design. “It’s beautiful,” I say, still whispering. I look up and he is watching me closely.
“Will you put it on me?” I ask, handing it to him. My hair is already up so I turn my back to him and he places the necklace around my neck then clasps it. I feel his lips on the back of my neck. My hand goes to the hearts and I pull it away from my chest, looking down at it. He pulls me around to face him again.
“Beautiful,” he says and I start crying. He pulls me into his lap and I shove my face into his neck, absorbing his smell. “Baby, why are you crying?” That’s a good question. I have no idea why I am crying. I just feel really emotional.
“I'm sorry.” I sniffle, wiping my face on his shirt.
“Did you just wipe your snot on me?”
I start giggling. “No, just tears. I promise.”
“Uh huh,” he mumbles and kisses the top of my head. I pull my face away from his chest and look into his beautiful eyes. I’m so lucky. “So, now that you have your stuff here, baby, you know that means you’re officially moved in, right?”
I'm in complete shock. He totally tricked me into moving in. Actually, come to think of it, he tricked my dad. He got his way without having to fight with me about it. I love staying here, but I like having a backup plan.
“Oh my God. You bossed me and got your way, and I didn’t even notice you were doing it.”
“I didn’t boss you, baby. I told you that you would want to live with me.” He is right, as mad as it makes me. I want to be here as badly as he wants me to be.
“You don’t think this is too soon?” I mumble, shaking my head.
“Fuck, no.”
Okay. He is sure about this. Me, on the other hand, I am not so sure. “I don’t want this to go bad because we’re so new. I feel like this is moving so fast. I'm worried that it’s just because it’s new to you and you don’t really know what you’re asking. Like you’re going to lose interest sooner or later and I’ll be heartbroken, and stuck moving out of a house that I love when I knew it was too soon to move into it in the first place.”
His hands move to my neck, his thumbs are under my jaw, tilting my head back so he has full eye contact. “You’re pissing me off.” Eeek! He looks pissed. Crap. “I'm a grown man. I know what I want out of life. I know who I want in my life. You’re not in my head, you don’t know how I feel, so stop trying to make choices for me,” he says, shaking my head gently. “I'm trying to slow down for you. For me, going fast would be you wearing a ring instead of a necklace. Trust me, I'm taking it slow, as slow as I can.”
For some reason, I know he is telling the truth. What he doesn’t know is that if he'd asked me to marry him, I would have said yes, no questions asked. From the moment I saw him, I wanted him. Granted, I thought he was a big jerk after he spoke, but I still wanted him. When my apartment was broken into and he was there with me, taking care of me, and making sure I was safe, I knew then he was really a good man. And the way he talks to me and looks at me, well, that seals the deal.
“I love you. You’re it for me. I knew from the moment I met you that I was done for. I like having you here and I don’t see that changing, unless you don’t feel the same as I do. Then you need to tell me that so I can convince you that you do,” he says, smirking at me. I wonder if he felt the same about his ex. Did he love her?