hasn’t been used for a long time, unless I have a lot of family staying over. Now, I’m turning it into your office.”
I stare at him, mouth open. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Your office,” he repeats, wiping dust off the top of the desk with a smooth swipe of his hand. “Do you like it?”
“Like it?” I repeat, shaking my head. “I’m … what do you mean this is my office?”
“Grace,” he says patiently. “You know I tell no lies. This is your office now. I moved the desk in here, brought it out of storage. Now I just have to grab a chair from the house, move some things around, but yes, this is your office. I know you’ve been struggling with a place to write, so I figured…”
Holy shit.
I mean, maybe that’s not the right thought for here but…
Yeah. Holy shit.
One of those bars around my heart is threatening to break. It’s definitely bending, moving, feelings I’d never had before threatening to overtake me.
He did this … for me?
“But,” I say, still not believing it. “This is sacrilegious.”
Claudio stares at me with wide eyes for a moment before he bursts into laughter.
“Sacrilegious? Oh, musa. No, no. There is nothing sacrilegious about art.”
“That’s not true. I’m writing a romance. At least, it’s a book with sex in it.”
A dark, smoldering look washes across his eyes. “I think you know how I feel about sex. Sex with you is an art. And I can’t get much closer to heaven than when I’m buried deep inside you.”
The flush returns to my cheeks, my body awash with goosebumps.
Damn.
He straightens up and walks over to me, cupping my cheek.
“This is all for you, Grace,” he murmurs, running his thumb over my lower lip. “It is my gift for you. It is the least I can do for all the inspiration you have given me. I want you to be inspired too.”
I stare up at him, his thumb rough against my lip, his hand warm. I’m lost in the intensity of his eyes. So lost, that almost all thoughts leave my brain so all I’m left with is the bare, basic version of myself. The version that wants nothing more than to be with him, forever and always.
But as that thought manages to make its way through me, I’m struck with worry. That horrible realization that always follows a high.
“You did all this but I’m leaving so soon,” I tell him quietly.
His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat, a soft smile on his lips. “Who says you have to leave?” His hand leaves my face, trails to the back of my neck.
I blink. “Because…”
“Because you’re supposed to be here for a month, si? But that is a date that Jana picked for you, because that’s when she knew I’d come back. I am not coming back. I have been here all this time. So why can’t you stay longer?”
I look away, trying to think. He starts running his fingers through my hair, making it hard to gather my thoughts. I close my eyes, giving into the sensation.
“Jana will think something is up if I stay.”
“And what will she think is up?”
“That … I don’t know. Maybe she’ll suspect the truth. That you’re the reason I’m staying here.”
“Uh huh,” he says matter-of-factly. I open my eyes to look at him, his expression serious. “You don’t think she would completely understand that you may need more time to finish your book? After all, you said you were here to get a lot done. What is wrong with telling her you’d rather finish it all in one spot?”
He’s got a point there.
“And also,” he says, making a light fist in my hair, “who cares what my ex-wife thinks? If she wants to think you’re staying here because of me, let her.”
I balk, giving him an incredulous look. How can he even think of saying that?
“Are you kidding me?”
He frowns, dropping his hand. He folds his arms across his chest, scrutinizing me. “What?”
“What do you mean, what? I can’t have Jana know about us! How do you think she would react if she found out I was sleeping with her ex-husband?”
He has the audacity to shrug. “I don’t think she’d care.”
“You don’t think she’d care?”
He considers that for a moment. “She wouldn’t have her feelings hurt, if that’s what you’re worried about. She’s not my biggest fan.”
“I know that she’s not in love with you. At least, that’s what I gather. But that doesn’t mean that her feelings won’t be