“Good morning,” I whistle suggestively, wondering at how his tall frame dwarfs the entire kitchen.
“Good morning.” He gives me a slow, sexy smile that makes my insides melt. “Can I help?”
I shake my head. “I’m kinda done.”
He comes behind me and covers my back with his body. I sigh and lean into him, enjoying his touch, and so happy because he is mine to touch.
“I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am for you, how…” he breathes, “How happy you make me.”
I turn around and face him, aware that my eyes are misting. There is an intensity in his cobalt gaze that reaches into my heart, squeezing until I feel like I’m drowning in emotion. I don’t know how to reply, so I stay silent.
“When I’m with you I feel complete.” He chuckles softly. “I never thought I’d say that to anyone. I’ve never felt that I needed anyone to be complete, but being without you would kill me.”
“You’re never going to be without me,” I tell him softly. Nothing would ever make me stop loving him, and I’m determined that nothing would ever make me walk away from him again.
I remain in his arms, resting my head on his chest. “I want to stop time,” I whisper. “So we’ll always be like this.”
He pulls back, his eyes on mine. “Are you afraid that things might change in future?”
I sigh. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll always be like this,” he assures me, pulling me back into his arms. “Older, after a while, but there’ll never be anything else for me like what we have.”
I let out a shaky breath. “I love you.”
“Well, I’m irresistible,” he says with a playful smirk. “You didn’t stand a chance.”
I smack him playfully, laughing as he picks up the plates and carries them to the living room. We settle on the floor in front of the couch, eating while we continue our TV binge.
“Have you thought of what you’ll do about the apartment?” Landon asks after. He’s sitting on the couch, and I’m on the floor between his legs, trying not to drift off as he plays with my hair.
“I’ll probably find a roommate.” I make a face. “I can’t imagine living with anyone but Laurie.”
There is a short pause as his fingers still in my hair. “Even me?”
For a moment, I’m not sure I heard right. I turn around to face him. “You?”
His eyes stay on mine. “Why not?”
I look down from his gaze, not sure why I’m hesitating. I would love to go to sleep and wake up in his arms every night, and I know what a leap it is for him, how much it means that he’s inviting me to share his life so completely.
I wish I weren't so afraid that something would go wrong, especially if we move too fast and shake the balance we’ve already found. “I don’t know...” I reply softly.
Landon is looking at me, as if he’s waiting for me to say more. “It seems like a good solution to me,” he says, when I stay silent. “My apartment is closer to your office and we’d be able to spend more time together.”
And I want that, to spend more time with him. He’s right, of course. He has obviously thought about this, but I haven’t… I need to think, to be sure that we don’t rush, that we don’t get overconfident, and ruin what we have, because if that happens... I’m not sure that I’ll survive.
“Think about it,” Landon says quietly, urging me back to my former position. His hands resume their ministrations in my hair. “And while you’re doing that, maybe you’d like to spend this week with me.”
“As a foretaste?” I say lightly.
I can almost feel his grin. “What else?”
“You don’t have to try to convince me,” I say sincerely. “I want to move in with you. I just want a little time to think about it.”
“I’m not trying…” He stops. “Well, maybe I am trying to get you comfortable with the idea, but more than that, I want you, with me, every night for the next few days, because I have plans for you.”
My breath hitches at his sensual tone, after a week of having to leave him almost every night,