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“I don’t either, Reid,” I say, my fingers curling on the thick stubble on his jaw. “What are we doing?” I ask yet again.
“Everything, baby, and I’m not sure that’s enough.” His cellphone rings again. “And apparently, everything includes answering my phone while you use the restroom.” He kisses my temple and then rolls off of me.
I roll in the opposite direction and grab my clothes on the way to the bathroom. I’m pretty sure Reid’s phone stops ringing again before he answers. I hurry to do my thing, and then pull on my clothes, with that word “everything” in my head. What does that even mean? What do I want it to mean? I don’t let myself get too in my head about it. Instead, I look at my wild hair and smudged makeup that I never took off, and decide I need my overnight bag, and most definitely the toothbrush inside.
I open the bathroom door to find Reid pulling on his pants, and since his back is to me, I have just enough time to appreciate the perfection of his backside.
“I’ll let you know in the next hour,” he says and whoever is on the line must be talking because he runs his hand through his hair and just listens, his shoulders bunched with obvious tension.
I walk to my suitcase that Reid set on the floor at some point, I really don’t remember when, and pull out my toiletries about the same time he says, “I’ll call you,” and disconnects.
He turns to face me as I stand up with my pink bag filled with makeup and miscellaneous items. “Problem?” His phone rings again and he grimaces. “Why can I not just take you to eat mac n’ cheese after fucking you good morning? And no, nothing is wrong.” But he doesn’t seem like nothing is wrong. He answers the call and I walk back into the bathroom, brush my teeth and take off my makeup. I’ve just put on a little moisturizer, despite the fact that I’ll likely wash it off in the shower, when Reid walks in, sets his overnight bag on the sink, and grabs his toothbrush from inside.
“That was Grayson,” he says, putting toothpaste on his brush. “He has a proposition for us.” He starts brushing his teeth.
“Did you really just say that and stuff a brush in your mouth?” I demand, while wondering how he manages to look so damn sexy while brushing his teeth, and decide it’s all the muscles flexing here and there and everything.
“Patience, baby,” he says, rinsing his mouth and then his brush.
“Reid!”
He gives a low, sexy chuckle, and snags my hips, placing me between him and the sink and despite my impatience, I’m pleased with his laughter. “I needed to do this.” His fingers tangle in my hair as he adds, “and have you actually enjoy it.” His mouth closes down on mine and I’m thoroughly kissed before he says, “We need to go back to New York City.”
“What?” I don’t like the instant knot in my belly that follows or the sense of rejection that cuts a little too easily.
“My sister is holding a surprise party for her husband. She’s really pushing hard for me to be there tonight.”
“Oh. Well, you should be.”
“I’m not going unless you go with me.”
“You—you want me to go to the party?”
“It’s the only way I’m going,” he says firmly. “I don’t like these kinds of events, but I do respect Cat’s husband. Say yes. Get me through this or I’m going to call and tell her no.”
“Okay, you’re not saying no. This is your sister. That’s an order.”
“Then you’re going with me,” he insists.
I’m confused. So very confused with this man. “We don’t do white picket fences and family, Reid.”
His fingers flex at my hip, his voice turning low, rough. “Ask me the question again, Carrie.”
I know what the means. I know what question. “What are we doing, Reid?” I ask, and I swear my voice trembles.
“Everything and that might not be enough.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Neither do I, but I’ve never been one to let fear get in the way.”
“Fear? You’re afraid.”
“Damn straight, baby. In ways you don’t understand, and I really don’t want you to. Come with me to the party.”
He’s scared. This is not an admission that I expected from this man, but he’s proving to be so much more than anything I believed him to be when we met. I want to push him for more, but I decide just to give him more instead. “I—okay. I’ll go with you.”
“Good,” he says, tension easing from his body as if he feared rejection. “We’ll eat that mac n’ cheese on our way to the airport. Right now, we’re taking a shower together.”
