“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m sure he wants to see if I’ll come back to the club.”
She shot me a sly smile. “Don’t think the boyfriend would like that.”
I snorted. “No, he wouldn’t.”
If last weekend went fast, this weekend went at warp speed. I blinked and it was Monday. I blinked again, and it was Tuesday. Every morning was one day closer to leaving, and I started to panic. I was in bad shape as he got ready Wednesday morning to go to work. I sat in his bed and stared blankly at the generic art on the wall. What was I going home to on Friday? What was I leaving here?
“Are you okay?” he asked, cinching the tie at his neck. It probably freaked him out that I was sitting like a statue.
“I’m thinking about how it’s going to work.”
“What?”
We needed to have the conversation. It’d been put off long enough. “After I leave on Friday.”
His hands froze. He turned slowly, his expression unreadable. “How do you want it to work?”
Hearing his voice unstable gave me a sinking, sick feeling. “I don’t know. How do you want it to work?” It was immature to throw the ball right back in his court when I was the one who initiated it, but fuck it. I was suddenly terrified.
His chest expanded as he sucked in a large breath. “How do I want it? You stay through New Year’s. That’s how I want it.”
My eyes went so large, my eyeballs almost fell out of my head. “Are you crazy? That’s another two weeks.”
“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair and approached the bed, hesitant. “I looked at pushing your ticket back another week and the flights between Christmas and New Year’s are like double the price.”
I swallowed, even though my mouth was dry. Two more weeks. A total of five weeks with him. Holy shit.
“If you only want to stay another week, I’ll pay it. It’s worth it for another week with you. But, can I be honest?” He sank down on the bed to sit beside me, his face only inches away. “I already know I’ll ask for another week by the end of it.”
“Dominic, I can’t.”
“Why? Because you want to spend the holidays with your family that you don’t even like talking about?” He said it softly, not accusing. “Wouldn’t you rather spend it with me?”
Hell yeah, but . . . “My apartment. My car.”
“You can’t pay your rent online? Logan could put your car in my parking space, my place has two spots.”
Logan driving my Jag? I scowled. I’d let him fuck me, but wasn’t sure if I trusted him to drive my baby. How messed up was that? Dominic’s hands cupped my face, not allowing me to look anywhere but into those piercing eyes.
“I know I wasn’t supposed to,” he said on a low voice, “but I got attached. I think I was already, when you told me it wasn’t allowed.”
“Just another one of my rules you ignored.” I don’t know who I was annoyed at. I was just as attached as he was.
“When are you going to learn that lesson?” There was a hint of humor in his voice, maybe an attempt to mask the anxiety beneath.
“What lesson?”
“I don’t like boundaries. And definitely not ten thousand boundaries between us.”
There was a stab of pain in my chest. “I don’t want to leave,” I admitted, “but I can’t stay here.”
“I know. Just through the holidays. It’s my first Christmas away from home and I know it’s going to be rough.” His expression changed to one like he was in pain. “But it’ll be impossible without you.”
The hands on the sides of my face were firm when I tried to look away. His face was haunting. Agreeing to this was most definitely going to blow up, but I ignored the nagging voice. I wanted this.
“Fine. Two more weeks.” Even though I hadn’t moved, I was out of breath. It came out shaky when it was supposed to be stern. “Because I still haven’t seen the Imperial Palace.”
His laugh was deep and shook the bed. Then, his kiss leveled me.