Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 43856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
So maybe it wasn’t about making her stay.
Maybe it was about showing her that I would go anywhere.
That I would follow her.
Even to California.
Even to the ends of the earth.
But even as that realization settled in, a deeper, darker fear curled at the edges of my thoughts.
What if that wasn’t the problem?
What if it weren’t about logistics, about control, about where we lived or how we could make this work?
What if she just. . didn’t feel the same?
The idea cracked something in me.
So fast, I had gone all in, no hesitation.
I had seen the future so clearly—dating, engagement, marriage. A life where I worshiped her body for decades, where I woke up every morning knowing she was mine.
But what if I was the only one who saw it?
What if I was the only one falling?
I exhaled sharply, my grip tightening on her hip.
For the first time since I met her, I felt uncertain.
And I fucking hated it.
But for Rae, I would wait.
She blinked at me. “Fabien. . .I just can’t. . .stay in New York. . .but I do like you. . .so much it. . .scares me.”
My heart warmed. “You do?”
“Yes.”
“So. . .” I did my best to not grumble. “Don’t tell me that I’ll need to go to California.”
Suddenly, she turned away from me, put her face forward toward the wall, and I could tell without seeing her expression that she was nervous. Her voice came out shaky. “Would you really come to California for me? You barely know me.”
"I would follow you to the ends of the earth, chérie." I gently massaged the ass cheek that I’d smacked. “Is that what you want—me on the plane with you heading to California tomorrow?”
She shivered under my touch. “You wouldn’t. . .”
“That’s not an answer.” I traced the curve of her hip and leaned my head over her shoulder to get a side view of her face.
She was biting her lower lip anxiously, and her eyes were filled with worry. “This is happening fast.”
“It is.”
“I don’t want to rush this.”
“Yet, you’re mine.”
She parted her lips in shock.
I had never once in my life wanted to set foot in California.
Too sunny.
Too cheerful.
Too many beaches.
Too many perfect fake bodies.
Too much endless summer.
It was the opposite of what I thrived in—the shadows, the decadence, the rich grittiness of Paris.
But for her?
I would go anywhere.
Antarctica, if necessary.
“Rae. . .”
She closed her eyes.
“If you told me you were leaving tomorrow for the Arctic Circle, I would be on the next flight, wrapped in fur, ready to seduce you under the Northern Lights.”
She snapped her eyes open.
I let out a slow breath, forcing myself to ease my grip on her hips before I did something irreversible, something that would have us missing her flight because she was too weak to move.
Instead, I reached for her wrist, guiding her to turn toward me.
She looked up at my face, her big brown eyes searching, as if she were still processing the weight of my words.
“I’ve never wanted to go to California.” I ran my thumb over her wrist, feeling her pulse, feeling her warmth. “But I’d go for you.”
She swallowed. “Fabien—”
“It would be a simple phone call,” I continued, voice even, steady, as if I weren’t absolutely wrecked by how much I needed her. “I would just need to change my inspection region from France to California. Nothing more. No big deal.”
Her lips parted slightly. “You would really do that for me?”
I smirked, brushing my knuckles along her jaw, tilting her chin just slightly. “Chérie, I would. I would even learn how to skate along the beach and surf like a true, annoying Californian.”
I expected her to laugh.
Expected some snarky, sarcastic quip.
But instead. . .she shivered.
My heart stopped.
Her breath came out uneven, her hands trembling just slightly against my chest.
I felt it before she even said the words.
The shift.
The surrender.
Yes. She is falling for me too. Thank God.
I ran my hands down her side, settling on the soft curve of her hips. “You know you want me there.”
Her breath hitched. “I do. . .I’m just not. . .used to a man going to this level to be with me.”
Aww. That’s what the problem was. Now, I understand.
She was used to being left behind.
Used to men making her feel like she was too much, or not enough, or something in between that was never quite right.
“I am not them. I would follow you anywhere. I’d be a menace, Rae. Imagine me in California. I’d start drinking green juices. Running on the beach at sunrise.”
She let out a breathy laugh, but it was unsteady, as if she were still fighting whatever war was happening inside her chest.
I tightened my grip, grounding her. “Rae, let me come with you. I’ll have my assistant find me a nice place to settle in. That wouldn’t be a problem. However, we need time to get to know each other. . .not just this one night. It can’t just be this one night.”