“Such confidence in that bold statement,” I said, loving again how that contrast swung.
“I mean it,” she insisted. “I want to give you everything… Miles.”
“That’s a dangerous promise to make,” I said, and pulled away from her at that with a smirk. She was staring at me so hard as I reached behind her and turned off the water. I stepped out first and grabbed a towel to wrap her up in, and she joined me with big steps, throwing herself like a little girl into the fabric.
Again, such fucking contrast.
Her eyes were fixed on me as I slung a bath sheet around my hips.
“I really do mean it,” she repeated. “I really do want to give you everything.”
I smoothed my hair back from my face and pulled the bathroom door open.
“And I really do want to give you some late night toast,” I said, and gestured her out onto the landing.Chapter SeventeenFaithIt wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I still struggled to really believe it, propped up against Mr Lindon – Miles’ – kitchen units, wrapped up in a fluffy robe and munching on some fresh buttered toast from his toaster.
The whole day was a crazy train of daydreams, only they weren’t daydreams. They were real and here and happening, and it was everything I could do not to squeal and jump about the place and thank my lucky stars I was winning big today.
I really was winning big today. Winning big and taking big. My tender places were still really damn tender, aching so low down that my thighs were staying nicely spread under my robe, but hell I was ready to do it all over again. There was nothing I wanted more than to do it all over again.
I was grinning as I took another bite of toast, and could feel him watching me as he put his down and took a sip of his coffee. Mine was still untouched next to me on the counter top.
That was the strange thing about us that was becoming more and more obvious, both of us in this crazy dynamic, like a pendulum swinging back and forth.
We both had these two sides of us, so opposite in the extremes. I was the little Faith with the blushes and the nerves and the silly little jitters, and the big girl Faith who was fast growing into a young woman. A young woman who wanted to be an auctioneer and hold her own at work, and make Mr Lindon so proud of her capabilities.
He was the brooding Mr Lindon that simmered with the lust in his eyes, barking out dirty orders that had me burning up. He was the forceful Mr Lindon from the office, so powerful as he slammed down that auction hammer, and the man always so in control, always ruling by nature.
But then he was Miles. The man standing across from me and making me toast. He was the man who laughed along with my laughter and was so, so kind to me as a little girl. Funny, and giving, with big strong arms to wrap me up tight.
The one thing I hadn’t really thought of before was just how well these two sides of one man could fit into one body.
An insanely perfect body in his case. Because it was. Insanely perfect. Insanely perfect enough that I was relieved he was also wrapped up in a robe, just so I could focus on chowing my toast down.
“It’s been a long time since we shared a late night snack,” he commented, and I nodded. It sure was.
“Remember when you used to babysit sometimes and let me come back downstairs once Mum and Dad had gone out?”
“How could I ever forget?” he asked, and I loved the smile on his face so much. “The amount of absolute drivel you made me watch on TV has scarred my brain.”
I giggled at the memories. “You loved it really, you were just pretending you didn’t.”
“I’m still absolutely burned out on cheesy game shows,” he said. “Luckily, I’ve taken my quota for this lifetime.”
“What about the antiques shows, then?” I poked. “You were the one who got me started on those. You can’t say a load of them aren’t cheesy game shows with an antiques face on them.”
He tipped his head. “Fair point, but anything with collectibles in renders the cheesy attribute null and void.”
I remembered then part of the reason I’d fallen so much in love with this man in the first place. It was the glint in his eyes as he smirked with amusement. It was the warmth in his voice as he joined me in silly chat.
It was him.
Mr Lindon.
Miles Lindon.
The man who’d been such a huge rock in my little girl world, and morphed into such a dirty want in my teenage one.