Landon

Everything about this day and this night was normal, provided that normal meant two people were getting to know each other and falling in love in the process. What made our situation abnormal were the mistruths I was forced to feed her day after day, question after question. I needed to tell her. The more invested we became in each other, the harder it would be to walk away.

That was the problem. I was now fully invested in us, in her. What if she didn’t want a life in the public eye? The possibility that my celebrity could push her away was what caused the truth to clog in my throat each time I tried to tell her.

Spike’s interference forced me to lead her back to the table to finish our dessert. She and I sat facing each other, feeding each other chocolate-covered strawberries in between spurts of conversation.

“Can I ask you something?” she asked, her eyes focused on our entwined fingers instead of on my face.

“Of course.”

Her golden-brown eyes lifted to mine, a pause passed before she asked, “Did you tell your mom about me?”

Of all the things she could have asked, I never expected that. Caught off guard, my fumble supplied the answer she waited for.

“No…but only because I haven’t spoken to her since before our first official date. The reason she called tonight has to do with her grieving process. Since Logan died, it’s become an obsessive ritual for her. If she sees something that reminds her of me, or if she dreams of me, or even if someone mentions me by name, Mom feels she needs to be sure I’m safe.”

Her concerned frown altered to one of remorse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I was just curious.”

“You’re not prying,” I whispered, lifting our hands to place a soft kiss on hers.

A slow smile spread over her lips until a dimple appeared centered on each cheek. Her gaze bounced between my face and the plate of strawberries. She picked one up and offered it. “One more?”

I was stuffed, but how could I refuse such deliciousness being fed to me by such gorgeousness. Opening my mouth for her, without warning she shifted just enough to paint my top and bottom lips with the now softened, melted chocolate. The more I gawked, the more she ran the fruit over my face until I felt a gooey mess sticking to my skin.

“Really?”

“What? I’m simply giving you a taste,” she said all wide-eyed and innocent.

I loved how she could turn on a dime and switch gears at a moment’s notice, going from contemplative to mischievous in the blink of an eye.

“You’re gonna pay for that.”

By sliding her hand out of my grip, her eyes cutting toward the door, she completely gave herself away. I allowed her three steps before I caught her around her waist, turning her around to happily spread the joy all over her face. I held nothing back, smearing my chocolate-coated lips over hers, down her neck, across her breasts only to lift my face and leave a new path of destruction down one arm and then the other. For good measure, I grabbed another partially melted strawberry, and stuffed it in between her breasts.

“Lance!” she screamed in between fits of giggles.

Once I was satisfied with my artistic masterpiece, I crushed my lips to hers, savoring every part of her mouth and tongue…and it had nothing to do with the chocolate I found there. I craved her in every way. Yes, I wanted all her kisses and every single touch. But I wanted more than that. Emotionally connecting with her was probably top of the list. They were all equally important to me, and one wasn’t any more or less important than the other.

For the first time in my life, I honestly felt I couldn’t live another day without Zara being part of it. Any notion of going back to Hollywood as Landon Price the movie star to resume my life as it had been was now gone. When I returned, it’d be as Landon Price, a man in love who happened to act for a living. All that used to be important had now taken a backseat to Zara Jobert.

Spike leapt vertically around our entwined bodies, neither of us paying much attention while we devoured each other in an explosion of unbridled passion. Refusing to break the kiss, I lifted her and carried her into my bathroom. Through the motions of turning on the shower and stripping off our clothes, our lips never parted once. While washing each other, we concentrated more on the touch of our hands rather than the actual act of cleansing.

But that was all that happened. The touching, kissing, washing, and groping never led to more. And by the time we fell into my bed, naked and wet, I had to keep reminding myself why not to slide into her at that moment. My cock argued fuck stopping for a condom, fuck my stupid logic on why I couldn’t take her yet. Fuck it all, he screamed as I pressed against her thigh to achieve some relief.

No matter what my cock screamed and shouted, my heart couldn’t allow things to progress. Not after I had promised that tonight wasn’t about sex, and not before telling her the truth. I couldn’t make love to Zara until she knew who I really was. Even as terrifying as it was to know we’d possibly never connect in that way once that happened, I still needed to wait.

My reeling thoughts forced me to break away with a pained groan. We each fell backward, lying side by side on our backs, dragging in one labored breath after another.

“Zara. We need to stop.”

“Okay,” she agreed without hesitation.

Thank Christ, I thought. Because if she had insisted we keep going there would have been no fucking way I could deny her.