Page 53 of P.S. I Dare You

“This is crazy,” she whispers. “You know that, right?”

“I like to think of it as an adventure,” I say. Adventure of a lifetime …

Aerin pushes a breath through her nostrils, frowning almost, like she wants to say something.

“What?” I ask. “What are you thinking right now?”

“You’re adventurous,” she says.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not.”

I laugh. “That’s one of a million differences between us. Trust me, it’s not a deal-breaker for me if it’s not a deal-breaker for you.”

“You mentioned once that you own a plane,” she says.

“I do. A Cessna. Do small planes scare you?” I ask. But before she answers, I add, “You’d be surprised how many people hate the idea of flying non-commercial.” I brush a strand of hair from her forehead. “I would never force you to do anything that terrifies you, Aerin … but I might dare you.”

“Calder.” She thrusts her head back into the bed, groaning and trying not to laugh. “I’m so going to have words with Rush next time I see him. I can’t believe he sold me out like that.”

I silence her with another kiss. Selling her out is the last thing he did. He gave her her life back, the life she’d been denying herself all these years.

“How long are you in town?” she asks, cupping my face in her palm with a kind of tenderness I’ve never known from another human being in my adult life.

“I wish I could say indefinitely, but I can’t leave WellesTech hanging,” I say. “Those people have been loyal to my father’s company—some of them for decades—and until I find a buyer, I have to man that ship.”

“Noble.”

“I’ll only be here a few more days,” I say, “but you should come back with me. And if you can’t, then I’ll come here every weekend. We’ll figure out the logistics, but I promise you, Aerin, the distance between us should be the least of our concerns.”

“You sound like a man who knows what he wants.”

That would be the Welles in me—for better or worse.

“You hardly know me and already you know one of the most important things about me,” I say.

“What else don’t I know about you?” she muses, a glint in her eye. “Wait. Don’t answer that … not yet, anyway.”

Dare I assume she plans to embrace the unknown? The adventure we’re about to embark on?

“Didn’t plan to,” I say.

Aerin gives my shoulder a light smack before her hand slinks behind my neck. Inhaling the sweet tang of her arousal in the air mixed with the wild jasmine scent permeating from her warm skin, I know this isn’t heaven, but it’s got to be the next best thing.

“I want to take you somewhere tomorrow,” she says before massaging her lips together.

“Okay … where?”

“I want you to meet my parents.”

Under ordinary circumstances, I’d be choking on my words right now, eyeing the nearest exit, and coming up with some excuse on the fly that would prevent me from taking such an enormous step.

We sit up, perching ourselves on the edge of her bed, and she hooks her hand over my shoulder before nuzzling her cheek against it.

“Before you start freaking out …” she begins to say.

“Not freaking out.” I turn toward her.

“Before I scare you away …”

“Not scared.” I shrug.

“I want you to see where I came from,” she explains. “I’ve never brought anyone to my childhood home. I’ve never introduced anyone to my parents. I just feel like, if you can accept where I’ve come from then you can accept where I’m going. And you can accept me.”

“Aerin … I accepted you the minute you ran into me and spilled coffee down your shirt.”

Her jaw loosens and she scoots over a few inches. “Seriously?”

“Nah. I didn’t know who you were then.”

“Calder.” Her arms fold, though I can’t tell if she’s teasing.

“Fine.” I pretend to roll my eyes. “I ran into you. I was coming out of my father’s office, not paying attention, and I made you spill your coffee. For that, I sincerely apologize.”

“Thank you.” She smiles, sitting a little straighter than before, her arms relaxed at her sides. Pulling in a slow breath, she lets it go. “Was that so hard?”

She has no idea.

Looking like a klutz in front of a beautiful woman on one of the worst days of my life had my ego all kinds of refusing to admit it was my fault.

I pull her into my lap and thread my fingers through hers. The apology was hard, but my cock is harder. And every second I spend looking at her and not burying myself deep inside of her is pure torture.

“I want you so damn much.” I kiss her neck, my fingers tugging at the hem of her top. “I can’t wait another minute.”

Aerin’s hips grind, her pussy circling the outline of the throbbing ache in my jeans.

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