“Tamati never called me beautiful.” Her voice is little more than a squeak. A tear spills over her lashes.
“Then he’s a fucking idiot. Come here.” I pull her into my arms, and she buries her face into my neck again. “Silly girl,” I murmur.
She turns her head and rests her cheek on my shoulder, letting her emotions settle like leaves coming to rest after being swept up in a breeze. I think maybe she’s just exhausted from everything that’s happened. She’s asking too much of herself. She really has been through it, and what’s happening between us is pushing her over the line.
I kiss her hair. “I’m sorry if this whole fake engagement thing was a step too far for you. I didn’t think about that. I always assume everyone’s like me, and I forgot that you might not enjoy social engagements.”
“Nobody’s like you, Kingi,” she says wryly.
I chuckle. Her hair is in a ponytail, and I run it through my fingers. It’s like red silk.
“And I’m sorry about Sabrina,” I add. “Sorrier than you’ll ever know.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It kind of is. I’m not excusing what she did or how she did it. But I hurt her, and she wanted to hurt me in return. I can understand that.”
“Lisa said there’s no sign of anything on Korero.”
“No. I’m hoping that means she’s changed her mind.”
“Because we didn’t announce the engagement. So if we do, she’ll then retaliate?”
“I don’t know.”
She moves back a little and looks up at me. Her eyes are like green pools, shining in the sunlight. “Maybe you should go and see her.”
My eyebrows rise. “You think that’s a good idea?” My voice is full of doubt.
“I don’t know her the way you do. But I’m sure she’s not all bad. You must have seen something nice in her apart from her boobs.”
I think about it. “Not sure about that.”
“You hurt her feelings when you dumped her,” she says softly, “and maybe if you apologize, it’ll make her feel better. If after that, she still decides to go through with it, at least you won’t feel so bad about it.”
I don’t like the idea of seeing Sabrina again, but I trust Chessie. Her instincts about things like this seem to be spot on. So I hug her again, and we stand there like that quietly for thirty seconds, while she gathers herself.
“Are you okay about last night?” I ask eventually.
She clears her throat. “Yeah. It was just a bit of fun, right?”
“Oh yeah. It’s just… I thought you might feel odd about it.”
“Nah, I’m okay. I feel sorry for your carpet though.”
I laugh, and she smiles, puts her hands on my chest to push back a little again, and looks up at me. Last night was a lot of fun. I’ve sent naughty messages before, but I’ve never had a sexting session like that, leading to both of us coming. It was hot and erotic, and a shock that the shy little Chessie I used to know is a firecracker in bed.
I can’t help but wonder what she’s like in the flesh, so to speak. I guess it’s relatively easy to make up a story, but would she be as passionate face to face? I kinda think she would, and now I’m desperate to find out.
I remember the clause in the contract that stated I have to exercise self-control befitting a gentleman. Well, I blew that one last night. So in for a penny, in for a pound, right?
I lift my hands to cup her face and brush my thumbs across her cheeks to dry them. “Don’t cry.”
She swallows and nods.
I scan her face, and my gaze eventually comes to rest on her mouth. “Can I kiss you?”
Her lips part in surprise. “Why?”