Page 44 of Midnight Dissonance

“I worry that when someone better comes along, you’ll drop me like a bad habit.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s happened multiple times in my life. And while I’m working on trusting you, my experience says otherwise. I don’t mean to doubt you and your desire to be with me. But I’ve never had anyone stick.”

He pulled her close and lowered his forehead until it met hers. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m all in here.”

“For how long?” she blurted, wanting to kick herself at how needy she sounded.

“I need you to listen. And I will repeat this as often as you need me to. You’re mine. I’m not letting you go. And I’m yours. I don’t care about the age difference. I don’t care where you work or what you do. I don’t care what anyone else will think about our relationship. And when you’re ready, I want you moving in here.”

She jolted. “You want me to live with you?”

“For starters. And I know it’s fast. Which is why I said when you’re ready.”

“What if I’m never ready?”

“I’ll wear you down until you eventually see things my way. And just think, if you lived here, you’d get to have this view every day. And we could start every day with my face buried in your sweet pussy.”

Heat lashed her belly. “You’re crazy.”

“Perhaps. But really, I just know what I want—and it’s you.”

“Just like that?”

“Yep. Now come on, let’s go. Otherwise, I’m simply going to take you to bed and not let you leave.”

“I have a job, you know.”

“But you don’t have to work.” He escorted her down the stairs with a hand on her lower back.

“If you think for one second I’m not going to work and earn my own money, then you’re smoking something.” She didn’t want to be kept or be a housewife. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t get married. But she needed her independence too badly. And having someone else control the purse strings went against everything inside her.

“And I can’t help it if I want to take care of you.”

She needed him to hear her so there was no confusion later. “I don’t need to be taken care of. While I need to submit in the bedroom, outside of it, I would rather cut my nose off than have someone tell me what to do and how to do it. That includes having my own money.”

“That’s the very definition of having a job unless you own your own company.” He kept his hand on her low back as they rode the elevator down to street level.

“Stop being so pedantic. You know what I mean,” she argued.

“Is there a reason you’re so against having anyone help you?”

“My parents,” she blurted—and wished she kept her mouth shut.

His head whipped her way. “What did they do?”

An icy wind whipped through the buildings as they walked toward some shops. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t speak to each other.”

“Lexi. Talk to me.”

She hated talking about her family. Hated when people realized that her family didn’t love her, not really, or they would support her even if they disagreed with her decisions.

Josh stopped. And since he was holding her hand, she had no choice but to stop too.

She took a deep breath and met his intense gaze. “They’re classic narcissists. Nothing I ever did was good enough. Not even when I was toeing the line and following the path they set out for me.”

“What about Lisa?”

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