Page 107 of Whisper Sweet Nothings
“Do you think you closed yourself off to anything other than casual just because of Melody, or do you think you were protecting yourself after she left?” I tipped my head back to look at him, and he arched one eyebrow, clearly surprised by my question.
“Are you a therapist now, Winnie?”
“Just a romance author who loves to deep-dive into people’s backstories.” I leaned up to look at him as I chewed my bottom lip. I wondered if my questions were pushing things too far.
Jaden was always annoyed by questions. In all honesty, he was kind of annoyed by conversation in general.
It had a lot to do with me pouring my feelings into the pages of my books.
My marriage had been a very lonely place for me these last few years.
As if he could read my mind, Archer’s hand moved to the side of my face. His thumb stroked my cheek. “Hey, you can ask me anything you want. You can also tell me anything you want to tell me as well. I love that you care so much.”
“Thank you,” I said, my voice quiet now.
“I think maybe it was a mix of both. But I’ve always been a man who trusts my gut. And my gut has been pointing me to you for a while now.” He tucked the hair behind my ear. “But yes, I think I was being cautious because I want to protect my daughter, but I’m sure I want to protect myself a bit, too.”
“And you don’t feel like you need to protect yourself from me?” I asked with a grin.
“Oddly, no. I don’t. And what about you? I know you had a plan to be single. But if we’re going to continue this whole friends-who-date-with-all-the-benefits thing, that might make things complicated for you.”
“Well, I made that whole decision before I knew that book boyfriends really exist.” I laughed. “I’m happy to secretly date you, Archer Chadwick.”
“I don’t think we have to keep it a complete secret. I think we need to be cautious with Melody, but I don’t think that means no one else can know.”
“What are you saying, Archie? Do you want to date me for real?”
“Are we in high school? Oh wait, you weren’t there that long ago, were you?”
“I’m twenty-five years old now. And you’re thirty-four. Hardly too old to date. And I swear you have the penis of a teenage boy. It’s very eager and easily impressed,” I said over a fit of giggles as he flipped me on my back and hovered above me.
“Only for you, Winnie,” he said. “But I kind of want to fire you now.”
My eyes bulged. “Why would you fire me?”
“Because how does this work? We’re going to actually date one another, and you live in my casita and cook dinner for us and do Melody’s laundry—it feels barbaric.”
Loud laughter bellowed from me. “You actually don’t ask me to do anything outside of caring for Melody. I added in a lotof things because I like to do them. And let’s face it, your eggs are terrible. I wouldn’t be eating at all if you were doing the cooking.”
He nipped at my earlobe, and I squealed.
“I don’t want it to be weird. I’d like to see where this can go.”
“Then don’t make it weird,” I said. “And you’re not firing me. I’ll file a complaint with the HR department.”
He snorted. “Fine. You can keep making us delicious meals whenever you want.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“‘Boss,’ huh? I’ll show you just how bossy I can be,” he said as he leaned down and kissed me.
And I couldn’t get enough of this man.
“Okay, this is by far your best book yet. The acts of service this man does for her. I can’t even handle it,” Emilia said. We were having our boozy book brunch at the Honey Biscuit Café, and we were discussing my book, of all things.
“Agreed. I stayed up all night and finished it.” Eloise reached for her mimosa.
“Girl, I don’t know where you come up with this stuff, but it’s so addicting,” Lulu added. She broke a piece of her muffin off and popped it in her mouth.
