They’d spent time together at her home, and she showed him around, pointing out the things she’d changed, and the things she’d kept as memories of her mother and father. And then he’d taken her into the city, and they’d spent time at his place.
She was in wonder and awe at the scenes she’d see from the balcony and the sounds that rushed up to greet her from the city below. He had money, a lot of money, but he didn’t flaunt it just for the sake of showing people he was wealthy. He was discreet, respectful, and even while she spent time with him, he never showed off the things he had.
He was just a normal man, and she was just a normal woman, and when they were together, this electricity zinged between them. It was undeniable, that was for sure.
They’d already finished eating dinner and were currently sitting on her couch. She wasn’t interested in watching the bad zombie movie on the TV. He was looking over her movie collection, probably hating the current show or maybe he, too, needed to occupy himself with something.
He’d asked if she wanted to go to dinner, someplace fancy, out of town even, but she’d ended up making him something at her place. Freya was a very simple girl and didn’t need anything fancy, but of course she liked his apartment and the nice things he had. But that didn’t mean much when it came to someone she cared about. And she cared about Elijah very much. As the days passed, she was having stronger feelings for Elijah.
When he turned around, he didn’t have a movie in his hand. Instead, he came over and sat beside her. They stared at each other for several seconds, and then she smiled.
“What?”
He didn’t smile in return, just reached out and brushed a lock of her hair away from her cheek. “Nothing. I just like looking at you. You’re beautiful.”
She felt her cheeks heat at his compliment. “Sometimes, I feel like this isn’t real.” She hadn’t realized she said those words out loud, but when she did, her face got scorching hot.
“Why?”
She shrugged, but then cleared her throat, not about to hide how she felt. She wanted to be open and honest with him. “Because you seem too good to be true.” She chuckled after she spoke, and he did the same.
“I’m not perfect. Far from it.” He sobered. “But you know why this feels so good, right?”
She didn’t need him to tell her why. She knew.
“Because you and I are meant to be here, right now, with each other. We’re meant to be together.”
Those were strong words, especially after only a few weeks’ time, but she couldn’t deny the truth.
“Tell me you feel that, too.”
She nodded, not hesitating. “I feel it, too. I felt it as soon as I saw you at the store, Elijah, and it’s only grown since then.”
He smiled and was silent for a couple of seconds. She could see him thinking because of his expression. “Come with me to a business fundraiser next weekend, and then after that, come with me to my cabin for the weekend.”
She was stunned to be asked to go to a business event, let alone spend the weekend with him at a cabin.
“If you have the time off, that is.”
She had next weekend off, but spending the entire weekend with him would be hard. Not because she’d be with him, but because she knew she wouldn’t be able to control herself around him. She already wanted to have sex—to just get naked and let him touch every part of her. Even now just thinking about it made her delirious with lust, but she schooled herself and focused on what he was asking her.
But even if she’d known Elijah for a long time, it seemed like she was rushing it after only a few weeks. But still, they were adults, and wasn’t sex the next logical step when she cared about someone? It certainly seemed to make sense.
Placing a hand on his chest, she leaned in and kissed him. “I think I’d love to go with you to the gala and the cabin,” she whispered against his lips.
He cupped the back of her head, held her mouth to his, and for a second, they breathed the same air.
Sex was definitely on her mind, and of course she was old enough and they’d known each other long enough that it shouldn’t feel like they were rushing it, but still, she’d wait and see how everything went, then go from there. To Freya, Elijah might be the one, might be the man who she spent the rest of her life with. She certainly could see that, hoped for it even, but only time would tell how everything went.
She didn’t care about what others thought because this was about them and not anyone else. It had taken her all these years to realize she wasn’t alone, even if she felt like that. It took her four long years of being on her own to realize she deserved to be happy. She deserved to stop putting herself down.