AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My job is to make your life easier, not switch things around and complicate things. Let’s eat, and then I’ll get out of your hair so you can get some sleep.”
With one of his tilted smiles, he leaned back into the sofa and twirled his fork in his spaghetti. I did the same but couldn’t look away when he stuffed a giant bite into his mouth and closed his eyes on a pleasurable groan.
A mixture of utter bliss and tight arousal zinged down my body. “Good?” I asked hopefully.
He shook his head as he swallowed. “Fucking hell, Anna. If this is what you can do with spaghetti, I can’t wait to see what else you can cook.” He shot me a smile before stuffing another bite into his mouth.
A little laugh bubbled up my throat as I settled in to eat, too, strangely content with feeding him a good, tasty meal. On the TV, Jim was flirting with Pam at the reception desk. Then he quickly had to dodge away when her boyfriend Roy walked in. Jim’s on-screen secret crush suddenly had sweat beading behind my neck.
Reed cleared his throat. “So what are your plans once the renovation is done?”
“What do you mean?”
“When do you plan to open the studio? And tell your parents? They’re definitely going to notice the new dance studio opening on Main Street.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin, having already devoured half his plate. “Everyone will.”
“Actually, I was hoping we’d finish by June so I could open a summer camp in July. Then maybe offer a discount to those students for fall classes.”
“That’s a good idea.”
His easy support was baffling and energizing. All I’d ever done since I told my parents about this idea two years ago was fight a losing battle. All they ever saw were the problems and the ways it could fail.
Reed’s big, warm hand cupped my shoulder. “Hey. You okay?”
His deep voice was soft and gentle and so reassuring. I wanted to bottle that sound and swallow it whole, let it melt inside me and stay there forever.
“Yeah.” I blinked away the doubts that had suddenly latched onto me with claws, trying to tear my dreams apart yet again.
“What is it?”
I’d eaten all that I could. I balled up my napkin, dropped it on the plate, then set my plate next to his on the coffee table. “It just stuns me, Reed, how much you always seem to believe in me.”
When I was brave enough to look up at him, I swallowed against the unreadable expression on his face. He’d leaned sideways on the sofa, his water bottle propped on his knee, the other arm draped on the sofa back.
“It’s not so hard to believe in you, Anna. You’ve excelled at everything you’ve gone after in life.”
I huffed out a laugh. “But I’ve doubted myself every step of the way.”
His frown returned. “Why?”
I turned more toward him, crooking my knee on the sofa so I could face him, holding my water bottle with both hands in my lap. “I think being the baby sister was part of it.”
He was quiet and waited. That was one thing I’d always adored about Reed. In a family that was tumultuous and too loud by nature, he was always the calm one amongst the storm. And such a good listener. He put me at ease, well, when he wasn’t making me sweat with his insane hotness.
“They’ve always been so protective,” I added. “My parents, my brothers. But more than that, they’ve always pushed me to be better.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Smiling, I admitted, “No. And yes.” I shrugged a shoulder, tearing at the paper label on the water bottle. “It’s like my best was never quite good enough. I’m not saying they weren’t always proud of me. They were. Some of the pressure came from myself. But…”
“But?”
“Okay, so remember that summer I was trying to learn to do the backflip off the diving board.”
Reed clenched his jaw, and the fingers of his hand on the back of the sofa curled. “I remember.” His voice had dropped deeper.
“Jonah and Justin kept giving me pointers until, finally, I did it. I remember the day, specifically, because it was right before I left for dance camp. So when I finally did it, you know what Jonah said?”
He shook his head, his gaze intense, his focus riveted on me.
