As she went about cleaning off her fingers, Jonas was compelled to say, “There wouldn’t be anything to wipe off if I were there.”
“Ditto.”
He shook his head and picked up his laptop, then lay back against his pillow. “What are your plans for tomorrow?”
“I’m going to be working up an estimate for that new client. You?”
“I have a few things I need to take care of too. Want to go out to dinner afterward?”
Deanna looked down at the bed for a second before answering. “Yes,” she said as her gaze came back to his. “I’d like that.”
Jonas raked a hand through his hair and yawned. “I haven’t taken you on a proper date yet. I think it’s about time, don’t you?”
She laughed. “We went out on a date in Miami, Jonas.”
“Kitten?”
“Hmm?”
“I want to hold you in my arms right now,” he murmured. “My bed is going to be damn cold tonight.”
“Mine too. Maybe tomorrow night we can make up for that.”
He stilled. “Are you inviting me to spend the night?”
She smiled. “Yes, I think I am.”
He let out a breath and groaned, “Thought you’d never ask.”
She was quiet a moment. He wondered what she was thinking because her gaze turned serious. She seemed almost sad. Jonas didn’t like it, not after what they’d just shared. “What are you thinking, kitten?”
“I was thinking that I’m starting to fall for you.”
Jonas had to be hallucinating. It wasn’t possible that Deanna had just confessed her love, right? And yet, she seemed totally unaware of the precious gift she’d just given him. “You aren’t the only one falling, sweetness,” he murmured.
Deanna’s gaze darted to his. “I’m not?”
Jonas smiled at her surprise. Did she still think he was just in it for the sex? “No.”
“But what—”
“Wait,” he said, stopping her before she said too much. “Not over a video chat. I’d rather do this in person, wouldn’t you?”
“You’re right.”
“Rest for now. Tomorrow I’ll pick you up and we’ll go to dinner.”
“Sweet dreams, Jonas.”
He pressed a kiss to his palm and blew it at her. “Sweet dreams, kitten.”
As he shut down the video chat screen and logged off Skype, Jonas’s mind went haywire. Had she been aware of what she’d said, or had she just been feeling emotional because of what they’d shared? He didn’t know and he suspected the not knowing was going to keep him up most of the night.
Jonas tried to remember a time when someone had said those three little words to him. I love you. No memories sprang to the surface. His stomach knotted when he thought how fucking pathetic that seemed. Hell, people said the words all the time. Mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives. Sometimes they said them without thinking, but to Jonas those three words were sacred. Maybe because he’d never had them directed at him—not even by his parents. Sure, they cared—in their own screwed-up way. But love? That wasn’t something they were familiar with.
Jonas knew beyond anything else that with Deanna he didn’t just want to say the words; he wanted to shout them from the rooftop. He wanted the world to know she belonged to him. Being with her, even for five minutes, was precious time spent to him. He tried to remember exactly when it had happened, when his feelings for her had shifted from desire to this all-consuming need to be with her, but he couldn’t recall.
Jesus, he’d never had a yearning to wake up next to the same woman day in and day out. To share coffee and breakfast with her. Yet, he ached to have that very thing with Deanna. Going to bed with her tucked up real close, watching movies on a lazy afternoon, even listening to her share her day, Jonas wanted it all.