Gold (All that Glitters #2)(66)

“Hiding?”

This conversation had shifted.

“Do you think I would start a relationship with you without knowing everything I could first?” he asked.

In confusion, Bryna sat up quickly. Her stomach dropped out, and fear seemed to reign over all other emotions. What did he know? How much did he know? And how did he know it?

“What?” she asked.

“I’ve been waiting all this time for you to tell me. I want you to admit who you are. I’ll still love you either way.”

Bryna startled. “L-love me?”

“I know.” He looked down and then up again into her eyes. “I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Of course I love you. I was lost when I first met you. I don’t care that you’re an eighteen-year-old college student. I don’t care that you told me you were going to Miami to hang out with your girlfriends when you were there for the play-off game. Did you think I wouldn’t notice the coincidence? There’s so much. I don’t care who you are or where you came from. I’m tired of the lies.”

She was slack-jawed at his admission.

“When I’m with you, I want you, not the illusion you’ve created,” he continued.

“I don’t know what to say.”

He knew everything about her, but she knew next to nothing about him. She hadn’t wanted to know. She had thought that was part of the arrangement. He was married, and she was his sugar baby. That was how this worked. She didn’t love him, and she certainly couldn’t say she did.

“I don’t expect you to say anything. I’m sure it’s all a shock, but I want you, Bryna,” he said, using her name for the first time. “Choose me.”

Haven’t I already done that by flying out here?

She swallowed. There was no other choice.

“I choose you.”

Hugh leaned her back against the desk and made his way back down her body. The intensity with which he consumed her revealed how much her words meant to him. She came, writhing on the table under his capable hands and practiced mouth. Her world slipped away, and she used the ecstasy of this dream to help her forget what she had left behind, to remind her why she had chosen this to begin with.

She heard a zipper, and then his pants hit the floor.

“Fuck, Bryna,” he groaned.

He maneuvered himself to her opening, and she felt the building pressure when he entered her in one swift motion. He wasn’t gentle with her, and she liked it. It felt like punishment. She needed it. She let it wrap all around her. She wanted him to be brutal, to f*ck away her nightmares.

He rocked into her again and again, leaving nothing but the sound of their bodies slapping together in their wake. When Hugh flipped her over and forced her flat against his desk, she tried to push the image of Eric out of her mind. She had decided long ago that he didn’t matter. She needed to remember it again.

Hugh gripped her tighter, and she felt her own climax building, despite her dark thoughts. Or maybe it was because of her dark thoughts. She didn’t even know anymore. All she knew was that they hit that spot together. Both soared away to another place and another time, and her release left her in tatters once more.

THE NEXT MORNING, Bryna felt like hell. Even though she had slept for nearly a day straight, it hadn’t helped. She had bags under her eyes from crying, and her stomach was still in her throat.

She applied a healthy dose of makeup to get rid of the side effects of her unnecessary tears. She grabbed her phone and checked it for the first time since she had landed in New Jersey. She had three missed calls and five text messages from Eric. She sighed heavily. Great.

She opened the first one.

I know I f*cked up. That wasn’t how I wanted to tell you that I like you. Please let me explain. I don’t want to lose you.

Bryna closed her eyes and fought back the wave of emotions that hit her. She couldn’t do this. She needed some time away to think about what she wanted to do. She had chosen Hugh last night, and right now, that was where she needed to be. She deleted the other messages before reading them and tucked her phone away in her purse. She promised herself she wouldn’t look at it again while she was here.

Holding back her frustrations, she walked out of the bedroom to find a huge platter set up for breakfast.

Hugh smiled brightly when he saw her. “You look refreshed.”

It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Thanks. What’s this?”

“I thought we could eat together. I have some time before my first meeting. Care to take a walk down the boardwalk?”

“Sure.”

She sat down and ate a pancake, some eggs, and fruit, and then they left the hotel room. The resort was right on the water, and it was teeming with high school spring breakers. It was hard to believe that had been her a year ago. She had spent her senior spring break alone. She didn’t like to think about that.

“It’s nice to be away,” she admitted.

Hugh stepped out of the way of some kids running down the boardwalk and pulled her with him. “It is.”

“I’d love to do this all the time.” She felt wistful. She couldn’t abandon school or the cheer team, but this was paradise.

“Well, what about this summer? Do you have plans?”

“No.” She hadn’t really thought about it.