“Reid....”
He looked at my lips, and just when I thought he would kiss me, he pulled back.
“So—breakfast and dinner. They’re mine.”
“What?”
“I’m here to win you back. I need time to do that.”
“Okay... I can probably do breakfast.”
“And dinner,” he insisted.
“I might have client meetings.”
“You just said you don’t have too many. We’re doing dinners too,” he concluded.
I didn’t know what to say, what to do. He’d hurt me, but didn’t everyone make mistakes? Especially when they were facing uncertainty? I’d been guilty of that myself. It was just... what if it happened again? I didn’t think I could get through it again. I decided to change the subject. To focus on him.
“How are you even here? Who’s taking care of operations?”
“My CFO is in charge of everything.”
I jerked my head back. Reid laughed.
“He had a similar reaction when I informed him of his new duties.”
“For how long did you leave him in charge?”
My real question was, for how long was he here?
And by the way his gaze dropped to my mouth, he knew exactly what I was asking.
He smiled at me wolfishly. “For as long as it takes.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hailey
Over the next few days, I slowly felt as if I was seeing life through a colorful lens, not just black and white.
It might have to do with a certain stubborn hotel owner who popped up at Starbucks every morning. Guess who’d also kept his word and invited himself to my place for dinner every evening? The very same stubborn hotel owner.
He wasn’t pressuring me in any way, but the simple fact that he was there was pressure enough. This fine Thursday morning, he decided to switch things up and showed up on my doorstep with Starbucks coffee, insisting he could make us breakfast.
He looked absolutely delectable standing at the stove and cooking pancakes for us both. I took advantage of the fact that he was focusing on the pan to drink him in, inch by inch.
“Hailey....”
“What?” I asked a little too innocently. He’d caught me in the act.
“You’re not allowed to look at me like that unless you want me to kiss you. And I won’t kiss you unless you tell me that you’re mine to kiss forever.”
Oh, God. What was I supposed to say to that?
I lowered my gaze to my hands, twiddling my thumbs. I wasn’t trying to be difficult or to punish him. I was just afraid to take the next step. But I also couldn’t resist my feelings for him forever.
So, since I wasn’t allowed to drink him in, I decided to set the table. I was so aware that Reid was around, as if every cell craved his nearness. My entire body hummed. My heart was beating faster, telling me it was okay to want him, to need him. My mind still was on the fence.