“You can tell me anything. All your secrets are safe with me.” I’m not so sure this is a secret but something he should know before this goes any further.
“I’m a virgin.”
CHAPTER13
JACKSON
“That makes two of us.”I give her a quick kiss.
“Really? You?” Her face is a picture of astonishment.
I put on a mock frown. “Don’t tell me you believe in those macho stereotypes that a man is measured by how many times he’s used his dick.”
“No, no,” she protests quickly. “It’s just that you look like this”—she draws her hand down the front of my torso—“so you’ve had to have had offers.”
“It doesn’t matter if the offers were there. What matters is I didn’t take them. I’m picky, Bell. I’m not letting just anyone touch the merchandise.”
“You’re right. I made a bad assumption about your sluttiness. I appreciate you saving yourself for me.” She peeks at me under her eyelashes. “Have I gone too far?”
“Not far enough.” I take her mouth and kiss her leisurely, exploring all the inner recesses of that humid space, licking every tiny crevasse and ridge until we’re both breathless. My dick is about to explode when she breaks away and places her head against my chest. My heart beats erratically against her cheek. We sit like that for a while, catching our breaths, waiting for our hearts to calm down. I want her badly but not until she fully trusts me.
“What if we’re bad at it?” she says suddenly.
“At sex?”
She nods.
“Do I look like a person that is bad at anything?”
“No.”
“It’ll be good. You and I were meant for each other.” I hold her close and get to my feet. “Time for some fuel. Then we’ll stop over at your place and get your belongings and move you in.”
“What about your sister?”
“What about her?” I deposit Bell onto a bar stool in front of a marble countertop and then go and retrieve a blanket for her. Once she’s covered so that I don’t go crazy looking at her bare skin, I pull out some egg noodles, a few vegetables, and two chicken breasts.
“I’ll miss her chickens. I never thought about raising my own, and now that I’ve done some research on it, I think I could do it.”
“We can raise chickens here.” I chop the carrots, celery, and onion and dump them into a pot with a box of bone broth and seasonings.
“This place doesn’t look very chicken coop friendly.”
We both look around the white marble kitchen with the stainless steel appliances and the black leather stools and chairs. The place is modern, I’ll give her that. It’s sleek lines, concrete, and glass. I bought it because the clean lines called to the orderly habits I’d developed in the military, but it’s not what you’d say is particularly warm.
“We can find something you like.” I place the well-salted chicken on the frying pan and let the breasts cook up while I make biscuits.
“A new home?” She sounds panicked.
I put the biscuits in the oven and then slice the bread for the sandwiches. “Let’s just move you here temporarily and see how you like it. This place has four bedrooms, and two are practically empty. The other one I use as a study. You can pick one of those and use it as a studio. There’s one with great sunlight that has a small terrace attached to it. It’ll be perfect for you. Here, have some bread. You look hungry.” I butter her a piece of the crunchy French loaf I bought earlier and push it in front of her. “Why don’t we table the house discussion and talk about the stalker? Have you contacted the police? FBI?”
“No. I told Nina, she’s my rep. She owns a gallery in NY.”
I keep my eyes on the sandwiches I’m making so she doesn’t see my frown. What’s an art gallery owner doing making decisions about Bell’s safety? “She got a family member in the force?”
“I don’t think so? I guess I’ve never asked.” Bell chews on her bread. “Wow. Now that I think about it, I’ve been pretty self-absorbed. How do I not know what Nina’s family does?”
“So a guy broke into your apartment, rifled through your drawers, and left. He also sent threatening letters to you and Nina?”