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“You know I’m quite capable of walking myself home, Jamie.”
“Yes, but since we are going to the same place, it only makes sense.” Jamie leaned closer, our hands twisted together. “Plus, this is the best part of my day.”
“You’re kidding…”
“I’m not. I look forward to it all day. I look forward toyouall day. The walk is just a bonus.” Jamie walked on, as if it was all a normal discussion instead of the most heart-stoppingly sweet confession that any man had ever given me.
Silently we made our way the last few hundred feet and into the building. Stopping at my front door, my face began to heat. Which was completely stupid, but I couldn’t help myself.
Jamie glanced between the door and me, his face unreadable. “You seem different tonight. Is everything alright?”
I ignored him, fidgeting with my keys. “Will you come in?”
Jamie’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think I like this.”
“What man doesn’t want to be invited into a woman’s apartment?”
Something changed, and he ducked his chin. “A man who wants to be invited in for the right reasons.”
“You’re telling me that you have been showing up every night for the past week, hoping to just hold my hand and take me home? You didn’t fly me to New York to hold hands. You didn’t put up with my brother because you want to hold hands.” I threw my shoulders back, eyes filling as I glared up at him. “So, tell me, Jamie Calvin, do you want to come in?”
To my surprise, the big man stepped back, his handsome face a mask of indifference. My heart ached. What was I doing?
“I walk you home because I enjoy your company. I hold your hand because I’m a gentleman and, again, I enjoy your company. I flew you to New York because I’m capable and I knew you’d love it. And I ‘put up’ with your brother because I think you’re special.” He rolled his shoulders, stepping back again and away as the first tears slipped down my face. “And while I would kill to have the chance to make you mine, I intend to do that in every way. There’s no rushing something I feel could be amazing.”
“Jamie, I-I—” I stuttered.
“Whenever you are ready to discuss what is scaring you, I’d love to chat more. But for now, I’ll say goodnight.” Jamie took a half step in to kiss my forehead quickly. Then, with a twist of his stupidly expensive shoes, he was striding off in the direction of the elevator.
The tears kept coming as I fitted my key in the door and pushed in. The darkened apartment greeted me, but instead of the relief I thought I’d feel from getting a break from the intensity that being with Jamie brought, I just felt alone.
I pressed my face into a couch cushion, screaming until my breath ran out and my lungs begged for mercy. After that I stood up, walked into my bedroom, and changed into my favorite pajamas. Then I stripped off my makeup and put my hair up in a top knot.
Before my confidence could fail me again, I marched out of my apartment into the elevator, stabbed the top floor, and waited for those doors to open again.
I was terrified.
But I was also tired of feeling that way.
Jamie was the only one who lived up here, and when I stood there outside his door, I could actually feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. When his door opened to reveal a shirtless Jamie, I nearly fainted onto the smooth gray carpet.
“Margot? What are you doing?”
“I couldn’t let the night end like that.” My chest was heaving as I stared at the tiny flicker of muscles along his ribcage. I was too afraid to look him in the eye. “Because having you walk me home is the best part of my day too. Pretty much any moment I get to spend with you is the best part of my day. And that’s really scary.”
Jamie’s arms swept around me, pulling me up and into the air. My arms automatically went around him, my legs wrapping around his waist as I sucked in the smell of him against his shoulders. “I’m sorry,” I whimpered against the skin there. It was so warm. Actually, the entire man was always warm like this. I’d noticed before, but having him like this, flush to my body, only made me more aware of what he felt like. Hot. Smooth. Powerful.
And he was holding me tight. I moaned, pressing close once more. His hands spanned my entire waist, and I could feel him stepping away, hear the click of his door as he took us farther into his penthouse. “It’s okay, little one,” he said, his chest rumbling against my belly.
The earth shifted once more as he sat back on the sofa, taking me with him. The couch under my knees was distantly familiar from my stint as his maid, but otherwise the only distracting thing about it was the way it pushed my knees back so that now I was straddling his crotch, my hands still deep in his red hair.
I took a deep, shuddering breath. “I really am, Jamie. I’m so sorry.”
“I know. You’ve said it a few times now.” He leaned back so he could see my face better. One hand left my back to smooth a rogue strand of dark hair out of the way. “And if it makes you feel any better, I’m scared too.”
I chuckled, the sound wet. “I didn’t think someone like you could get scared.”
