Page 69 of Well, Actually
I look at him, blinking rapidly, trying to keep my expression from cracking. It’s no use, every part of me releases the tension I’ve been holding, body sinking into the mattress, lips parting on a sob, tears flowing freely.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, trying to roll away from him. Rylie catches my movement, then counters it, turning us both so we’re on our sides facing each other. He slips out of me, his hard cock pressed against my hip, and I want to be close to him, hold him inside my body, but he slides a hand under the curve of my ass and pulls me higher up on the bed so we’re eye to eye and slightly out of alignment everywhere else.
“What’s wrong?” he says again, brushing his fingers through my hair, then resting his palm on my cheek. “Talk to me, Eva.”
Through blubbering sobs, I tell him everything—Landry’s dangling-carrot promotion, my foolish belief that I might actually be worthy of a job like that, her email affirming I am definitely not. Rylie cradles me the whole time, making soothing sounds when I choke on the words.
The man is ruthlessly sweet, unreasonably tender, sheltering my body as I confess the insecurities that eat at me. Eventually, I wear myself out until I lay spent and boneless against his chest, my snivels the only sign of life.
“Can I offer my perspective on this, Kitten?” he whispers into the shell of my ear. I nod against his chest, another shuddering inhale racking my frame. He snuggles me closer. “If it isn’t painfully obvious, I’d gladly kiss the ground you walk on if it made you smile, I think you’re that wonderful.” I move to push him away, making a scoffing sound, but he holds me tighter. “Fucking try me. I mean it.”
My heart thumps up to my throat, every part of me wanting to fight him.I’m not worth it. I’m not special. There’s something wrong with you if you think otherwise.But Rylie kisses me, stealing my ability to protest.
“Regardless of how enamored I am of you,” he continues, nuzzling his cheek against my hair, “you’re objectively brilliant.”
Now I’m really annoyed. But he possesses some freakish strength in his wiry frame, so I opt to turn my face away at an awkward angle, burying it in a pillow.
“Shyness doesn’t suit you, Kitten,” he whispers against my neck. “Hide all you want but you know it’s true. You’re smart. You’re witty. You have beautiful things to say that so many people are dying to hear. You’re a goddamn asset to any organization that hires you, and if Landry or William want to test that, you can go ahead and prove them losers.”
I let out a groan of incredulity.
“You’re brilliant,” he repeats with a gentle laugh in his voice. “And, not to split hairs, but you do still have a job. She didn’t fire you, and from what I can tell, you’ve been doing your work, trying to find new avenues to keep up the segment’s attention—it’s just not on the topic they’d prefer. I’m the one with profuse diarrhea, apparently. This is just an empty threat.”
“Profound,” I correct. “Profound diarrhea.”
I can feel him roll his eyes. “Right. Profound. Of course.”
Slowly, like a creepy doll in a horror movie, I swivel my head to look at him. “You think I’m smart?” I whisper, voice a timid husk.
Rylie tilts his head, giving me a teasing smile. “Easily top five smartest people I’ve ever met.”
“Who are the other four?”
Rylie laughs so hard the bed shakes, sending a delicious shiver down my spine.
“Mean you. Sarcastic you. Sweet you. Vulnerable you,” he says, dipping his head to brush his nose against mine. “Sexy you is number six because she’s often rendered speechless by my superb lovemaking.”
“I just threw up in my mouth.”
“Our pillow talk always does wonders for my self-esteem.”
I laugh, pressing my teeth to his shoulder in a shallow love bite. “You think I’m witty?” I ask, feeling silly and shy for needing his compliments, but hungry for them all the same.
Rylie threads his fingers through my hair, then grabs it in a light grip to tilt my face to his. “I’ll indulge you endlessly but that one is so obvious it feels redundant.” I look at him, not hiding the glimmer of emotion in my eyes. Rylie’s smile softens but grows. “Kitten, you’re so quick, I can’t keep up. I lose my breath trying to go at it with you.”
A starburst of warmth erupts in my chest, and I press even closer to Rylie, placing a light, lingering kiss at the base of his throat. He hums in satisfaction. I work my way up his neck and across his jaw with intimate kisses, then across his face until I hover over his mouth.
“I’m a bit enamored with you myself,” I whisper against his lips. He parts them for me, and I kiss him deeply, sipping at his lips, my tongue caressing his. Rylie kisses with his full body, his legs twisting with mine, pelvis and stomach pressed close, one hand in my hair, the other at my cheek.
“And I think you’re brilliant too,” I say on the quick gulp of air we part for.
I feel his smile against my temple. “Might try to get a recording of you saying that later.”
“There’s a lot of work you’d need to do to make that happen,” I tease, nudging my hips against his.
“Oh, what a labor,” he deadpans, instantly responding to the spark I’ve created, gently grinding against me. Tender emotions dig through me as he touches my body, one hand tracing down my spine in a torturously delicious path until he’s cupping my ass and holding me close and I’m panting against his mouth, hips rocking in time with his.
Rylie’s hard again between my legs, and I want him so badly my teeth ache. I push at his shoulder so he’ll get on his back with me on top of him, but he resists, framing my face with his hands until I look at him. He stares at me, those gunpowder eyes destroying me all over. “You’re so fucking lovely, Eva,” he says, before sealing his mouth over mine.
