Page 89 of Eat Slay Love

I smirked, brushing my knuckles along her jaw, tilting her chin just slightly. “Chérie, I would. I would even learn how to skate along the beach and surf like a true, annoying Californian.”

I expected her to laugh.

Expected some snarky, sarcastic quip.

But instead. . .she shivered.

My heart stopped.

Her breath came out uneven, her hands trembling just slightly against my chest.

I felt it before she even said the words.

The shift.

The surrender.

Yes. She is falling for me too. Thank God.

I ran my hands down her side, settling on the soft curve of her hips. “You know you want me there.”

Her breath hitched. “I do. . .I’m just not. . .used to a man going to this level to be with me.”

Aww. That’s what the problem was. Now, I understand.

She was used to being left behind.

Used to men making her feel like she was too much, or not enough, or something in between that was never quite right.

“I am not them. I would follow you anywhere. I’d be a menace, Rae. Imagine me in California. I’d start drinking green juices. Running on the beach at sunrise.”

She let out a breathy laugh, but it was unsteady, as if she were still fighting whatever war was happening inside her chest.

I tightened my grip, grounding her. “Rae, let me come with you. I’ll have my assistant find me a nice place to settle in. That wouldn’t be a problem. However, we need time to get to know each other. . .not just this one night. It can’t just be this one night.”

She exhaled sharply, as if I had just stolen whatever final resistance she had left.

And then. . .she nodded.

“Yes?”

She let out a slow breath. “Yes. Come to California with me.”

The second the words left her lips, something inside me snapped.

Not in rage.

Not in desperation.

But inrelief.

Yes.Yes.

She was mine.

Not just in this moment, not just in the heat of the night, but beyond. A future had just been cemented between us, one she might not even fully understand yet.

But I did.

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