Elia’s here. She must have driven here after I left her apartment. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gotten here so fast.

I know her car barely runs and I want to just buy her a new one...but, hey, I have learned how the expensive gifts are going to go over. The book doesn’t count. I took that from my private collection of rare French pirated manuscripts. I have a lot of money and that comes with weird hobbies.

I don’t hesitate in telling the doorman to let her in, and now I don’t know how to play it. I don’t want to be my normal cocky self and drive her away. But I have this abiding urge for Elia to accept me. And I am that cocky asshole, aren’t I?

“Elia, you didn’t have to come all the way down here.”

Her eyes are wide open as she looks at my bare chest. I didn’t take my shirt off for her benefit. It just worked out that way. As soon as I came in, I thought I’d hit the gym to get rid of the testosterone that’s flowing through my body. And it happens every time she’s around.

“Did you like the book?” I ask. That manuscript was one of the cooler parts of my collection, and it cost more than I think Elia has made in her entire life. I am glad that she seems to not be sweating that price tag right now and can enjoy that I really wanted to do something special for her.

“Are you kidding me? I love it.”

I smile and the air around us seems a little lighter. I try to think of something to break the rest of the ice.

“More than the phone?” I tease, and it brings a smile to her face.

“A lot more than the phone,” she admits. Then she bites her lip and asks, “Can I come in?”

Shoot, I didn’t even think about that. We’re both standing at the door of my penthouse, and I haven’t officially invited her in.

“Of course, Elia.”

I need a fucking drink, which isn’t a problem seeing as I’m not going to be exercising right now. Being around her is making me restless, and I just want to touch her, kiss her, but I can’t come on too strong and push her away just when she’s come back to me.

“We need to talk,” she says as she follows me inside.

“Yes, but I need a drink first. What’s your poison?”

“What are you having?”

She’s trying to take in her surroundings, avoiding my gaze and checking out my sparse, ultra-modern apartment. And she’s looking for Rose.

“Beer. Ice-cold beer. And Rose is with my mother, visiting for a while. My mother is grateful to have a grandchild.” Though she wants me to get married. It occurs to me that I think my mother would really like Elia.

Elia smiles. “I’ll have the same.”

“So, you’re a beer drinker. I didn’t think you would be a beer drinker.”

She winks. “There’s a lot of things I’d do that would surprise you.”

“Like what?”

I raise an eyebrow as I pass her the bottle.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll run the next marathon.”

I laugh as I watch her taking a swig of beer and decide what to do next. I walk up to the breakfast table, and she follows suit. I can tell that there’s something else on her mind. She didn’t come all this way to thank me or to have a bottle of beer.

“Why did you really come? You could’ve just sent me a text saying thank you.”

“But would you have answered it? Like last time, you never bothered to answer it, did you?”

She has me there. I don’t even have a good excuse for the way I behaved then. I think I freaked out at how fast things were moving...for me. I started to feel way too much for a girl that I knew I was going to disappoint, and I did disappoint her. That’s new to me since I usually fuck and forget. I can please a woman one night. It is the relationship part that had me acting like an ass because I didn’t know what to do.

“We’d just met. I was showering you with gifts, and I may end up being your boss. I’ll be almost as big an asshole as Ryan if I dated you, I thought. I don’t know, like I said, I haven’t really done relationships before.”

She shakes her head. “In what way? I consented to what happened that night. What Ryan did, well let’s just say if you weren’t there then who knows…”

I lift up my beer, “Hey, let’s not spoil the taste of my beer by mentioning that pig anymore. Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot because there was a misunderstanding from the start. I’m trying to figure out this dating thing and the misunderstanding between us didn’t help”

She pulls her beer bottle back and asks, “What do you mean?” “Well, for one, I’m not looking to buy the bookstore and tear it down. I want to make it lively. God, since I’ve been going there, no one steps through the door.”

She points to me and says, “Maybe you’re coming in at the wrong time? Sometimes, it’s overcrowded with…”

“What, ghosts?”

She laughs, “How did you know that I was going to say that?”

I didn’t, but it changes the tension that we’ve had whenever we’re in the same room. She’s wearing a crop top with leggings, and the only thing I want to do is strip her down.

“Well, I want to make it the store that it can be and not…”

Before I can even finish talking she purrs, “All this talking has made me thirsty, and it’s not for more beer. I don’t want to talk about the store right now.”

She presses her lips against mine as she straddles me, and I know that we’re in for a long night because now that she’s got me started, they’ll be no stopping me.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask as I pull her back.

She laughs, “You asked me that last week. I want you again...more now that I know how good it can be.”

“True, but so much has happened since then.” I could kick myself for delaying what I desperately want...but I don’t want to hurt Elia any more than I have.

She shakes her head “I still want you, and I can tell,” she points to my cock that’s rubbing against her clothed pussy, “that you want me just as much as I want you.”

She’s right about that, and without any hesitation I take her to the couch to claim her as mine.