Chapter Ten
Two months.
Two months, three days and fifteen hours.
“But who’s counting?” Stone mumbled.
He pulled into the driveway beside the tiny red convertible and sighed. She’d gone and bought the damn car.
With a smile, he hit the button to cut the engine and climbed out of his Cherokee. Soph wasn’t the only one with new wheels.
He’d splurged on the limited edition when he’d left Landlocked and started his own company. The offer had come out of the blue and Ford had told him if he didn’t take it, he’d fire Stone’s ass so he had no choice but to take the opportunity to branch out on his own.
He hadn’t had the heart to tell Ford he’d had one foot out the door from the minute he’d landed back in Sydney two months ago. But he’d needed to wait. To give Soph time to reevaluate and determine if what they’d shared was more than the intense situation they’d met under.
There was no question about his feelings. He was in love with Sophie Collins. She was all he thought about. Every waking—and sleeping—moment was taken up with memories of her sparking green eyes, her laughter, the taste of her on his tongue, the feel of her wrapped around—
Stone shook his head and chuckled. The woman had him tied in knots, his cock semi-erect twenty-four seven, and he hadn’t had his hands on her in months—hadn’t laid eyes on her.
“Are you coming in or what?”
Fuck. Her husky voice skipped over his skin in a trail of prickly heat. He turned to find her leaning against the frame of her open front door. The sight of her took his breath. His eyes soaked her in. From head to toes, he catalogued the changes.
Her hair was longer, the thick brown waves almost brushing her waist now, and he couldn’t wait to tangle his fingers in those silky strands and kiss her senseless.
Business first.
He’d have to suffer from the worst case of blue balls in history for a little while longer. Smiling, he started up the path. “Did you get the papers I sent over?”
“Yes.” She pushed off the doorjamb and shook her head. “But I’m not signing them.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
“There are a few things I need answered before I sign with your security company.”
What the fuck? She’d been the one to ask him to go out on his own so she could hire him. “Like?”
“Why don’t we take this discussion inside?” Without waiting for an answer, Soph turned on her bare heel and walked into the house.
Following, Stone took no notice of his surroundings. He was too busy checking out her ass in the skin-tight jeans she wore. The material cupped her rear end the way his hands longed to.
“Stop perving on my butt, Stone.”
He could hear the smile in her voice. “It’s a great butt,” he responded. There wasn’t any point in denying the perving.
“Whatever.” She led him into a living room filled with large comfy-looking leather couches and a huge screen covering the far wall. “Take a seat. I’ll grab us a drink.”
“I don’t need a seat or a drink. I want to know why you won’t sign the paperwork I had drawn up. You’re the one who asked me to do this.”
“Fine.” Soph flopped onto a couch and smiled up at him. “Can you do the job I’m hiring you for and see me at the same time?”
“See you? Isn’t that what the job requires? Seeing you every day.” His chest tightened, his heart racing with the implication of her words. Except he wasn’t jumping to conclusions, he needed every detail spelled out.
“Are you being obtuse on purpose?”
“No.”
“Then you know what I’m saying.”
“I need it clearer.”
“Fine, can you take care of my security needs and sleep in my bed with me?”
“Sleep in your bed?”
“I want you to move in with me.”
“Wow.” Shit. That was way more than he’d hoped for when he’d walked away all those weeks ago. Except… “Why? Why do you want me to move in here?”
She blew out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a very frustrating man?”
“Sure. But that doesn’t answer my question.”
“Okay, how about this.” Soph brought her gaze to his. “I’m in love with you and I know you feel the same.”
“Confident.”
“Definitely. I respect that you thought we needed time to be sure our feelings weren’t a product of the high-stakes situation that brought us together, but I’m done giving you time to be sure.”
“Me?” he croaked.
She frowned. “Yes, you.”
“It wasn’t me who needed to be sure.”
“Of course it was,” she argued.
Stone chuckled. How could she be so oblivious? “I’ve known from the second I pulled you into my arms that first day. I might have fought it and tried to deny it, but it was a done deal from that moment.”
“So you were giving me time?”
Stone nodded.
“Bloody hell. We’ve wasted weeks!”
He laughed.
“It’s not funny! I’ve been going out of my bloody mind. I even had to throw out my phone charger so I couldn’t call you.”
Reaching down, he grabbed her hand and tugged her to her feet, pulled her against his chest. “Will you sign those papers now?”
She tilted her head and squinted at him. “I don’t know…I’m not sure I like you anymore.”
“Is this like the Ferris wheel?” He bent to nuzzle the soft skin of her throat. “I seem to remember you pretending you didn’t like me then too.”
“I want to go back.”
Stone raised his head to look at her. “What?”
“To Sapphire Falls. I want to go back for the festival.”
“It’s over.”
“Yes, but it’s on every year.”
“Okay.”
“Easy as that?”
“I think we established when it comes to each other, we’re both easy.”
“A tough guy like you?”
Stone smiled. “When it comes to love, it’s the tough guys who go down the hardest.”