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I grinned. “Don’t you dare start regulating yourself now.”
“I could fall in love with you so damn easily—I…I kind of am already—and that’s weird, right? Too quick. I hardly know you. You’re way outside my league but everything I’ve ever dreamed about. I want to carry your babies—”
I leaned in and claimed her mouth, my hand on her nape in a possessive hold like Rhett always did to me. She gave me hope so damn addicting I couldn’t let her go.
“See?” she croaked out when I allowed her to breathe. “I’m so damn annoying you had to kiss me to shut me up.”
“I kissed you because I’m falling for you too—easily. Happily. You’re everything I desire and need in my life, Skylar Anne Larsen—and don’t you ever forget it.”
She sighed but didn’t smile. “But Rhett…”
“He’ll get there. You just keep being yourself. Spoil him rotten how I can see you’d like to do. Shower him with attention and affection.”
“He doesn’t seem to want it.”
“You don’t see the way he looks at you.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “How’s that?”
“Like he’s dreaming of devouring you like a decadent meal and gorging on seconds.”
“Oh!” Her pupils swelled.
“Yeah.” Grinning, I pushed open my door. “Now let’s go grab some lunch and plan how we can get him to fall too.” My eyebrow waggle caused the car to fill with her laughter.
I wanted to hear her happiness until death parted us.
Hopefully later rather than sooner.
25
Rhett
A day away from the house and the whirlwind of erratic behavior sounded like what I needed, but with every passing hour buried under work at the office, I found myself restless…
To return home.
Unease kept me from focusing on details, but I managed to ignore the strangeness inside me and stayed through the regular hour when Ash and I usually headed back to the house.
He hadn’t come into the office, taking a personal day to spend with Skylar, helping her find a job.
I hadn’t said anything, but I wasn’t fooled into thinking she would be out on her own, leaving my safe place in peaceful silence anytime soon. According to Ash, Skylar had no money for a deposit or first month’s rent. She didn’t have a car to get her to and from work. The cell phone she had belonged to her sister, and I was surprised her twin hadn’t already turned the number off considering how Ash had said they’d left things when Skylar had driven away with him.
She had parents on the farm in South Dakota where she refused to return even if they paid for her ticket. Sounded like she didn’t have a good relationship with them, something I knew all too well.
I didn’t want to feel a pull toward her for that reason and squashed it as quickly as it had begun, giving my attention to the next thought.
I’d seen my fair share of manipulative women, but Skylar didn’t give off that vibe. Either she was one hell of an actress, or she was simply a girl with issues and in desperate need of assistance.
While I didn’t know much about ADHD, it was obvious she had problems focusing, and like a little kid, she had energy to spare. Both would be a hindrance in getting and keeping any job.
Finding a position for her in our corporation wouldn’t work for the exact reasons I’d explained to Ash, not that she had the ability to complete tasks on time and in an organized manner like we required of our employees.
But that didn’t mean we couldn’t help her out.
Rather than give my secretary something to gossip over, I browsed local listings for apartments on my own. Ash and I could easily afford to get her a place that didn’t include being in our space, but I feared he was already in too deep to let her go.
I’d consented to his inviting her into our bed and hadn’t been surprised to find her there when I woke. But telling him to fuck her? Taking his ass while he did what I knew he’d woken up thinking about?