Apprehension and excitement swirled violently in my belly, and I gripped the door handle with trembling fingers. Taking a shaky, shallow breath, I took one last glance down at myself before sighing sharply. The door fell away easily, not making a single, slightest squeak in protest, and my wide eyes instantly found Richard’s form. His hunched shoulders jerked as he straightened, and my cheeks burned as I stepped out of the master bathroom.

“S- so? What do you think?” Goosebumps washed my skin everywhere Richard’s wide eyes darted, and I wrung my fingers nervously. When his gaze swept over my chest, my nipples tightened beneath the dark, pine needle green lace that shielded them. Anxiety stuck like tar to my ribs, and my weak questions hung in the few feet between us before he finally opened his mouth.

“I- I think it’s… nice.” Thick and rough, Richard’s tone sent heat creeping up my neck, and I rubbed my damp palms harshly against my jeans. “Did someone help you pick it out?”

“Yeah.” My confirmation floated out on a heavy sigh of relief, and I glanced down at my breasts with a slight smile. The woman at the store had been more than accommodating, and the piece was much more comfortable than most bras I’d worn before. Stretching my arms above my head, I arched slightly to relieve the tension in my shoulder blades before turning back to the bathroom. Snatching my shirt off the vanity, my hands were steadier as I tugged the fabric over my head.

“That’s all of it- I mean, what I feel best about.” Exiting the bathroom for good, I moved to sit next to Richard. His bed was littered with folded clothes, from jackets and jeans to underwear and even a bathing suit. Slithering around my waist, his hand banished the itching in my palms to clean it up as he tugged me to his side.

“Do you want to stay tonight?” Stiffening at the blatant question, I sucked in a sharp breath as I stared at my knees. ‘Tonight’ was still a long way away; it wasn’t even 3p.m. yet, and I was supposed to go back to Kayla’s. True, my parents would be none-the-wiser, but I just wasn’t sure I could manage to keep them from finding out about such a milestone.

“Okay.” Richard didn’t say anything in response, choosing instead to squeeze me tightly, and I relaxed into his side to rest my head on his shoulder. The darkness that crept up the window sills told me loudly enough that I was far past my curfew but knowing that didn’t bother me as much as it usually did. After a long stretch of peaceful quiet, Richard pushed himself up to start gathering my clothes into a neat pile. My body wasted so much energy being nervous about showing him my bra that my hands were steady when I reached up my shirt. The front clasp came undone easily, and I worked off the piece to lean over and set it on the pile once it was on the floor.

When I looked at him again, Richard had discarded his shirt, and my jaw loosened as I took in his menagerie of tattoos. My fingers twitched in the urge to touch them, and I licked my lips heavily as he sauntered over to me.

“I haven’t slept- just slept- with a woman in a long time.” Leaning down to whisper the confession against my chin, Richard forced me onto my back. Hooking his thumbs in the waistline of my jeans, he didn’t even bother to unbutton the button before tugging. The fabric slid down my legs unobstructed, and I pulled my knees up to rub my bare foot up his side while my mind slowly worked to decipher what he’d said.

“At the hotel… why didn’t you then?” Richard dropped my pants in favor of caressing my legs, and his gaze was warm when it met mine. Pressing a feather light kiss to my lips, he climbed onto the bed to nestle between my open thighs, and his sigh traveled heavily down my neck and under my shirt.

“I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed or get the wrong message when you woke up and I was next to you. You’d be surprised how little it takes for women to think rich guys want more than a one-night stand.” Truth rang in Richard’s voice, and he nudged my butt with my knees insistently. Wiggling and scooting my way up to the pillows, I smiled at how considerate he was- even if he didn’t think he was.

“You don’t pay much attention to your money, though.” Worming under the single, thin sheet that covered the bed, I gathered up my hair as Richard grunted lowly. Sliding in next to me, he flopped onto his stomach to hug the pillow loosely while I rolled to face him. “I don’t look at you and think ‘this guy is crazy rich’.”

“Don’t get me wrong- my business net worth is insanely high, but I don’t actually pay myself a lot. I make the same as my employees. It’s my number one rule. The bonuses are what makes everyone work hard… not that I would know- I’ve never gotten one.” Smiling at the joke, I huffed a soft laugh before nuzzling the pillow absently. Richard’s business model made a lot of sense, and he turned off the lamp on the night stand next to him before speaking into the darkness. “My main label is the only one I use to pay bills. I don’t pay myself for running the manufacturing companies because I generally don’t touch them. It’s not fair to the people that bust their asses every day, all day.”

“That’s nice.” Mumbling, I tucked the sheet under my chin and closed my eyes to listen to the silence. Trying on clothes had tired me out, and I didn’t have the strength to part my eyelids as seconds slipped into minutes. Richard’s leg brushed mine, and he snuck his foot between my ankles but didn’t say anything.

I wasn’t sure how long it took me to fall asleep, but when I woke up, I was half on top of Richard. Listening to the steady thump of his heart, I cracked my eyes open to stare down the planes of his chest. Sluggishly moving my hand to trace the paw print stamped in black on his ribs, I smiled slightly at the simple fact that I hadn’t been dreaming.

“You talk in your sleep, Lilly.” The gravelly mumble made me pause, and I tilted my head up to catch Richard’s eyes on me. Smiling sheepishly, I sighed in content when he stroked my cheek and ran his fingers through my hair. Careful of the knots formed through the night, he cracked a smile of his own before opening his mouth again. “You said something about a dog named Smiles eating the furniture and turning into a stuffed animal as a result.”

“Yeah… Uh- they get a little weird.” My answer only caused Richard’s smirk to widen, and he propped his head on his arm to sigh loudly.

“I think it’s cute.” Quiet followed Richard’s compliment, and I went back to tracing his tattoos. Cuddling into his side, I rubbed the pad of my foot up and down his leg, and the thick, coarse hairs that sprouted there threaded between my toes.

“What do you have planned for today?” Posing my question into the gloom, I moved on to another tattoo with lazy, tingling fingertips. The anxiety I thought I’d feel of spending the night with Richard was completely absent, and he played with the ends of my curls while he thought. It took me upwards of an hour to straighten them, and all I could achieve was a healthy, thick wave. Sleeping caused it all to tighten up again, but he didn’t seem to mind it as he carefully pulled apart the knots that formed.

“I need to go food shopping… everything I have would’ve gone bad by now. I won’t do that until later, though. Spending 9 hours on a plane after everything that happened gave me serious jet lag.” Humming softly at the answer, I pushed myself up on weak arms to straddle Richard’s abdomen. His hand instantly went to my hip, dragging down my thigh only to travel back up. Taking in the peace on his face through the gloom, I smiled even as my heart ached.

These past few weeks, I’d missed him more than I cared to admit. We texted often, but not physically seeing him had taken its toll. I was strung out, moody, and had a hard time eating. Even so, I chose to ignore these obvious warning signs that I was getting too attached, and I leaned down to kiss his lips gently.

“I’m glad you’re back, Richard.” Mumbling against his mouth, I kissed him more firmly as his hand traveled up my back sensually. The moment was perfect, and he cupped the back of my head before our bubble burst abruptly.

Richard’s phone rang, crying for attention at the worst moment as these things happened to do, and I groaned in mild frustration. Leaving my hair, he searched blindly on the night stand as a second, shrill sound echoed around the otherwise quiet room. Without looking at the screen, he swiped, and I sat up while he fixed the device against his ear.

“Yeah?... What do you mean you’re coming over? Linda, I just got back- I- no, but… okay. See you in twenty, then.” The phone call lasted mere seconds, and I furrowed my brows as Richard tossed his arm over his face. “I’m sorry. That was my sister. Do you want me to bring you home? Linda can be a handful when stuff happens and she doesn’t know about it. The perks of being a journalist…”

“Uh- uh, yeah- please.” Displeasure spread across my chest, and I sunk down to heave a huff of a sigh. “I was kind of hoping to spend some time with you, and you don’t go to work today…”

Peeking out from under his arm, Richard smiled broadly at my grumbling briefly. Pushing himself up to sit, he offered a kiss in apology before raking his hand through his wild, messy hair.

“Me too, Lilly. But don’t worry. We’ll get together after she leaves- sound good?” Nodding sadly, I slid off Richard’s lap and worked on shoring up walls to contain the mix of annoyance and sadness that swirled in my chest.

Just one day. I just wanted one day.