Page 94 of The Stranger

Spencer: I have a meeting across town this afternoon. I’ll see you when I get home. I shouldn’t be late.

Me: Okay.

Spencer: Don’t cook. I want to take you out tonight. x

That is the first time he’s added a kiss to the end of his message, and I can’t help feeling that things between us have turned a corner. My head has been lost in the clouds all day, thinking about his admission yesterday.

Part of me wondered if he was getting ahead of himself, but when he took me to bed after dinner, what we did didn’t feel like fucking. It felt like we were making love.

I know this is stupid since I was in a four-year relationship before this, but I have never experienced what I did last night. Not even close. Our connection was palpable.

The way he touched me, moved inside of me, worshipped every inch of me. Then there were the kisses. The passion behind them differed from what we usually share. They were on a whole other level—not the desperate, smouldering kind. These were deep, sweet, and all-consuming. To the point I felt like an emotional mess by the end.

Is this what it feels like to be truly loved?

I lay awake long after Spencer had fallen asleep, just replaying it over in my head. Trying to make sense of it all.

How did we go from strangers in a fake relationship tothis?

I realise now what I had with Kayne was a total farce. I was living in a fantasy land, seeing things that weren’t really there. Yes, he spoke the words often, but his actions said otherwise. It’s funny how blinded you are when you’re living it, but the clarity of a situation can be starkly different when you find yourself on the outside looking in.

Am I falling in love with Spencer as well?

That thought scares the hell out of me.

I’ve showered and changed into a pair of tight white jeans, a cute off-the-shoulder top, and my long tan boots by the time Spencer arrives home.

I didn’t know where he was taking me, so I chose something in the middle … dressy casual.

His face lights up as soon as his eyes land on me, and my stomach does a flip-flop.

I think I have my answer.

I am falling in love with this man.

Yikes.

“You look lovely,” he says, placing his briefcase down and drawing me into his arms.

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure where we were going, so I didn’t know what to wear.”

“Your choice is perfect,” he says as his hand slides from my waist to palm my arse. “Let me have a quick shower and change before we go.”

“Okay.”

I’m grateful for a moment of reprieve. It will give me a chance to ingest the epiphany I just had.I love him.Holy shit. When did that happen?

I knew I was attracted to him, maybe more than attracted, but I didn’t see this coming so soon. I sit down on one of his couches and place my head in my hands. That’s where he finds me when he exits his bedroom sometime later. He’s showered and dressed in a dark-green sweater and jeans, and I want to gobble him up.

I watch him approach, and when he stops right in front of me, he looks down with a frown and asks, “Is everything okay?”

I leap to my feet and grasp hold of his arm. “I think I’m falling in love with you too,” I blurt out.

“You think?” he asks, arching an eyebrow.

“I mean … I’m pretty positive. Like maybe ninety-five percent. Give or take. My head has been spinning all day after last night when you made love to me. You did make love to me, right? Because holy crap, it felt like you did. It almost brought me to tears.” His eyebrow rises a little higher at my verbal diarrhoea. “I didn’t actually cry or anything, but I felt really emotional afterwards. You know … my heart was all heavy and stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it. I truly did, so don’t think I didn’t. It was just …”

He rolls his lips to hide his smile, and I feel my cheeks heat. “Sweetheart,” he says, cupping my face in his hands. “Breathe.” I do what he instructs, inhaling a large breath into my lungs. “Better?”