Page 108 of Twisted Truth

“It means I want . . . more.”

“How much more?”

“I’d be lying if I said I could do it all. I don’t know how to be in a real relationship.”

“But you’re already doing most of that. You just don’t realize it.”

“I can’t give you what you deserve if you want everything to be real.”

“So, then what does ‘more’ mean?”

“We don’t have to define it.”

“I think I need some sort of clarification. Would we be friends with benefits? Or rather colleagues and contract partners as a fake-but-not-so-fake couple with benefits?”

I know I’m rambling, but I’m trying to keep my heart from hoping too much. There is a part of me, a part I’m fighting so hard, that could easily be swept up in him. That could fall for him and not think twice about it. That part of me wants to demand more, but I know I’m not ready. And he’s certainly not, either. At least this takes high-class sex workers off the table.

He closes his eyes and chuckles. “We can keep it as a fake relationship with benefits. I can’t give you more than that.”

“I haven’t asked for any of this, if you’ll recall.”

“But you want it—I know you do. Just like I do. There’s too much between us. Neither of us can deny that we have a connection, that’s been pretty fucking apparent since the beginning.”

“I don’t want to get hurt.”

“It doesn’t have to hurt. We are real to the public, and we take care of each other’s needs in private. Everything else stays the same.”

“And how do we make sure it stays that way? That it’s only ‘needs’ being met. That’s a tough line to walk.”

“That’s all I can give you, and that’s all I want from you.”

His words sting. “Again, I’m not the one asking for anything. Don’t turn this like I’m begging you for a ring and kids, Asher.”

“I didn’t say you were.”

“But you’re making it very damn clear that all I’m good for is a fake girlfriend and a fuck.”

“That’s not what I’m saying!”

“Yes, you are. You just said that’s all you want from me.”

A light knock on the door interrupts us. “Sir, we have to leave for the airport. And the second car is here for Ms. Hale,” Robert says through the door.

Asher stands and adjusts what’s left of his erection in his pants. “Give us a minute,” he calls back. He looks at me and runs his hand over his face. “You’re taking it wrong. I don’t mean thatyou’renot good for anything more than a fake girlfriend and a fuck. I mean thatI’mno good for a real boyfriend who can love you how you deserve.”

“I don’t see this heading anywhere but disaster, regardless of the reasoning.”

“Ella, you’ve been right since the first night you stayed in my penthouse. How are we supposed to live in each other’s lives and be so fucking attracted to each other at the same time? It’s all I can do to keep my hands off you. You consume most of my thoughts, so much so that I can’t fucking think straight. I can’t stay away from you—and the thought of not being inside you is fucking torturing me.”

“I don’t know . . .”

“Think about it while I’m in London. We don’t have to decide anything right now. But remember, we have months ahead of us. It’s been ten days, and I’m already dying. I know you feel the same, so don’t try to deny it. Whatever this is between us, it’s not going to let us just peacefully coexist. We’re already past that point, whether we like it or not.”

I don’t deny it. This connection between us is like a living thing; there’s no ignoring it.

Asher steps to me, pulls me to him, and crashes his mouth against mine. Again, I can’t bring myself to fight against him.Not when his kiss, raw and aggressive as it is, feels like coming home.

His hands squeeze my ass again, but harder this time. I yelp into his mouth. One hand slips beneath my dress again and pushes past my panties, sliding through my folds, which are already growing slick again.