Just as they had agreed, they spent their days after work chilling on the sofa, watching TV and reading books. She read her new collection of romance books on her E-reader while he read what she could only assume were biographies and autobiographies, as he was very secretive about his iPad, the reticent businessman. Despite the crazy urge to jump each other’s bones, Talia patted herself on the back for the restraint they showed. She wasn’t going to lie, there were times, like when she would feel his erection pressed against her hip in the early mornings, because, thanks to having just one room and the couch that couldn’t comfortably fit even half his body, they were forced to share a bed, she felt the temptation like the searing of a branding rode against her skin. But especially those moments when he would walk out of the bedroom to the living room, freshly showered to grab a cup of coffee from the kitchen, steam rising off his body, the towel slung lower ar
When he said he was moving in, he hadn’t been joking. He’d gotten really comfortable, like a roach in a dirty corner of the house. She relaxed him, he said. She watched as his face frowned, his eyes momentarily shifting to the packet his fingers were currently digging in, before abandoning it with a sigh. Clearly she was over medicating him with her personal brand of fixing all of Rafe’s issues with her presence remedy. “Bella, is there more?” he grumbled, not bothering to turn to look at her, his attention fixated on the screen. An entertainment device he discovered on his first weekend over as they worked hard to keep their hands off each other. She stuttered her shock, her head rearing back. Ah hell no! He wasn’t just over medicated, he was clearly overdosed to the point he’d lost his mind. “I’m going to kick you!” she gritted out through clenched teeth. “Huh?” he said absently, his chin raising to her direction, but his eyes still glued to the TV screen. She slapped the counte
“Ah, ah,” she said with a shake of her head and a wag of her finger. “I’m not changing again. You get one pass on my wardrobe, no more.”Rafe wordlessly glared at her, making his feelings about the subject much known. Talia had to hold herself back from sticking her tongue out at him to annoy him further. She walked towards the front door, her boho bag slung over her shoulder and snickered at a pouting peeved Rafe.His hand shot up and grabbed her by the upper arm, Talia gasped as he brought her to a complete stop.“Not so fast,” he said, reaching for the coat closet door with his free hand. He opened the door, released her and grabbed her long black overcoat with a jerk that the hanger rattled in the enclosed space in protest. He pushed the door closed with his fingers, then held the coat open in front of her with a raised brow. The man just refused to lose.But then again, in her petty need to whine, she’d
“Ah, ah,” she said with a shake of her head and a wag of her finger. “I’m not changing again. You get one pass on my wardrobe, no more.”Rafe wordlessly glared at her, making his feelings about the subject much known. Talia had to hold herself back from sticking her tongue out at him to annoy him further. She walked towards the front door, her boho bag slung over her shoulder and snickered at a pouting peeved Rafe.His hand shot up and grabbed her by the upper arm, Talia gasped as he brought her to a complete stop.“Not so fast,” he said, reaching for the coat closet door with his free hand. He opened the door, released her and grabbed her long black overcoat with a jerk that the hanger rattled in the enclosed space in protest. He pushed the door closed with his fingers, then held the coat open in front of her with a raised brow. The man just refused to lose.But then again, in her petty need to whine, she’d
“Ah, ah,” she said with a shake of her head and a wag of her finger. “I’m not changing again. You get one pass on my wardrobe, no more.” Rafe wordlessly glared at her, making his feelings about the subject much known. Talia had to hold herself back from sticking her tongue out at him to annoy him further. She walked towards the front door, her boho bag slung over her shoulder and snickered at a pouting peeved Rafe. His hand shot up and grabbed her by the upper arm, Talia gasped as he brought her to a complete stop. “Not so fast,” he said, reaching for the coat closet door with his free hand. He opened the door, released her and grabbed her long black overcoat with a jerk that the hanger rattled in the enclosed space in protest. He pushed the door closed with his fingers, then held the coat open in front of her with a raised brow. The man just refused to lose. But then again, in her petty need to whine, she’d forgotten about being warm and almost froze her big butt off. Refusing to
When she paused in her steps to let him cut in front of her so that she could walk towards the driver’s side, he tugged her forward and led her to the passenger side. Wide eyed, she gaped at him in surprise. He opened the door and ushered her in. He went as far as fastening her seat belt before shutting the door. As he rounded the hood of the car on his way to the driver’s side, Talia watched him, wide eyed and jaw slacked, wondering what the hell had gotten into him. He never drove!The other part of the trade in compromise was that she would do the driving, in fact, just to drive the point in, everything about the car was in her name. She protested but the threat of the Ferrari staying made her cave.“What if I run off with it?” she’d asked once the contracts were signed and he just shrugged his shoulders. Only then did she discover, when she asked if he wanted to drive, that he had every intention to be chauffeured around.&ldquo
“The neighborhood looks good,” Rafe said as they drove down the beautiful leafy suburb.Talia felt little butterflies of excitement flutter in her belly. She’d waited a long time for this. She was finally going to own her own home! Yes, she would be paying the mortgage for the next fifteen years but it was the best deal out of all the places she’d looked. And this house… it just spoke to her.“Right there!” she pointed out excitedly on his side. “The house with the big tree in the front lawn.”Rafe’s head turned to follow her finger then he looked at her with an amused smile. “You’re pretty excited,” he said, his lips pulling higher to expose his teeth.She nodded, bouncing in her seat. “Like a fat kid on her way to a candy store.”He chuckled softly with a slow shake of his head. “An apt analogy.”He pulled into the driveway that had a bea
He shook his head with a purse of his lips.She’d forgotten to introduce them and he’d been forced to be a little social. She smiled a little. She wasn’t that sorry.“I can’t believe I got beat by an old century looking house,” a smile teasing on his lips.Her own smile widened behind her fingers.“You love it that much?”She nodded.“Take your time,” he said, and with that, he turned and began to walk away, disappearing from her view.Nelson gave her a thumbs up and then quickly followed. Not long after, the sound of his conversational voice carried to her as he gave Rafe a tour, quick to mention which were her favorite parts of the house.It took her about thirty minutes to read and re-read the contract before she was sure she was ready to sign. As much as she loved the house, she was about to make the biggest decision of her life, financially and emotionally.
Talia’s heart beat wildly at what she assumed he was saying without actually saying it. The man had a habit of not answering to the obvious. Actually no, he did. He stared, like he was at the moment.You are jumping to conclusion Talia. Pump the brakes, take a breath and try and clear it out before you have a heart attack.“Is this going to be the car again? Just because you live in my apartment I would never ask you to split the rent. Sure, pay for a few things here and there but—”“You know what I mean,” he said, cutting her off.Talia clenched her jaw hard. No, she didn’t want to know what he meant!“Just because in three months the house will be officially mine doesn’t mean I’ll move in immediately,” she went on with her rumble. She pressed her hand to her forehead as an anxious tremor came over her with a chill. “You’ll probably have figured everything out b