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‘Miller!’ I’m pinned by my wrists beneath him, all disorientated, with his dark locks tickling my nose. ‘What are you doing?’ I’m too stunned by his uncharacteristic act to laugh.

‘Hold that thought,’ he mumbles into my neck, nudging my thighs apart so he can make himself comfy. The skin of my neck is suddenly hot and wet, his tongue the source of heat. ‘How are you feeling this morning?’ He bites and licks my throat, sending me rigid, my thighs clamping onto his hips.

‘Perfect,’ I reply quietly, because I really am. My arms find their way around his shoulders when he releases me and hold him tightly while he spends an age worshipping my neck. I don’t want to go to work. I want to do what Miller suggested one time and lock the doors, stay here for ever with him. He’s in an exceptionally good mood, no traces of the clipped man in sight. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and Miller is, too, in body and in mind.

His face appears close to mine, those eyes sending me deeper into my contented bliss as he studies me for a few moments. ‘I’m glad you’re here.’ He pecks my lips. ‘I’m glad I found you, I’m glad you’re my habit, and I’m glad we’re irrevocably fascinated with each other.’

‘Me too,’ I whisper.

His eyes twinkle, his lips twitch, that lovely dimple showing signs of an appearance. ‘It’s a good job because you really don’t have a choice.’

‘I don’t want a choice.’

‘Then this is a pointless conversation, wouldn’t you agree?’

‘Yes,’ I answer decisively on a nod, making Miller’s lips twitch more. I want to see that full-blown, beautiful smile and dimple, so I slowly skate my palms down his back, feeling every smooth piece of him while he watches me with interest until I’m at his lovely arse. His eyebrow cocks curiously, and I c**k mine right back.

‘What are you up to?’ he asks, blatantly restraining his lips from tipping farther.

I pout a little on a tiny shrug. ‘Nothing.’

‘I beg to differ.’

On a little grin, I sink my nails into the solid flesh of his bum. His brow furrows. ‘That’s from Nan.’

‘Pardon!’ He coughs, pushing up onto his forearms.

I’m really grinning now. ‘She said to give your buns a little squeeze.’ My nails dig in again, and Miller chokes on a laugh. A proper laugh. His dimple is deep on his cheek and my smile falls away in an instant as I watch his head drop, his hair flopping forward and his shoulders jumping up. I know I wanted a smile, but I wasn’t prepared for this. I’m not sure how to handle it. He’s in bits, and with a lack of a natural reaction coming to me, I can do nothing more than lie here, trapped beneath his jerking body, and wait for him to pull it together. But he doesn’t look anywhere near to composure. ‘You okay?’ I ask, still stunned, still frowning.

‘Olivia Taylor, your grandmother is a treasure,’ he chuckles, pressing his lips hard to mine. ‘An eighteen-carat-gold treasure.’

‘She’s a pain in the royal arse, that’s what she is.’

‘Don’t speak of a loved one in such a way.’ He pulls back to reveal that familiar straight face, all laughter and happiness gone like it was never there. The sudden change in mood makes me appreciate how insensitive my words were. Miller has no one. Not a soul.

‘I’m sorry.’ I feel thoughtless and guilty under his accusing gaze. ‘I wasn’t thinking.’

‘She’s special, Olivia.’

‘I know she is,’ I retort quietly. I was joking, although I’d do well to remember that Miller Hart isn’t the joking kind. ‘I didn’t mean it.’

He slips into thought, flicking his blues around my face before settling back on my eyes. His shining orbs soften. ‘I overreacted. I apologise.’

‘No, there’s no need.’ I shake my head on a sigh, keeping myself lost in the softness of his puddles of blue. ‘You have a someone, Miller.’

‘A someone?’ His beautiful brow furrows.

‘Yes,’ I begin enthusiastically. ‘Me.’

‘You?’

‘I’m your someone. Everyone has a someone, and I’m yours, like you are mine.’

‘You’re my someone?’

‘Yes.’ I nod sharply, watching as he thinks about my declaration.

‘And I’m your someone?’

‘Correct.’

Miller’s head bobs mildly on an agreeable nod. ‘Olivia Taylor is my someone?’

I shrug. ‘Or habit.’

His nodding stops in a heartbeat and I watch delightedly as his lips begin to twitch again. ‘Both?’

‘Of course,’ I agree. I’ll be whatever he wants me to be.

‘You don’t have a choice.’ The twitching transforms into his lovely smile, nearly blinding me.

‘I don’t want one.’

‘Then this—’

‘Is a pointless discussion, yes, I agree.’ I yank him down to my body and secure my legs around his waist, my arms over his shoulders. And then something in this moment makes me say it loud and clear – no code or words with actions. ‘I love your bones, Miller Hart.’

He pauses with his sucking on my neck and pulls back slowly to gaze down at me. I brace myself, for what I don’t know. He knows how I feel. He thinks for a moment before drawing breath. ‘I’m going to take an educated guess and suggest you mean that you love me deeply.’

‘Correct,’ I laugh, pushing into his mouth when his head dips to lock back onto my neck.