Page 30 of The Playboy's Playbook

I freeze and stop swaying. “Matthew…”

“Laila, I will never force you to do something you don’t feel comfortable with. Please know that.”

I almost melt at his words. I’m finding it hard to believe he’s real right now. He’s not afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeve and that makes him ten times more attractive.

I nod and smile softly as he brushes a stray piece of hair out of my face and leans in closer, our mouths almost touching. He closes his eyes and his chest rises and falls rapidly, a mix of nervousness and anticipation radiating off of him. The fireworks are still lighting up behind us and I can tell by the cadence that they’re getting closer to the end of the show.

“Laila,” he says, his voice strained, as if it pains him not to touch me in the way he wants to.

In the way I want him to.

“Matt,” I whisper. His eyes pop open and he smiles, his dimples on full display.

“You called me Matt,” he says, his voice soft.

I smile and nod. “Kiss me.”

He smiles back. “With pleasure.”

He holds steady for a second before crashing his lips to mine. His hands cradle the side of my face and he pulls me closer, our lips molding together perfectly.

The way Matt’s kissing me, it’s as if he’s hungry, like he’s been starved and is getting all he needs from me to be replenished. He’s rough, but soft at the same time. I can tell he’s holding himself back for me, but I want him to push the envelope. I pull away from him and we both release a series of shaky breaths.

“Stop pulling your punches,” I plead. He smiles and leans down to kiss me again with the sounds of the fireworks in the distance.

As far as first kisses go, I’d like to think this is a pretty damn good one.

Chapter Thirteen

MATT

Ikissed Laila. Fucking finally. Now that I’ve had a taste, I don’t think I can go without another one. She’s everything I dreamed she would be and more.

Her lips were soft and she tasted so sweet, I felt myself getting a sugar rush. She’s my new bad habit…or more like a good habit because she’s too good for me.

Once the fireworks show ended, we went back inside and put Nola to bed in her kennel before making our way to Laila’s bedroom. She’s laying on my chest and I have my arms wrapped around her.

I’ve never felt this secure with anybody before. I’ve laid next to plenty of women, but I wasn’t too big on cuddling with them. None of them have made me feel safe like Laila does. I close my eyes and feel myself starting to relax.

“Matty,” Laila says, sleep evident in her voice. I hum in response, sleep threatening to take over for me, too.

“Before we go too far, is there anything I need to know?” she asks.

Part of me knew that this was coming, but I was hoping that I’d have more time with her first. More time to show her the person I am today so when I do tell her about my charges and arrest, she won’t feel like she’s with a complete stranger.

“Let’s go to bed.” I press a kiss to her temple, ignoring her question.

She turns in my arms and looks at me with her big, beautiful brown eyes. Her hair falls over her shoulder and the ends tickle at my chest. It takes everything in me to not steal a million kisses from her.

“Is there anything I need to know?” she asks again, her voice serious.

“Lala,” I try again. “Can we please go to bed?”

She stares at me, considering my answer. I can tell she wants to push the question, but she doesn’t. She nods her head and turns over on her side with her back facing me. I cuddle closer to her, wrapping my arm around her to keep her close to me, and soon her breathing evens out.

I notice her hair is still in a ponytail, so I loosen the hair tie and head to her bathroom in search of her head scarf to wrap her hair. Once I find a spare one in her bathroom, I return to the bed and gently wrap her hair. I quietly play a video tutorial on how to do it, but I’m still not sure if I did it correctly. I make a mental note to practice and watch more videos for the next time we fall asleep.

I hear Nola’s tiny whimpers from her kennel in the living room, so I let her outside so she can use the bathroom. Once she’s done, I pick her up and carry her to the bedroom and place her on the other side of Laila. I’m not sure if Nola’s allowed on the bed, but something tells me that Laila won’t mind.

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