Page 57 of Fight Me Little Pearl
He laughs, and I climb on top of him. “How come you’re not in a hurry to leave the house today?” I ask. “You’re always rushing to meetings…”
“I have a meeting,” he says, smiling up at me. “But I woke up to my wife’s smile, and now, I don’t want to leave.”
“Yeah right.”
One eyebrow rises. “You don’t believe me?”
“What’s your favorite color?” I ask.
He blinks at the sudden change of subject. “Uhh…gray?”
“You have to be sure,” I giggle.
He hums thoughtfully for a few seconds. “It’s a toss-up between gray and black.”
“Black suits you. Makes you look all dangerous and edible.”
He smiles. “What’s your favorite color? Wait, let me guess. Blue.”
I stare at him surprised. “How do you know that?”
“You wear a lot of blue.”
“I guess I do.”
He studies me for a moment, and I blush under his gaze. “What?”
“Got a question for you.”
“No need to be shy. Go on...”
He reaches up to smooth my hair back from my face in an affectionate gesture that causes my heart to melt. “Why did you drop out of college?”
“How did you know that?”
“It’s not a secret, is it?” he asks softly.
“No, I suppose, it’s not.”
He cocks his head and stares at me for a moment. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
I want to take him up on the offer, but it’ll be hypocritical of me to demand answers from him while withholding mine. After all, it was my idea to get to know each other.
“My father stopped paying my fees,” I say shortly.
“Why?”
I swallow. “Because he thought I was spending too much time with Thomas.”
Valentino’s arm tightens around me. “He shouldn’t have done that, but fuck me, that must be the man’s only saving grace.”
I smack his hand. Laughing, I say, “To be honest, I’m not sorry, either. I hated taking his money for anything. When I was nine years old I even went on a hunger strike because I didn’t want to eat the food his money bought.”
“How did that end?” he asks dryly.
“Principles are a fine thing, but it’s really hard to go to bed hungry when you’re just a child.”
He smiles.
