Tangled Games (Dating Games #5) - T.K. Leigh Page 0,74
peek into who I am.” He gazes around the dimly lit space. “There are a lot of pieces of me sprinkled around here.”
I survey the various images. If I know anything about Anderson, I’d assume each of the photos he chose to display here holds a special place in his heart. Has a deep meaning for him.
“When did you take this?”
I move toward a mostly black-and-white image on canvas. The only color is a red balloon against a cloudy sky, a young, blonde girl standing on the beach watching it float away. There’s a sadness in its simplicity that draws me to it.
“Is it recent?” I glance over my shoulder as he approaches.
“Actually, no. That was the first photo I’d ever taken. At least with a professional camera and using some of the techniques my instructor taught me. That’s Esme.”
“Esme?” I whip my attention back to the canvas, squinting. “But this girl… She couldn’t have been more than seven or eight.”
“Seven.”
“You started learning photography at eight?”
“My therapist thought it would be good for me.”
“I remember you telling me that. I assumed, well… I guess once I learned who you were and that your girlfriend had passed away unexpectedly…”
“You assumed my therapist suggested it as a coping mechanism after Kendall’s death.”
“Yeah.”
“It was to cope with, well…” He waves a hand around. “All of this, I suppose. Going from a nobody to suddenly being on everyone’s radar. Being chased by paparazzi at only eight years of age. Coming to terms with the fact that my life was no longer my own.”
I study him, my heart aching for the little boy who had to grow up overnight. I may not have had the best mother, but I was still able to be a child. He was deprived of that.
“Did it help? Photography, I mean.”
“It did. Knowing that I had photography, had this hobby… It was and still is something that’s just for me. A part of me the rest of the world doesn’t get. I’m probably not making any sense, but—”
I place my hand on his cheek, and he lifts his gaze to me. “You make perfect sense. I understand now. Prince Gabriel’s more a mask than a person, something you need to don to protect yourself from everything that goes along with the job.”
He smiles sadly as he nods. “And you’ll have to do the same. You’ll have to be a different person when you’re in public. You can still give them parts of you, don’t have to be this uncaring machine, but if you give them all of you, there will be nothing left for me.” His Adam’s apple bobs in a hard swallow. “Worse, there will be nothing left for you.”
Eyes impassioned, he grips my cheeks so I’m unable to escape, unable to avoid this conversation, forced to face the reality of my future.
“I’m sorry I kept Prince Gabriel from you for so long. It’s not because I didn’t want you in my life, Nora. I do.” He licks his lips, a contemplative look crossing his face. “I guess I was so used to people only wanting to be with me because of what I am. Not who I am. So I may not have given you Prince Gabriel.” He brushes his thumb along my bottom lip, sending a shiver through me. “But it’s because I wanted you to see the best part of me. The real part of me. Although, I must confess…”
“Yes?” I tilt my head back, my breathing growing uneven.
“You are the best part of me.”
My heart expands more than I thought possible as his declaration fills me with love. “And you’re the best part of me.”
He leans down, erasing the last bit of space between us. When his lips touch mine, I sigh into him, his kiss like an electrical jolt, sparking me back to life. It’s not a passion-filled exchange like in front of the restaurant earlier. That one was for them. But this one…a gentle meeting of our mouths…is just for us.
“Anders,” I exhale.
“Yes?”
“I need you to take me home and make love to me.”
“Putting out on the first date?” he jokes with a sexy lift of his brows.
“I didn’t think you’d complain.”
“True.” He pauses. “But I’ll have to respectfully decline.”
“Decline?” I wiggle free of his grasp, mouth agape. “You can’t be serious. You—”
He wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me against him. I initially try to resist his kiss, but it’s a losing battle. Has been since the beginning.