Come Away With Me(54)

“Girlfriend?”

He stops his rant and stares at me.

“Yes, girlfriend. I thought after this past weekend that that’s where we are.”

Oh.

Wow.

“Am I wrong?” His voice is worryingly calm.

“Well, no, I guess I just hadn’t thought about it.” I finish with the bed and turn to face him again.

“Luke, this is my job.”

“I don’t like it.”

“It isn’t your place to tell me that I can’t do this.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“That’s what you’re implying. I’ve done this for years. No one has ever gotten out of hand. Remember, I told you, I don’t have sex in here, and I don’t have sex with clients. Jesus, do you have so little faith in me?”

“No, it’s just…” He runs his hands through his hair again and paces back and forth. “I wasn’t expecting to feel the way I felt when I saw his hands on you.”

“How did you feel?” I tilt my head at him, my curiosity piqued.

“Like I wanted to kill him,” he growls.

“Oh.”

“Nat, think of how you would feel if I had to do a love scene in a movie. It would be work to me, but I’d still have to hold another woman, kiss her…”

“Stop right there.” I do not want to hear this.

“It’s the same thing for me.”

Jeez.

I take a deep breath and sit on the side of the bed, suddenly weary. “I’m sorry, it didn’t occur to me. Honey, I haven’t had to explain my actions to another human being in years.”

“I know.”

“You were jealous.”

“Jealous is too tame a word for what I was feeling.”

Part of me wants to squeal and do a little happy dance, but I hold it in and gaze at him impassively.

“You don’t have any reason to be jealous. You’re all I see, Luke, even when I’m not with you.”

He closes his eyes tightly, as though some great weight has been lifted and I take him all in. He’s wearing another button down shirt today, in black this time, and black jeans. He looks young and impossibly beautiful.

And I’m his girlfriend!

I stand and move to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. He puts his arms around me, linking his fingers at the small of my back and we just gaze at each other for a minute.

“Please don’t be mad at me,” I whisper.

“I’m not.”

“You were.”

“Yeah, I was.” He kisses my forehead. “Don’t you have any real clothes in here?”

“Yeah, it got hot in here, so I took them off.”

He narrows his eyes again and they go cold. Shit.

“Don’t freak out on me, it happens no matter who I’m photographing. I don’t have A/C in here.”

“Why not?”

“Well, honestly, because a sweaty body is sexy on film.”

“Oh.” He furrows his brow.

“Hey, stop it. You have nothing to be jealous over, honey.” I run my hands down his face, loving the roughness of his stubble against my palms.

“I love it when you call me that.” He leans into my touch and closes his eyes.

“You do?”

“Yeah, you usually just call me by my name.”

“You’re a terms of endearment kind of guy, huh?” I stand on my toes and kiss his lips gently and his eyes warm up.

“Obviously, baby.”

“I love it when you call me baby.”

Now his eyes light up like it’s Christmas.

“Why?”

“No one ever has before,” I whisper.

He sighs and hugs me close. “I forget how inexperienced you are when it comes to relationships.”

“Yeah, so cut me some slack. There has to be a learning curve.” I pinch his tight butt and he laughs.

“Okay, okay. Just do me a favor.” He face is serious again.

“What?”

“No more single men. Please.”

I frown and want to argue with him.

“Please, Natalie. For me.”

“What if we have a chaperone?”

“Talk with me before you book another single man, and we’ll discuss it.

I don’t like feeling like this. I’m asking you to respect how I feel.”