Page 37 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

“That’s right,” she said.

“So, how do you take your coffee,” he said. “Cream, sugar, or black?”

She smiled, loving how easy Gage was to be around. How quick he was to settle her nerves. “I like mine with sugar, cream, chocolate drizzle, you name it. What about you?”

“Sugar, no cream. How do you like your eggs?”

“Over easy. I don’t hate scrambled, but I don’t prefer them either.”

“Same,” Gage said, a satisfied grin on his face. “And eggs on toast?—”

Carly nodded. “Oh my gosh, the best.” She tried for a moment to think of another one, but she had too much on her mind. “I’m sorry about last night,” she blurted. “I chickened out.” Her heart picked up that hectic beat once more, the rain overhead doing the same. The sound of it was nearly angry.

She studied his perfect face for a breath, daring herself to speak the truth. “It’s not that I don’t feel the same way. Ido.I just…well, this dream I had last night sort of explains it.”

Gage’s brow had been furrowed in concentration, but his expression shifted as she spoke. He lifted one brow. His mouth, still drawn in a hard line, showed no sign of a smile, but his eyes revealed hints of a grin all the same. “I was in yourdreamlast night?”

She covered a grin of her own as another dose of heat filled her face. “Yeah, but it was abaddream. Like a nightmare, I mean.”

The mischievous gleam was gone. “Really?” Gage lifted a hand to touch the side of her face. He searched her eyes, his expression so earnest it tugged at new spots of her heart.

“Yeah. I, um, you were talking to me the way Jimmy does. Sounding like you weren’t able to commit either. You’d written me this crazy poem. I told you that Jimmy thinks of himself as a cowboy poet, right? Well, he writes these sorry poems that…that sort of warn me about his inability to love me the way he should, while somehow asking me to accept that and love him anyway. Even if he never can love me back.”

Gage nodded. “And in your dream, I was doing that too?” His voice was low and even, matching the concern she saw in his eyes.

“Yes.” She dropped her gaze, ran her fingers over the feathery soft tassels of the rug. “It was horrible, and I just tried to forget it. But then I was watching you this morning and thinking of how every woman in America will be watching you one day and falling all over you…” She managed a one-shoulder shrug. “It would be hard to even want to tie yourself down at a time like this. Not that I’d even expect you to, it’s just…”

“Idowant that.”

Carly had another word poised on her tongue, but she closed her mouth as she registered what he’d said. “You want what?”

Gage rubbed a thumb over her cheek and sighed. “I don’t want to scare you away again, but if youdoactually feel the sameway, then it’s something we should talk about. And maybe it can put your doubts to rest.”

Carly gave him a slight nod, wondering if she was hearing him correctly.

“I’ve never felt this way before. I’m not interested in dating anyone else, and Iabsolutelywant to commit to dating only you. If that’s something you feel ready for.”

Whoa. This would take a moment to sink in. She hit the mental pause button in her head, allowing it to do just that. News had already carried to her heart, evident by the rapid thumps echoing clear to her ears. She could almost feel the warmth of his words filling the void in her chest. She held his gaze, awed by how certain he’d been in saying it. She’d never had a man do that. Declare that he wanted to pursue her and no one else.

“You’re asking me to, like, be your girlfriend?” The question sounded like it came right off the middle school playground.

Gage grinned, then came in for a very alluring kiss that wouldnotbe found on such a playground. “Yes,” he mumbled against her lips. “What do you say?”

A swell of mixed emotions rose from someplace deep inside. Gage really was interested in only her. The security of that fact was a draw all its own. A foreign one. It triggered an even deeper sense of love and connection to this man who was quickly becoming an important part of her life.

“Yes,” she managed. “I’m not interested in dating anyone else, Gage.”

A triumphant grin pulled at his lips, revealing a grin so swoon-worthy she nearly lost her breath.

You, Carly. He only wants you.

As if to confirm that thought, Gage cradled the back of her neck, his hand all warmth and strength, and came in for anotherkiss. This time his lips were stronger, more certain, as he lured her into a deeper exchange.

Carly welcomed it, allowed the euphoria to rise with every tender touch and taste. When Gage released a soft groan from low in his throat, Carly echoed the sentiment with a sigh of her own.

Moments ticked by as she made up for all the wasted years she’d spent alone, enjoying his masterful lips that were soft and strong all at once. When the thought came that she would never get enough of him, she wrapped her arms around his solid form, pulled back from the kiss, and buried her face in the nook between his shoulders and neck.

Her breath came out jagged and hitched. She was far too caught up in the passion of it all, and she didn’t want to end up in the same boat she’d found herself in at seventeen years old. Which reminded her…it was time. Time to let him know about that side of her.