Heat flooded her cheeks and she clenched her jaw in embarrassment and surprise, staring back at him.
“Sweetheart,” he prompted. “We need to talk about it…just for a minute. We need to set some…some ground rules.”
“Okay,” she whispered, dropping his eyes. It was too humiliating, his body on top of hers, her breasts peaked and taut for something she’d never experienced before. “Yes, I’m a virgin.”
“Then this needs to be said before you come stay with me: You set the pace. You, Elise. All you. You say ‘stop,’ I stop. You say ‘slow down,’ we slow down. I follow your lead. Clear?”
She looked up at him, nodding. “Clear.”
His hardness pressed insistently against her thigh. She knew exactly how much he wanted her—it was obvious—but he was letting her be in charge, and it made something in her heart burst with happiness and joy with the sense that as long as Preston was beside her, she’d always be safe.
He was staring into her eyes, his lips tilted up into a small, sassy grin.
“So, Elise Klassan,” he said wickedly, “tell me what you want.”
“A little more,” she murmured, closing her eyes as she laced her fingers around his neck and pulled his lips back down to hers.
***
Elise slept for ten hours on Friday night and just as he’d promised, Preston slept in the guest room and arranged for a car to take her to Lincoln Center at five forty-five a.m. with instructions for hot tea and a croissant waiting in the backseat.
“Give me your keys,” he said, nuzzling her neck as he said goodbye on the sidewalk in front of his apartment building, still barefooted, wearing pajama bottoms and a T-shirt.
“Why?” she asked, leaning back, but staring at his lips. He almost chuckled. He loved how much he affected her.
“Because I’m going to go get your stuff and bring it to my place today so you can come home and relax after rehearsal.”
“Home?” she asked, grinning up at him, her blue eyes sparkling.
“Temporarily,” he said quickly, smiling back.
He hated saying it, but he had the feeling that she wouldn’t have been able to accept the arrangement if there was anything permanent about it. For her to feel okay about it, he needed to be helping her out of a temporary jam. But with any luck, she’d never leave. He crossed his fingers behind her back.
“Pres,” she said, shaking her head, “that’s just weird. You’re going to go pack my underwear and stuff? No. Not happening. We’ll do it together after rehearsal. Besides, you need to study today.”
Hmmm. Her underwear. He hadn’t given it a lot of thought, but this moving thing was going to be a lot more fun than he’d originally thought.
“I’ll study tonight while you’re sleeping and I promise to close my eyes when I pack your underwear,” he said, holding up three fingers like a boy scout. “Come on. You said that movers came for everything except the bed and couch and that the rental place where Neve got them are picking them up on Tuesday. That leaves…what?”
“My books and clothes. Toiletries. A few groceries.”
She shrugged, and he knew she’d listed the extent of her belongings. It didn’t sound like much and that made him feel a little bad. She had so little that belonged to her.
“Doesn’t sound like much in the way of heavy lifting,” he said, winking at her so she’d relax. “Let me do it. Please.”
Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she rooted around in her bag for her keys, holding them out to him with a slightly worried look.
He grinned. “I’ll close my eyes.”
“Promise?”
“No.”
Taking the keys from her before she could pull them away, he pressed a kiss to her nose, then helped her into the cab.
“I’ll be at the fountain at six,” he said.
“It’s my favorite time of the day.”
“Kiss me,” he said, reaching for her soft cheeks and leaning down to capture her lips with his.
After she was moaning and breathless, he let her go, stepping back onto the curb and slamming the cab door. He waved as it pulled away from the sidewalk, his heart hammering with the strength of his growing feelings.