Page 182 of Lovers' Dance

I swallowed, saying with surety, “Can we stay home, I mean, here?” I corrected myself. Oh, man.Had I called his place home?It was the studio. It had to be the creation of the studio that caused that slipup. I hoped Matt hadn’t noticed my slip of tongue.

But, of course, he did. Matt stepped away with a strange look on his face and walked over to the far side of the kitchen. His back was to me and he opened one of the drawers. I could hear it being shut sharply. Damn. He would see it as being presumptuous. This was his space, his bachelor pad, his sanctuary…

He turned around, dangling a bunch of—keys? I watched silently as he sauntered back and rested them on the counter next to my bowl.

“What are those for?” I asked, gaze jumping between the bunch of keys and his face. The key ring had crystal ballet shoes hanging from it, identical to the one on my car keys.

George chewed quietly, becoming one with the background.

“They’re keys, poppet. You use them to open doors and whatnot.”

“I know what keys do, Matt,”

Matt smiled and brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. He was rocking the bed-hair look. Matt splayed the keys open, then started singling them out. “These two are for the front door, poppet. This one here is for the back entrance. This one here is for the side entrance of my Surrey home, and these two, the front door. You probably won’t need those as I always have staff in Surrey. They’ll be able to open—”

“You’re giving me keys?” I asked with wide eyes. A dance studio and keys to his place? This was serious shit. I continued with an incredulous, “But—”

“I’ve got keys to your house,” Matt cut me off. “It’s only fair you have keys to mine. Think of it as part of your birthday present.”

“Oh, okay,” I murmured, not knowing what else to say. I was shocked.

Matt ignored the blatant, uneasy surprise on my face and said, “You want to stay home today? That’s fine with me, poppet.”

“Okay,” I murmured, staring at the bunch of keys. Matt’s hand returned to my lower back and the caresses started.

George put his fork down and edged away. “I shall excuse myself,” he said quietly. Matt nodded in acknowledgement and, before I could say anything, George was striding out of the kitchen.

“Now that we’re both up in the early hours of the morning,” Matt drawled slowly, “What should we do? I have a couple of suggestions, poppet.”

“Watch TV?” I offered. Matt shook his head.

“Tidy this mess up?” was my next suggestion.

Matt gave me a look.

“Talk about our future goals and how to make the world a better place?” I teased.

“We can do that after,” he said in that deep, sexy voice of his. “My suggestion is to go back to bed so I can shag you senseless.”

“It’s been a while, Matt. You’re not going to do anything, um, you know…”

Matt was grinning at me, waiting for me to finish my sentence.

“Strange to me,” I finally said. “Because the last time, things got a bit out of hand.”

Matt was grinning, but now he was reaching for my hand and pulling me away from the centre island. As horny as he made me, the glint in his eyes made me a bit nervous.

“I don’t want George walking in on us if you make me scream. He’s got the hearing of a bat.”

Matt was pulling me out of the kitchen, down the hallway and up the stairs and, finally, into the master bedroom. He locked the door and pointed to the huge bed.

“Get in bed, poppet.”

“I need to brush my teeth,” I said. What was wrong with me? I had been gagging for it for weeks. Now I was nervous? Now? When my sex god was ready to put it down on me. What the hell was that all about? I fled into the ensuite, flicked on the lights and closed the door, breathing heavily.

What if he didn’t want me the way he used to? He’d seen me. The me that was broken and stupid and scared. He couldn’t possibly want me in the same way. Oh, fuck. I blinked fast. Had my status been lowered in his eyes? I told him I wasn’t perfect. I told him to stay away. Now he had seen me, and I was scared he’d finally see I wasn’t good enough.What if he couldn’t get it up for me?That would be embarrassing as hell. Nothing quite like realizing your girlfriend was messed up. Oh, why hadn’t he stayed away?

Because I had stupidly invited him over on my birthday, that’s why. I walked over to the double sink and got my toothbrush out, wincing at the state of my hair in the mirror.

---