Rebound, Boundless Series, Book 1

Chapter Nineteen

"Perla?" He called out, but I ignored him as I washed the remaining dishes in the sink. "It may seem—"

"It seems like a pity invitation." I snapped, feeling my anger overtake me.

He pursed his lips before he replied, "I know we've only seen each other for a short time, but—"

"You feel like you owe me something?"

When stood frozen in place, shaking his head. "I just want to share the things I have with you."

"Why?" I countered. "This..." I waved two fingers between us. "Isn't about sharing anything other than sex."

He slipped his hands in his pocket, tucking the keys away from my sight. "I want to make sure you're safe." Upon a deep sigh, he continued, "I really would like you to be here when I get back on Sunday, that's all." After a few beats, he walked to stand beside me. After refusing to respond, he turned off the faucet and pried the frying pan from my hands.

"What do you say?"

"Matt..." I couldn't face him. Anger still sizzled deep in my core. He had no right to make me feel like a gold digger. Even if it wasn't his intention, the request sure made me feel like I wanted to be a kept woman. I looked into his eyes, remembering how we connected while wrapped in each other's arms. "I don't know." I finally said to escape the pressure he was putting on me. An offer such as his required time to mull over it over. Yet, I sensed that a no wasn't the right answer. Nothing else but me practically moving in would satisfy him.

"It's simple. I'm not asking for anything in return. I just want to know you're here."

"You don't know me."

"I know everything I need to know." He placed his hand on my hip.

"I could steal everything in this place." I looked around at all of the artwork and electronics in the living room, then back at him as he chuckled.

"Did you not hear about the twenty-four-hour security?" He squinted, then smiled. "Listen, I really like you. I want to keep you safe."

I swallowed a knot in my throat. It all sounded so wild and irrational. "What if you change your mind while you're in Spain?" I crossed my arms, bracing myself for my own words. "What if you decide you don't want to see me again? And I'm just sitting here, waiting for you?"

He shook his head. The tendrils along his nape rustled against the collar of his button-down shirt. "I think we have great chemistry. And I want to just . . . I don't know . . . See how this works out."

The honesty floored me. "We could work out with me staying at my place. That may be an even better option for us. For almost four days, you wouldn't be here, so I don't know why you're asking me to stay alone in an unfamiliar place."

"It's not unfamiliar. You've been here since Friday. You've made your way around the kitchen already. You're welcome to everything. I trust you. I just want to make sure you aren't in need of anything. And I want you here when I get back on Sunday."

For more incredible sex. Even worse, just for sex. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Unfamiliar means my things aren't here. I don't live here, Matt. I wouldn't feel comfortable being in your home, walking around naked in this pristine place, without my creature comforts." I replied gently.

"You'd walk around naked?"

"Out of all the things I said that's the only thing you honed in on? You're such a dude." I said gently batting his upper arm.

He laughed. "Fine, you don't have to stay while I'm gone, but will you stay until I leave on Thursday? We can pick up a few things at your place after work, some creature comfort stuff. And you can stay with me. You can go home when I take flight on Thursday." He pulled me in tightly against him. I was afraid of rumpling his pristine suit. Once I inhaled his cologne, I snuggled deeper into his arms.

"Is it really what you want?" I murmured into his chest.

"No."

"What?" I lifted my chin to gaze into his eyes.

"What I really want is my first offer. Stay till Sunday. Use my home. Make it your home. Use my car. Make it your car. I'll give Glynnis time off so you can walk around naked."

I laughed. The offer was tempting when he put it that way. "You drive a hard bargain." I shook my head, ringlets falling in front of my face, covering the shame when I said, "I accept your second offer. I'll stay until Thursday. In the meantime, I'll think about staying till Sunday."

"Great, I accept your counteroffer." He sealed the agreement with a kiss. Matt left me in shock. For a doctor, he sure knew a lot about negotiating. "We should go. I'll drop you off at work."

"All this bargaining is exhausting. Give me two minutes to clean up."

"No." He pried me away from the kitchen and toward the front door. "Glynnis will be here at noon. She'll clean up." He retrieved my jacket and purse from the closet.

"I should take my cooler."

"Leave it. You don't have lunch in it anyway. I'll give you money for lunch." He said.

"Matt, I don't need your money." I sighed, exasperation weighing my heart down.

He ignored my protest.

I was starting to feel like a kept woman. The independent side of me battled with my feminine side, who wanted to be taken care of and lavished with intimacy and gifts. In my mind, both were dueling for seniority.

While awaiting the elevator, I summoned the courage to be as frank as possible so there would be no ambiguity. "Matt, I have to be honest with you. I've worked hard to become independent again." I didn't want to bring out the psychological damage brought on by my divorce, so I relayed, "It's okay for you to pay for an occasional coffee or dinner and a movie, but as far as giving me money for lunch, that's not for me." I stared into his narrowed eyes and continued, "I'm feeling a bit unsettled by your initial offer because they're the very things my husband gave to me and then he abruptly snatched it all away..." The elevator bell dinged. Before the doors opened, I said, "I can't go there, again." I concluded without caring for his counter-response.

The quiet elevator ride was uncomfortable.

Matt had a tendency to shut down whenever I said something that didn't sit well with him. We arrived at the parking level and walked to his car. As his custom, he opened the door for me and closed it after I entered. Once he entered the vehicle and powered the engine, he turned to me. His eyes sought mine. As I looked into his eyes, the nerves caught in my throat.

"I'm not trying to keep you or control you. I want to share these things with you because I absolutely know you aren't the type of woman to use me for my money or for what I can provide. I want to give you these things because you deserve them. You've brought me more happiness in these few days than I've ever had. I can't define what this is, but I don't want to lose it, so if I can make it easy for you for one week, I would only be giving you a fraction of what you've given me."

Instead of being touched by his words, I felt sick, knowing I may never hear those words again. I leaned over the center console and kissed him deeply. I needed to touch him, scaling my fingertips over his beard. My heart and mind quarreled with each other, wanting to keep Matt in our lives but trying to do the best thing for me.

At that moment, I knew if we had a lengthy courtship and then a breakup, I would never get over him. That truth frightened me the most.

"My new favorite thing about you, your beard. It broke top five," I said, smiling as I was hypnotized by his eyes. "I'll stop resisting."

"Good. Off to work." He said, then maneuvered out of the parking lot toward our destination. I wasn't all too sure that we were on the same path.