Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 147021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 735(@200wpm)___ 588(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 735(@200wpm)___ 588(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
I take her face in my hands, emotion making my voice hoarse. “I love you, Aurora.”
Her smile widens. “With all my heart,” she murmurs and pulls my mouth to hers.
The kiss lasts all of five seconds, though, because my cats are back to being pests.
“Let’s feed these two.”
“And then orgasms?”
“Surprise first, then orgasms.”
She sighs. “I’ll get their treats if you get the food.”
“On it.” I head for the fridge.
Aurora gives the boys treats, which they gobble up in two seconds, while I plate their soft food. Once our hands are washed, I lace our fingers. “Come on.” I guide her down the hall, past the spare bedroom, to my home office.
Nerves twist my stomach as I flick on the light and push the door open.
“Hollis,” she breathes as she moves into the room. “This is… You redecorated.”
The room formerly contained a single desk and an unused exercise bike. As far as home offices went, it was pretty uninspiring. But I usually sat at my dining room table with my laptop if I needed to review paperwork or contracts. If Aurora joins Hemi in the PR office, she’ll need space to work outside of office hours, and maybe so will I in the future.
“I want this space to feel like yours, too.” I want it to feel like home. Like she belongs here with me.
“This is amazing.” She crosses over to the double desks. One side has a black executive chair—that’s mine. The other chair is baby blue and plush, designed for function and comfort. The walls have been painted a pale, icy blue and new art decorates them, including a banana-duck print. Two custom lounge chairs face the window overlooking the harbor. “You even picked coordinating throw pillows,” she muses.
I wrap my arms around her waist from behind and kiss her cheek. “I thought this would be a nice place to have coffee on work-from-home days.”
“I love that.” She tilts her head up, and I press a soft kiss to her tempting lips. “Why are you so perfect?”
“I’m far from it.” I want to stay wrapped around her, but this is only the beginning, so I step back and link our hands. “There’s more. Come.”
“More?”
I guide her down the hall to my bedroom. “Eyes closed, Princess.” I move her in front of me, covering her eyes with one hand while I open the door with the other. She holds my forearm as I urge her forward. My reflection stares back at me from the full-length mirror across the room. Aurora’s cheeks are flushed.
Nervous anticipation makes my chest tight, but I need her to see how serious I am. I drop my hand to her hip. “You can open your eyes.”
They flare as her nails bite into my arm in the most delicious way. “Oh, Hollis.” She spins in my arms, awe on her perfect, stunning face. “You did this for me?”
“For us,” I correct. “It’s decidedly self-serving.”
“It’s incredible.” She pushes up on her toes to kiss me, then scans the bed.
“You bought throw pillows.”
“I know you like them.” She has a ridiculous number on her bed. I’ve discovered they can be useful and not just a nuisance.
She flits across the room and grabs the one in the middle. “You got me a princess pillow.”
“I did.”
“You like me a lot.”
“I definitely do.”
She hugs the pillow to her chest with one arm and follows me across the room to the new dresser. I open the top drawer. I’ve already folded and put away all the things she’s left here over the past few months. “Those are yours. I didn’t want to clear a couple of drawers to make room for you. I want this to feel like it’s as much yours as it is mine.” I skim her cheek, needing the contact to ground me. “I know this is all very new and we need time to figure us out, but I’m also aware that Rix is moving out, and your sublease is only a year. Whenever you’re ready to be here, here is ready for you. But no pressure. It’s okay if you need more time than that.”
She sets the pillow on the dresser top and settles her palms on my chest, her soft smile warming me. “You bought me a dresser.”
“You have a lot of clothes,” I point out. I hope this isn’t too much.
“This is true.” She runs her hands over my shoulder. “You’re really serious about me, aren’t you?”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Too serious?”
She shakes her head. “The perfect amount of serious.” Her smile grows soft. “Tell me something real and true.”
“Loving you is so easy. But hiding that feeling, denying you, was the hardest, most painful thing I’ve ever done, and I’m so glad I never have to do it again.” I tuck her hair behind her ear, tracing the delicate shell. “Tell me something real and true.”