Unfortunately, he wasn’t, and she swallowed hard past the disappointment before she spoke. “Given what I just told you, and how I’d feel in reverse, meaning if you were telling me that you were holding something back, I wouldn’t blame you if you want to walk away,” she said softly, and it was with mixed feelings that she watched him crane his neck to look around them, certain he was about to do just that.
“We’re alone out here,” he said instead and pulled her in closer. “Pretty rare.”
“Spence —”
“We all have secrets, Colbie,” he said and kissed her gently, his passion clearly in check. “And we laid out our line in the sand from the beginning.”
“That being . . . that this thing between us is temporary, right?” she said. “Because I’m neither relationship material nor geographically desirable, and you’re . . .”
“Bad at this,” he helpfully filled in for her.
She nodded and then she shook her head. “Except you’re not bad at this, Spence.”
“I am,” he insisted. “And that’s a promise.”
“So you’re saying that it’s a good thing we don’t have time?”
He gave her a small smile.
Yeah. That’s exactly what he was saying. That it was a good thing they didn’t have time. Again, she worked to shove the disappointment deep but wasn’t entirely successful. Time to pull back and regroup, she thought. “I had fun tonight,” she said. “Thanks for the date. It was pretty incredible.”
“You’re more than welcome. I had a great time too.” The warmth in his gaze, the heat from his body . . . Even with what they’d just discussed, it was all heady stuff. More so when he wrapped his hand around her ponytail and used it to bring her face closer to his. And then he gave her what she was pretty sure he’d intended to be another quick kiss—but wasn’t. Not by a long shot, and when it ended, she had to lock her knees to keep from slipping into a puddle of longing on the ground.
With a gravelly groan low in his throat, Spence drew himself away from her. “That’s getting harder to do,” he said.
“Kiss me?”
“Stop kissing you,” he corrected. “The fountain must be taking your wish seriously.”
She saw the teasing light in his eyes, swirled in with a good amount of heat, and managed a smile in return even though she thought maybe the fountain was taking her wish very seriously indeed.
Chapter 14
#GodBlessAmerica
When Spence got home, he was far too keyed up to sleep. Thinking he’d work, he went to his office and logged on to his computer. But his concentration was even more shot tonight than it’d been all week.
He gave up and went to bed, telling himself he’d get back at it tomorrow.
But he didn’t. Not that day or the next three. That was because for three straight days he pulled Colbie from her apartment and knocked something off her list. He took her shopping in Union Square, for dim sum in Chinatown, and wine tasting in Napa Valley.
But not the nights. The nights he worked. Not full throttle, because his brain felt otherwise occupied with one sweet and sexy Colbie, but he did try. And as he stared at his screens, he realized that he was actually making a very real, very serious attempt at balancing Colbie and work.
As for whether he was successful at it, the jury was still out. But three days in, he sent what he had to both Caleb and Joe—who was consulting with them on the security end—hoping one of them might be able to put a finger on what he was missing. Then he dragged his exhausted ass into bed. It was three a.m. and he looked at his phone for the first time all day.
Three new marriage proposals. One request for a picture of his bare feet. That was a new one. He deleted everything, including a stack of e-mails from investors wanting him to come in on their ideas and bankroll them. He deleted three e-mails from Brandon.
Done, he tossed his phone aside. Then he stared at his window, where the building’s holiday lights were blinking, making his eyes rattle in his head. He texted Elle.
Spence:
Your lights are giving me a seizure.
The Ruler of Your Universe:
Do what the rest of us do in the middle of the night—shut your damn eyes.
Spence:
Seriously. Wake up and shut off the lights.
The Ruler of Your Universe:
I’m not sleeping. I’m doing one of your best friends.
Spence:
Overshare! Shut off the fucking lights, Elle.
The Ruler of Your Universe:
Okay, Grinch, sheesh . . .
Spence tossed his phone aside. Grinch. He wasn’t the Grinch. And just because he chose not to use it didn’t mean that his heart was two sizes too small. He handled the holiday season just fine. He looked around his place. Not one holiday decoration, not so much as a single strand of tinsel.
Okay, so maybe the holidays tended to get to him. His mom was already back east and would be there for weeks. His only other blood relative preferred a damn alley to a perfectly nice, warm apartment. And yeah, he had his friends and he was grateful for them but . . . Well, he still didn’t feel into the spirit. Especially knowing that by Christmas Day, the one person he’d love to celebrate with would be gone.
Shaking his head, he rolled over and closed his eyes. He was deep into the best dream of his life, doing things to Colbie that were making her cry out for more, when he heard something.
“Spence . . .”
Yeah, that’s right, he thought, say my name, scream it—
“He’s smiling in his sleep,” came Joe’s voice. “Why is he smiling in his sleep?”
“Maybe he’s making a breakthrough,” Caleb said. “Don’t wake him up in case he’s solving all our prob lems.”
“I bet he’s dreaming about a woman,” Joe said. “Not work.”
Caleb snorted. “With this problem unsolved? Not likely.”
“He’s only human.”
“But that’s the thing—he’s not human,” Caleb said. “He’s a machine and he’s on the job. That’s all that matters to him. Right, Spence? Wake the fuck up and tell him you’re solving our problems in your sleep and not hooking up.”
“Why are you in my bedroom?” Spence asked without opening his eyes.
“Uh, because we have a meeting,” Caleb said, sounding ticked off.
“Had,” Joe said. “You missed it.”
Shit. Spence sat up. Daylight was streaming into his bedroom. “What time is it?”
“Time for you to tell us if you were bit by a vampire or a woman,” Joe said, eyeing Spence’s neck. “I vote vampire, because when you’re this deep into a project, you can’t remember your own damn name, much less enough niceties to get laid.”
Spence didn’t bother to cover the hickey on his neck, the one Colbie had given him yesterday after he’d taken her for the dim sum in Chinatown. He loved that hickey. Instead he gave them each a shove off his bed and slid out from beneath the covers to head into his bathroom.
“Jesus,” Caleb said, shielding his eyes. “Warn a guy, would you? Put some fucking clothes on.”
A pair of pants hit Spence in the back of his head.
Joe’s doing. Caleb couldn’t throw worth shit. Spence let the pants fall to the floor and headed straight into his shower.
“Think he got laid?” he heard Caleb ask.
“Hope he did,” Joe said. “He’s been pissy as hell.”
“I’m not pissy!” Spence yelled, turning on the water.