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“Weirdo.”
That made me laugh and when I raised my head to tease him, my eyes fell on the paperwork that had fallen out of his folder during our session.
“Oh, what’s this?” I leaned over and plucked a child’s drawing from the pile. “A Belle special?”
“It’s nothing.”
Oh, he looked a little defensive, and maybe self-conscious. How fascinating. “Nothing, you say? I guess you won’t mind if I, uh…” I held it over the wastepaper basket, eyeing him closely.
“Don’t.”
From fascinating to fucking adorable in a nanosecond. I gave him a cheeky smile and dropped Belle’s artwork back into his open folder. “See. A teddy bear. Still with an amazing cock, too.”I slipped from his lap and grabbed my clothes from the floor. “I suppose I’d better let you get back to running your empire.”
“I guess.” He sounded a little disinterested in that as he straightened his clothes.
Just as I was doing up the button on my frayed denim skirt, I shot him a saucy look. “Well, sir, shall I schedule another disciplinary meeting?”
I fucking loved the way his eyes glimmered with amusement like that. “It seems like a prudent course of action.”
But then his smile twisted a little, making me tilt my head to the side. “What is it?”
“I have to go back to Raleigh.”
“Oh.” The way my heart sank into my toes was almost painful. “So, um, this is it, then?”
“You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need. Of course. But there are urgent matters I need to deal with. I can’t ignore them anymore.”
The implication was clear. He’d been neglecting his responsibilities because of me. Our sexy little idyll was over. “I understand. Honestly, I think I’m well enough to go home, anyway. I can’t stay here forever. All good things come to an end, I guess.” The words clogged up my throat and I sort of wanted to cry.
“You could…” He looked a little uncertain, such a rare thing for him.
“I could?”
“There’s nothing stopping you from coming to Raleigh.”
The rebound to my heart was almost as painful as the initial fall. “I guess there isn’t. There are buses and shit all the time from Esperance.”
“I have a limo and a driver, Stefania. As if I would let you take the bus. I could give you his details and the codes to my condo. You can come by whenever you feel like it.”
Now my heart was soaring. Honestly, this entire conversation was giving me whiplash. “Okay, then.” Playing it cool. Definitely the smart thing to do.
“Great.”
“I’m gonna go check on Patti. Let you get back to work.”
“Okay.”
I bent down to give him a light kiss and as I moved to pull away; he slipped his hand to the back of my head and pulled me in again. I don’t know, there was something about how he kissed me then that made me all shaky. There was no heat in it, no precursor to sex. Just…I don’t know what it was, but it hit me right in the feels, so I couldn’t look at him when I pulled away again and left the room.
Reaching the sunroom, I scooped Patti up and dropped onto the recliner, settling her on my chest. She started purring immediately, tucking her paws under, and closing her eyes.
I lay there, letting it all play out in my mind. Grayson’s power, his confidence, his devastating charm. The way he made me feel so desired, so cherished, so completely and utterly satisfied. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. And it wasn’t over, because he’d asked me to come to his condo in Raleigh.
A smile played on my lips. I closed my eyes and let the memories of Grayson’s touch, his taste, his smell wash over me. I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of him. And his perfect cock, of course.
CHAPTER 33
Grayson