He braced both hands on my desk, caging me in. God, I loved when he did this. “You spaced out, Ro.”
“And how can you possibly know that?”
His nose dragged along my cheek, making my skin tingle. “You were staring at the glass of water.” He let out a low laugh. “For a very long time.”
“I was thinking.”
He leaned over me a little more, resting his chin on my shoulder. “Were you thinking about me? About us?”
I blushed, my heart racing at how close to the truth he was. “Maybe.”
“Was I naked?” he asked next.
I bit my lip. “Possibly.”
“Were you naked?”
“Definitely.”
He hummed. “Ah, those are my favorite kind of thoughts.”
I turned around very quickly, placing a kiss on his lips, and returning my attention to the laptop. To my manuscript.
Lucas must have been dazzled for a moment because he didn’t say a single word. He just… seemed to need a moment to catch his breath.
I smiled to myself.
“So, Rosie,” he finally said, “when are you going to let me read it? I’ve been craving more ever since I finished book one.”
I didn’t even try to conceal how happy that made me. “It’s not ready yet.”
It took him a moment to answer. “How about just a taste? A… snippet. A teaser. It’s Tuesday, you owe it to your fans, and I’m yourbiggest one. Hashtag Team Rosie. Hashtag Teaser Tuesday. Hashtag Friday Kiss.”
My head swiveled very slowly. “Where did you learn that?”
His grin was big and proud, unashamedly beautiful, just like him. “I have my ways. You should know how good of a researcher I am by now.”
“You’re actually right,” I told him. Then, I turned around and smiled to myself because, whoa, had Lucas looked into thebookishphere? For me? “I’m sorry I underestimated you, Matthew McConaughey. But no teasers for you.”
No way in hell.
I was extremely proud of this first draft, but I didn’t know how I felt about Lucas reading it when there was so much… inspiration drawn from him. From us.
“Not even a peek into a spicy scene? I could help by bringing some more inspiration in there.”
Delicious warmth filled my belly, but I shook my head.
“Okay.” He sighed, but I knew it was more for the theatrics. “How many words away, then?”
My lips curled up, unstoppable. “Not many.”
His arms wrapped around my middle from behind, his face burrowing in my neck. “That’s my girl,” he said, my heart losing it just like the first time he’d ever uttered those words. “I’m so proud of you, Ro. So, so proud.” And for some reason, hearing that from him, that he was proud of me, felt like I’d accomplished something big.
Something amazing.
Something extraordinary.
That was how much he meant to me. “All thanks to you,” I breathed out, overwhelmed by my own thoughts. “To your help. Our experiment.”