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“You’re not worried about corrupting a journalist?”
“I’m counting on it, sweetheart,” he says, his eyes filling with mischief. “How am I doing?”
“I’ll let you know,” I say, but the truth is, he’s corrupted everything I thought I knew about what I wanted in a man, and made it all about him.
Hours later, Reese and I walk into his apartment, and he carries his bag and mine into his bedroom. “I’ll put these in the closet,” he says. I join him and he motions around the room. “Pick a section and make it yours.”
My stomach flutters, and I’m suddenly overwhelmed with how fast we are going. “Reese—”
He’s kissing me before I ever finish that sentence. “I plan for you to be here often. Claim your space. I’ll share everything but you, Cat.” And with that loaded comment, his phone starts ringing and he snags it from his pocket. “Blake,” he says, kissing me. “Save that thought. I want to hear it,” he adds before answering the call.
He listens a minute and says, “Let me dig out my files. I’ll call you back.” He ends the connection and looks at me. “Nelson’s secretary said she’d talk to him, but she’s with her mother today and doesn’t want to upset her any more than this trial has already.”
“Haven’t you already talked to her?”
“Yes, but I talked about Nelson. Blake and his wife are going to find out what she knows about Kelli. But Blake is asking for some information I have in my files. I’m going to go look it up for him.” He cups my face and kisses me. “I’m glad you’re here, Cat.” He turns and leaves the closet, and I stare after him with that stupid ball of unnamed emotion tightening in my chest.
I rotate and scan his closet, deciding on a spot to hang the items I brought with me. I consider leaving the rest of my things in the suitcase, but decide that means leaving it out and in the way. I open his drawers and pick a couple of spots to place my things. I empty out his bag and mine completely and store them. And for a moment, I simply stare at my dresses next to Reese’s suits and have no thoughts. I just have feelings. So many feelings I can’t even name. I don’t want to name them. It’s too soon. I grab the toiletries and head to the bathroom. I place my items at one of the two sinks, hoping it’s not the one Reese uses. I’m just finishing when my neck prickles and I turn to find Reese in the doorway, one of his broad shoulders leaning on the frame. “Did you ever live with Mitch, Cat?”
“No. I’ve never lived with anyone. Have you?”
“Never even considered it,” he says.
“Not even with—”
“Karen was her name. And no. I was focused on my work, and to be completely honest, her living with me felt like it would be a distraction.”
“And what am I?”
He studies me for several moments, his expression indiscernible. “Come here,” he orders softly.
I think about that command, not because it’s a command, but because it doesn’t bother me as it would with anyone else. I walk to him and he takes my hand, lacing our fingers together and leading me out of the bathroom to the chair in front of the windows. We sit down and he pulls me under his arm, and I rest on his shoulder, as the sun splashes the sky with rainbow colors as it disappears at the horizon. “Ask me again,” he says softly.
I don’t ask what he means. I know. “What am I?”
He looks over at me. “The only person I’ve ever watched a sunset with and had it matter.”
Those words alone might not mean more than a seduction, but I don’t miss the relevance of him saying them right here, in his room, in this chair, after asking me to stay with him. So when he asks, “What am I, Cat?” I shift and climb on top of his lap, straddling him, my hands on his face. “Someone who matters,” I reply, pressing my lips to his.
He cups my head and kisses me. “Ask me again.”
“Who am I?”
“Mine,” he says. “You just don’t know it yet.”
Chapter twenty-four
Cat
The next morning is a morning of revelations.
I wake up in Reese’s bed, with his arms wrapped around me. We’re spooning. That’s revelation number one: I’m spooning with Reese Summer, formerly known as Mr. Arrogant Asshole, commonly known as Mr. Hotness.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he says, clearly aware that I’m awake. I’m also naked, and he’s naked, and when he rolls me over and settles between my legs, kissing a path down my belly until one of my legs is over his shoulder, I have revelation number two: Sleepovers are underrated, especially since I shatter into complete, utter bliss. When Reese carries me to the shower, where we then have hot sex against the shower wall, revelation number three is a big one for me: I decide my dislike of mornings, which has been with me most of my life, has been cured.
Once we’re out of the shower, both of us wrapped in towels, we each claim a sink and I try to focus on my hair and makeup, but he’s shaving, and I’m kind of obsessed with watching. He catches me and winks. Revelation number four: While I’ve never really liked a wink from a man, I like it when Reese winks at me, which clearly proves that the source of a wink matters more than I once thought. Namely, that it’s delivered by Reese Summer.
Revelation number five: Reese has a lucky suit, a gray power suit with a matching gray silk tie, a detail I learn when he asks me to pick out a suit and tie for him, and I choose the lucky suit. “That one is for closing arguments,” he says. “Pick any other.”
