Don't Hex and Drive (Stay a Spell #2) - Juliette Cross Page 0,105
could feel something crushing and crumbling inside of me. That’s when I realized she honestly didn’t know me as well as I knew her. Yes, I’d told her about my past, but I didn’t tell her about my present. That the reason I dragged these ancient relics around the world with me was because I longed for a home, longed for a place that always made me feel welcome and not so very alone. Like I’d been feeling since the night I’d met her.
My career as a Bollywood actor had been over for several years now, but she didn’t know that either. I hadn’t bothered to tell her because I was too busy spinning my web of charm as I liked to do with a woman I pursued. I needed her to know that this thing, as she’d called it, was far more than a brief sexual arrangement.
Get bored with her? She was out of her fucking mind. Didn’t mesh beyond the bedroom? Then she hadn’t been paying attention last night. Or every other moment we’d gotten lost in each other. But she wasn’t ready to hear my protests. She didn’t believe I could stay. That I would stay. That was the real obstacle here. Not the truth. But her perception of the truth. And sometimes, that’s all that mattered.
Time to lighten things up and move away from this. I was a patient man. I would prove her wrong. Actions speak louder than words, after all. “But we actually haven’t even made it to the bedroom.” I arched a brow at her and grinned.
She smiled back. “True. But whose fault is that?”
“Entirely yours. You’re just too irresistible for me. Beguiling me with your witchy ways.”
She laughed. “Right. That’s me. The seductress.”
“You have no idea.” I reached over and took her hand, standing and tugging her with me.
Archie hopped down and promptly trotted toward the kitchen with a clickety-clack of his toenails on the wood floor. Probably going to eat from his bowl that I’d had to refill at least twelve times since he’d moved in.
“Come on, love. Let’s get out of the house. I want to take you somewhere.”
She looked toward the kitchen. “Do you need to kennel Archie? Is he house-trained?”
“Come here.” I pulled her into the kitchen and pointed to the back door that now had a newly installed doggie door leading to the gated courtyard that also had a moderately large square of grass. “He can take care of business on his own.”
“Well, you’ve been busy.” She aimed a bright smile my way, steamrolling over my will to keep her at arm’s length.
I pulled her in for a kiss, which started sweet and turned serious in three seconds. I slipped my hand beneath her fall of hair and squeezed her nape, then skated my mouth down her neck to lick and kiss the mark on her neck she’d tried to cover with her hair. She moaned, clenching a hand in my T-shirt, arching her spine and bending her body toward me.
“Like I said,” I told her lightly, pulling her through the door toward the garage. “I’m much more responsible than you think I am.”
“I never said you weren’t responsible.”
“Just shallow and materialistic,” I teased.
“I didn’t say that either! Jeesh, I had no idea how sensitive you were. Wait, where are we going?”
I now had the door open to my Lamborghini. “We’re going somewhere in my million-dollar car.”
“I don’t like cars.”
“I’m well aware. Did you know that the Diablo has a 43/57 percent front/rear weight distribution, making it aerodynamically safe on the road? It also has Brembo servo-assisted four-wheel disc brakes, adding to its safety as well. I can stop on a dime.”
“What’s Brembo brakes?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “Brembo is an Italian manufacturer of automotive brakes, specifically for high-performance cars. Best of the best, love.”
“Are you throwing stats at me to try to impress me?”
Fucking right, I was. “Am I impressing you?” I held the door open for her.
“Kinda.”
“Please get in so I can take us very safely and responsibly to our destination.”
She eyed me and then my car, as if it truly was a demon, sighed heavily, then flounced inside, putting her bag on the floor.
I closed the door and whispered, “Gotcha.”
Time to show her that even she could break out of the safe and somewhat stifling box she’d built for herself.
Chapter 28
~ISADORA~
“So what were you and Ruben talking about the other day outside the bookstore?” I asked, just needing