Page 70 of Play for Power (Central Sparks #3)

“Oh, here we go.” I settle back into my seat in the pillow fort.

“So, Denzel has hot moments, like Equalizer , when he’s a genius but can also lay a man out?

That’s hot as fuck. Idris Elba, but he really just has to exist. His accent and that voice?

Works every time. Let’s see, who else.” She taps her chin, looking over to the window before gasping and looking back in my direction with a broadening smile.

“Okay, Nick Miller from New Girl is classic ugly hot. Like he is a man-child, for sure. But there is just a thing about him. It’s like Adam Driver and Tom Hiddleston.

Not your stereotypical pretty boy, but damn.

There is just something about them and their presence that can just do it for you, you know? ”

I stare at the woman who completely consumes my entire being with my mouth agape as she continues to discuss men who turn her on. “No, I don’t know. And I’m starting to regret even asking.” I stuff a few more snacks in my mouth and grab a soda, wishing it was a beer right now.

“Oh come on, carino, it’s a game! I’m sure you have a list of female celebrities you’d sell your soul for one night with.”

The nickname that slips from her lips like a caress has my stomach doing a dip, but I don’t let myself overanalyze. Instead, I just start ticking names off my fingers. “Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel McAdams, and of course, Transformers Megan Fox.”

She sputters, and when I look at her, her eyes are blown wide. “Well…you barely had to even think about that. And also, not who I thought you’d pick, but…I like it.” She goes back to the TV; I almost press Play when I hear her soft voice.

“What do you want, Caleb? What’s your plan?” I turn my head to look over at where hers rests against the couch the pillow fort is nestled against, her brows slightly drawn.

I take a minute to really think about it, glancing out the window behind Rosie, the view of the city and the night stars that are now blinking in the sky.

“You know, with your life. You going to always work under Noah?” I can’t work out why the words sting a little.

As a kid, I had figured I’d grow up to be some big business mogul, be my own boss, make my own footprint in the world.

But I do love working with my best friend and helping him grow his dream.

“I’d hope that when he opens the Chicago office, that he lets me run the show here in the city.

I know he wants to move back home, and no, I don’t want to be a sales manager forever.

I know I’ve basically been running it for him while he’s been in and out, but he still keeps a tight hold on the operations.

I know it’s something I can do and I know I’d excel.

It’s kind of like he just doesn’t take me seriously, though.

Like he doesn’t think I’d be responsible. ”

“Does he know about your personal business, your ‘portfolio’?” she teases with air quotes, and I give her a little smile, shaking my head.

“Hmm. Perhaps he doesn’t take you seriously because you don’t let him.

” When I raise a brow at her, she rolls her eyes and faces me fully. “You’re an idiot, most of the time.”

“Ouch.” I try to hide the sting behind a fake smile, but my wince must have shown on my face. Rosie rests a hand on my thigh.

“What I mean is, you goof around, you act like nothing matters, like you take each day as it comes and you make a joke out of most things.” I can feel my cheeks heat and I give her a tight-lipped smile.

Yep, she’s poked and prodded her way right through all my walls.

“Maybe you need to make him see the real you. The smart businessman, who is calculated, driven, and confident.” I watch, enraptured, as her lips form each word.

No one has ever seen me as those things.

I know how to be the class clown, the guy who can laugh at everything and never let things bother him.

And yet her words have hit some kind of a nerve.

I can’t seem to look at her any longer, and instead turn to the TV again, but not really seeing anything.

“Just a thought,” she finishes softly with a pat to my leg. Clearing my throat, I toss the remote back at her.

“Shall we continue?”

She gives me a soft smile in return. “We shall.”

We watch a few more, the conversation not as deep, but when I sneak peeks over at Rosie, she looks…

at peace. Her face is soft as she watches the TV, her lips relaxed in a gentle smile as her eyes gradually start to flutter closed.

When the AC becomes a little too cold, she snuggles closer, and though I could turn it down so she isn’t cold, I secretly love the way she pulls a blanket to her chin and rests her head on my shoulder.

It’s not a cuddle, really, but it’s still a lot coming from her, so I’ll take it.

It’s late by the time we finish the last movie, maybe almost midnight, and when I peer down at her I see she’s fallen asleep, her breaths heavy as she leans on me.

I can’t help but brush the little piece of hair off her forehead, leaning down to place a kiss there.

It’s soft and I linger, soaking in her scent, my eyes closing.

My chest feels tight, a weird burning sensation.

The sight of her tears is like tiny pieces of shrapnel shredding my soul.

Seeing her now at peace, relaxed, and seeking my comfort? It nearly brings me to my knees.

Forcing myself to stop admiring her, I untangle myself from her legs and the blanket and then reach down, picking her up and holding her against my chest. Woman is the deepest sleeper in the world, she doesn’t even flinch.

Instead, she falls against my chest and I try really hard to keep my focus ahead of me as I head for my room.

I settle her on the bed, pulling the sheets over her legs, and she snuggles down into the pillow.

I head to the bathroom to get myself ready, and as I strip off my T-shirt and pull down my joggers, I look over at her sleeping form, still and like a little blip in the large bed.

I decide I’ll keep my boxers on. No need to suffer in temptation, sleeping naked with Rosie in my bed.

I climb into the bed next to her and she rolls onto her side, facing me, and it takes every bone in my body not to grab her and pull her against me, to not wrap myself around her and hold her while we sleep.

I want to, so desperately, but I’m basically forcing her to break her no-sleepover rule.

It’s wrong. I should wake her up so she can leave, but I really want her here.

But knowing that she still doesn’t seem comfortable with being held, I refrain from moving her sleeping form.

Instead, I reach out and dust a light finger over her cheekbone and under her eyes.

So beautiful. She’s so fucking beautiful it’s almost painful.

She sighs at the simple touch, her brows relaxing and her lips parting slightly on a breath that tells me she is deeply asleep. The sight of her like this, “Damn,” I whisper to myself, because I can’t contain it.

I find myself wondering about the tightness in my chest, the warmth that spreads through my body as I take in her beauty, at the peace across her face while she sleeps.

I now can’t imagine sleeping in this bed without her next to me.

Being in her presence is like that first morning of winter, the air is fresh and it rushes at you.

Sending chills all over your body and forcing you to take a deeper breath.

Rosie is that, a deep, refreshing breath of life-sustaining air.

And being around her, or rather, needing her, is starting to feel as essential as air itself.

Uncontrollably, my mind wanders to what Rosie said about the L word, that we can’t have that. But…what if this is what it is? What if this needing, this…obsession with everything about her…is love?

I heave a heavy breath, my fingers tingling as I withdraw them from her pretty face, but unable to look away. Am I in love with Rosie?

Almost as though my heart responds, it beats a little harder, and I whisper to myself, “Yeah. I think I might be.”