Page 43 of Always Been You

She tries to look away from me, but my thumb goes onto her chin, holding her head in place. “Babe, what’s wrong?” I ask, worried.

“I just want to cover up,” she whispers. I’m not sure why she is so worried about this now after I just had her spread naked on my bed, but I want to get to the bottom of this and make sure that she is comfortable.

I release her chin and let her grab her shirt and pull it over her head. It comes down just past her butt, and then I grab her hand and pull her to the bed with me. I sit on the edge and position her between my legs and I grab both of her hands. Looking up at her, she looks everywhere but in my eyes.

“Babe, I need you to look me in the eye,” I say softly andshe finally does. “Talk to me, what has you freaking out and wanting to cover yourself?”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Tears form in the corner of her eyes. I use my thumbs to brush them away as they begin to fall. She opens her eyes and when they meet mine; they are full of vulnerability and fear.

“Josh, I’m not skinny. I have a tummy and thick thighs and I don’t look like most girls. I like to cover up.” She whispers her confession to me and closes her eyes as more tears fall. “Drew was always pushing me to go to the gym more. To lose weight, to eat healthier. I know that’s probably the reason he cheated on me.”

A weight drops in my stomach. That she has been made to feel anything other than beautiful kills me.

I continue to stroke her cheeks as tears fall down them. “Olivia, you are gorgeous. If you want to cover up right now, that’s your choice. If you want me to cover up, I will. But I do not want you to feel like you have to. I want us to be able to have these conversations with each other, to be open and honest with each other. I think you are beautiful, inside and out, and I want you to think the same about yourself.”

I pull her mouth down to mine and kiss her softly, slowly, showing her how beautiful I think she is with this kiss. Her fingers go into my hair, and she holds my face to hers as she kisses me back.

“Thank you,” she whispers against my lips as she breaks the kiss.

“Babe, you don’t have to thank me. My job is to ensure that you know how beautiful I find you.” I kiss her softly again. “Let’s get into bed and get some sleep.”

She nods and climbs onto the bed and crawls to the spot beside where I was when she walked out of the washroom. Isettle into the mattress and pull her into me until she has her head on my chest, her arm thrown over my stomach, and her leg over mine. I run my fingers through her hair as I listen to her breathing slow until soft snores are coming out of her.

I lay there thinking that I would be so lucky to spend the rest of my life like this.

Ifeel the weightof an arm wrapped around me as I stir, the sound of an alarm going off fills the room. I nuzzle deeper into my pillow as I work to ignore the annoying sound. The weight around me is removed; I groan at the loss of heat at my back, and the sound stops. The bed dips and I feel lips kiss my hair and hear a whispered, “Go back to sleep babe,” before falling back asleep.

When I wake up later, I notice I’m not in my bed and pull the blanket up to my neck as I smile at the memories of last night. His smell hits me as I inhale deeply. I get up and grab my leggings before heading back down the hallway to my bedroom and hopping into the shower.

Once I’m out, I quickly get dressed and grab my phone, it’s ten o’clock already and my phone has a low battery. Grabbing my phone charger, I head out into the kitchen to get some breakfast. I plug my phone in and grab a yogurt from the fridge along with some strawberries and a banana. I cut the fruit and throw it into a bowlalong with my yogurt before rounding the island and taking a seat.

After I finish eating, I put my bowl into the dishwasher before going to Josh’s room, stripping the bedding and throwing it into the washer. I grab my Kindle and start a new book while the washer runs and curl up on the couch. I lose myself in the book and am pulled out of the story when the washer beeps. I transfer the laundry and then head into the kitchen to cook lunch, because we ate out last night, we have no leftovers. So, I decide to bring Josh lunch.

Looking in the fridge I find all the ingredients for a simple chicken Caesar salad. For something sweet, I bake some cookies to take with me. I prep all the food and package it, keeping the dressing on the side, so it doesn’t get soggy. As I finish, the timer goes off and I take the cookies out of the oven and package them up. I find a cloth bag in the closet by the front door, load all the food into it, and grab a couple of bottles of water and a couple of cans of pop from the fridge.

Heading into my room, I grab some shoes before grabbing my purse, keys and the food and heading out.

The SkyTrain ride to his office is quick. I walk into the expansive lobby of his building. The white marble floors and high ceilings allow the clicking sounds of high heels to echo in the space. I make my way to the elevator bank and take one up to the top floor of the building.

Stepping off the elevator, I walk to the receptionist’s desk. “Hi, I’m looking for Josh Lincoln’s office,” I say when she looks up at me with a polite smile.

Her eyes take me in before she says, “Is he expecting you?” I swallow, wondering if it was a bad idea to stop by.

“No, my name is Olivia. I brought him lunch.”

I hold up the bag I’m carrying and hope that she’ll let me back to see him. Maybe I should have called or texted him to make sure that it was okay that I dropped by. He could be in a meeting or out of the office. I fidget, playing with the hem of my shirt. This was a bad idea, but I’ve come this far. No sense in turning back now.

She looks at me again like she can’t believe that I’m here for him, but she picks up her phone and makes a call.

“Kate, I have an Olivia here for Mr. Lincoln…” her face contorts at whatever she hears on the other end of the call. “Okay, sure… alright Kate.”

She looks at me again with a look of confusion. “You can go in. Just walk straight to the end of the hallway.”

She points down the left side of her desk.

“Thank you,” I say with a smile before heading down the hallway.

A thin blonde woman about my age is sitting outside Josh’s office when I arrive. She smiles widely and rises from her desk when she sees me. “You must be Olivia,” she says.

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