Romancing My Love(28)

“I like the sunglasses better. That way I can still look at you.” He pulled her across his lap and kissed her. “I’ll try not to look at you in a way that makes you uncomfortable. Let’s talk about something else. Tell me how your first two days of work went. Do you like it so far?”

“Yeah. I love it so far. We’re always busy, so time goes quickly, and it’s not a mentally taxing job, so when I take my last courses, I’ll still have the brainpower to study at night.” She shrugged as if that was all there was, but in truth, she was ecstatic to no longer be living in her car.

“When are you going to take classes?” he asked.

“As soon as I have the money. I’ve only got a couple classes left before I graduate, and I should be able to take them in the spring.”

“I can help you pay for them.”

“Pierce, stop.” She shifted from his lap and gathered the sheet around her.

“Stop what? I’m just offering to help so you can finish the courses.”

He looked so baffled, and it didn’t surprise Rebecca. He couldn’t possibly understand what she was feeling, but he would never be able to if she didn’t explain it to him. Rebecca pushed her irritation away and drew upon the patience she’d learned so well during her mother’s illness. She took his hand in hers and tried to explain again.

“I love that you want to help, but I’m not a project. I don’t need charity. I want to do this on my own. I know you care for me, and I know you would be willing to help me out of the goodness of your heart, but you need to understand, and accept, how that would make me feel like you were trying to fix things.”

“Guys are fixers. It’s a known fact.” He pulled her close again.

“Right, which is maybe why I didn’t miss dating. I don’t need fixing.” She took his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. “Hear me, Pierce. If this relationship is going to work, you can’t offer to fix things for me. Got it?”

“You know, even women who have everything at their fingertips let their boyfriends offer to do things for them.”

She kissed his nose, because he was so damn cute when he was trying to get his way. “Then you should date one of them if you need to fix women. I’m a woman who doesn’t need fixing. Take me or leave me.”

She inched to the edge of the bed, and he scooped her back with his powerful arms. “You’re asking a lot of me. It will go against everything I’ve ever believed. But for you, I will try to do things your way. You’ll have to cut me some slack, though. And as far as taking or leaving you goes…” He dragged his finger from the center of her collarbone to her belly button. “I’ve taken you, and I’ll take you again, and again, but I’ll never leave you.”





Chapter Fifteen


WEDNESDAY MORNING THEY got up early and went for a three-mile run. Rebecca was competitive by nature, and working out with Pierce was great motivation, even if he taunted her during their run by running behind her and making sexual innuendos, which she also secretly loved. And showering with him? Oh Lord, there was nothing like the feeling of his big hands, lathered with soap, sliding over her wet skin, caressing every inch of her body like it was new to him when he’d spent the evening before loving those very same parts. And she had to admit that touching him, taking him in her mouth while water ran down her back, added a whole other level of erotic sensations to their lovemaking. She loved watching him dress in his business suits, covering all those godly muscles as if they didn’t exist. It gave her a thrill knowing just how glorious that hidden body was.

Rebecca grabbed her purse on the way out the door. She was trying to get used to carrying it since she wanted access to her cell phone and there were no pockets in the black skirts she wore for work.

“Is your phone on?” After his brother had given him a hard time for forgetting to turn on his phone, Rebecca had gotten used to reminding him to do so. She loved how he feigned hating the nag, though she could tell by his smile that he liked it.

“Oh, you think you know me, don’t you?” Pierce pulled out his phone, turned his back, and she knew he was turning it on. When he turned around and held it up with a big smile, she laughed. “It was on. See?”

She tossed her purse in the car and Pierce folded her into his arms.

“What would I do without you?” He nuzzled against her neck.

“Oh, probably miss a lot of morning phone calls.”

“Do I really have to go another long day without you? How about meeting me for lunch?”

“Are you at all worried about people seeing us together? I wanted to ask you about that. How do you think we should handle it so you aren’t seen as a letch?” She smiled, and she could tell by the gleam in his eyes that he knew she was joking.

“Seen as a letch? I’ve never dated women who work for me.”

She arched a brow.

“Well, until you, of course. I’m not going to pretend, Bec. My cousin Josh went through that. He and his fiancée, Riley, hid their relationship because she worked for him, and it pretty much sucked. I don’t think we have to flaunt it, but if I want to see you, I’m going to see you, and if you want to see me, then I want that door open twenty-four seven.”

“Well, one of my roommates works with me. Should I let her know?”

“I think honesty is best. Your coworkers might treat you differently, so maybe you should just be ready for that. You know, the whole dating the boss thing, but I’ve never dated anyone who works there before, so it’s not like they can say that I make a pattern of it, or anything like that.”

“But you were a player. You told me so yourself.” She touched his arm. “I’ve handled a lot worse things than comments.”

“Even the thought of someone saying something to you about my dating habits pisses me off. I’ve never flaunted women around the casino. I’m a respected businessman with a reputation to uphold. I came and went through a side entrance if I was staying at the hotel, and it’s not like I woke up with those women and took them to breakfast.” He kissed her softly. “Let’s just be us, and we’ll deal with whatever comes up.”

“Okay.” She drew in a deep breath, readying herself to ask what needed to be asked. “I don’t mean to be a buzzkill, but you asked if I was on the pill.”

“I just want to be closer to you.”

“I know, but you’ve had a…” Oh God, how on earth can I say this? “Busy social life.”

“You’re wondering if I’m clean.” His voice was serious.

She was so nervous she could only manage a nod. It wasn’t a comfortable thing to have to ask, but things that were important were rarely easy.

“I’ve always used condoms. I could be the poster boy for Trojan, but if you want me to get tested, I will. Whatever you need to make you comfortable.”

She fiddled with the button in the middle of his chest. “I’m sorry. I know how this all must sound. I’m just paranoid.”

He lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes with the same look he had last night when they were making love. “Babe, if you’re willing to go on the pill, I’m willing to take a simple test. We’re worth it. I’ll have Daisy, Luke’s fiancée, do it when I go home next weekend. I’d rather keep something like this private. She’s a doctor, and I trust her.”

She nodded, and he folded her into his arms again.

“You can ask anything of me. I’ll always tell you the truth.”

“I know.” Rebecca hadn’t ever had anyone that she could really trust besides her mother, and with Pierce, she believed that he really would always tell her the truth.

He opened her car door, then closed it. “Drive to work with me. Why should we take separate cars? I want you to come home with me after work anyway, and it’ll give us more time together.”

She glanced at her car and her pulse quickened. She hadn’t realized that her car had become some type of security blanket. It had been the one stable thing in her life after her mother died. Without it, she’d have had no place to stay after she left her apartment. It’s not like she was getting rid of it, but somehow not having it with her—just in case—made her nervous.

“What if I need it?”

“You can always use my car.” She eyed his Jaguar and had no desire to drive it. It wasn’t having a car that was an issue; it was having her car.

“I’m kind of used to having it.”

“I think this is one of those control freak issues you were talking about the other day. Okay. Take your car.” He kissed her again and opened her car door for her.

She held on to his hand. “I’m sorry. It’s kinda weird, isn’t it? That I need my car?”

He shrugged. “No more weird than me wanting to fix things for you. We’ll just have to adjust.”

As she climbed into her car, he must have sensed her discomfort, because he lifted her chin so he could see her eyes and said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff, Bec. It’s all fine. Lunch?”

“Definitely.”

“Great. There’s one more thing I keep forgetting to ask you. My cousin Treat and his wife, Max, are coming into town for dinner tomorrow night. Will you have dinner with us? I’d really like you to meet them.”