I kissed him. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted us to live the same life, too, to be together in every way we could be. But I also believed that neither of us was ready.
“Gideon.” I kissed him again, my lips clinging to his. “You and me, we’re barely strong enough on our own. We’re getting better all the time, but we’re not there yet. It’s not just about the nightmares.”
“Tell me what it’s about, then.”
“Everything. I don’t know … It’s not right for me to live in a place Stanton pays for anymore now that Nathan isn’t a threat. And especially not now that my parents hooked up.”
His brows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Total mess.”
“Move in with me,” he said, rubbing my back to comfort me.
“So … I skip right over making it on my own? Am I always going to live off someone else?”
“For f**k’s sake.” He made a frustrated noise. “Would you feel better if we shared the rent?”
“Ha! Like I could afford your penthouse, even paying just a third of it. And there’s no way Cary could.”
“So we’ll move in here or next door, if you want, and take over the lease. I don’t care where, Eva.”
I stared at him, wanting what he was offering but afraid I’d miss a big pitfall that would hurt us.
“You came to me as soon as you got up this morning,” he pointed out. “You don’t like being away from me, either. Why torture ourselves? Sharing the same space should be the least of our problems.”
“I don’t want to screw this up,” I told him, my fingers brushing over his chest. “I need us to work, Gideon.”
He caught my hand and pressed it over his heart. “I need us to work, too, angel. And I want mornings like this and nights like last night while we do it.”
“No one even knows we’re seeing each other. How do we go from being broken up to living together?”
“We start today. You’re taking Cary with you to the video launch. I’ll come up to the both of you with Ireland, say hi—”
“She called me,” I interrupted, “and told me to go up to you. She wants us to get back together.”
“She’s a smart girl.” He smiled and I felt a little thrill at the thought that he might be opening up to her. “So one of us will approach the other, make small talk, and I’ll say hi to Cary. You and I won’t have to fake the attraction between us. Tomorrow, I’ll take you out to lunch. Bryant Park Grill would be ideal. We’ll make a show of it.”
It all sounded wonderful and easy, but … “Is it safe?”
“Finding Nathan’s bracelet on a criminal’s corpse opens the door to reasonable doubt. That’s all we need.”
We looked at each other, sharing the feeling of hope, the sense of excitement and expectation in a future that had seemed so much more uncertain just yesterday.
He touched my cheek. “You made a reservation at Tableau One for tonight.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I had to use your name to get on the list, but Brett asked me out to dinner and I wanted us to go to a place connected with you.”
“Ireland and I have a reservation at the same time. We’ll join you.”
I shifted awkwardly, nervous at the thought, and Gideon thickened inside me. “Uh …”
“Don’t worry,” he murmured, his focus clearly shifting to more heated thoughts. “It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, right.”
Banding his arms around my h*ps and shoulder blades, Gideon scooped me up and moved, rolling and putting me beneath him. “Trust me.”
I was going to reply, but he kissed me quiet and f**ked me senseless.