Her lips moved with mine gently, giving me more than just a quick peck on the lips. It was a warm greeting, sensual and sexy.
It made me want to stay.
When I pulled away, she noticed my duffel bag on the edge of the bed. It only took her a few seconds to process what was happening. I was already dressed to leave, and it was barely seven in the morning. “What’s going on?”
“Carter and I are going to Tuscany for a few days. We need to have a conversation with our fathers about what’s going on.”
“And why doesn’t this trip include me?”
There would be too much going on for me to babysit her. And I didn’t want to scare her, to have her see my family’s anger. “I think it’s best if you stay here. It’ll only be a few days.”
“A few days is a lifetime.”
“Invite Vanessa over.”
“You know that’s not why I want to come, Conway.” She stared at me with those piercing eyes, the emotion turbulent. She moved to her knees and sat on the balls of her feet, my t-shirt fitting her like a loose blanket. “Where you go, I go.”
We’d become inseparable over the last few months. She used to be my prisoner, but now she’d become my friend, my confidant, and my mistress. Our lives joined together in the most unpredictable way, and now we were practically a single person. Whenever I wasn’t by her side, she worried about me.
I had a woman who worried about me.
“It’s just not appropriate, Muse. Not this time.”
Her eyes lit up with frustration, but she didn’t argue against me. She kept her anger at bay. “You’ve told me about this guy already. It’s not like I don’t understand what’s going on.”
It was still a conversation for the men, not the women. “No.”
“I could at least stay at—”
“I’m not going to change my mind, Muse. You know I take you wherever I go. But this time, it’s just not appropriate. My father will be angry. My mother will be furious. My uncle and aunt will be upset… It’s not going to be a nice family get-together like you’re used to seeing. My family knows how to celebrate and live life to the fullest, but just like everyone else, we’ve got our baggage. This is one of those times. I need to do this by myself.”
She released a quiet sigh, and her eyes slowly started to relax.
“I’ll be back in a few days. It’ll be over before you know it.”
“Are you leaving right now?” she whispered.
“Yes.”
She rose onto her knees and moved her fingertips underneath my t-shirt to my torso. She felt the grooves of my abs as she drifted farther up. “Do you have a few minutes?” The pleading gaze in her eyes pierced right through my skin.
My woman wanted me between her legs.
And I wasn’t going to refuse her. “I always have a few minutes for you.”
Carter drove while I sat in the passenger seat. We spent most of the drive in silence with the radio on to fill the emptiness. Like with Muse, Carter and I were close enough that the quiet didn’t make either of us uncomfortable. We could exist together for hours without carrying on a conversation.
But in this instance, the silence was strained. We were both thinking the same thing, dreading the same thing.
Carter turned down the radio, the preamble to conversation. “I know I give you shit about it, but I’m being serious now. What’s the rundown with you and Sapphire? Is this the real deal now?”
I kept my gaze focused out the passenger window. “We’ve never talked about women before. Let’s not start now.”
“Never talk about it?” he asked incredulously. “That’s all we ever talk about.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Then that implies Sapphire isn’t like the other women we talk about, the women we pick up and brag about.”
“You’re right,” I said quietly. “She’s not.”
“So, then she is the real deal?”
I only gave him my silence.
“I’m not asking you to be a nosy prick. I’m asking because we’re family.” He glanced at me every few minutes, but his eyes were glued to the road most of the time. “Our whole family loves Sapphire. They can’t get enough of her. You’ve given her your freedom. You shower her with affection in the public eye. And now you’re taking lavish trips with her.”
I still didn’t speak.
“I guess that’s the most confirmation I’m going to get.”
When it came to Muse, I didn’t know how to describe what we had. I wanted to say she was just some woman I was fucking, but everyone knew that wasn’t the case. Even I knew that wasn’t the case. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say she was my girlfriend…even though that’s exactly what she seemed.
But a future still wasn’t on the table. I would grow bored of her eventually, and my tastes would change. My desires would shift, and so would my designs. There was nothing sexy about marriage or parenthood. I could never let Muse be anything more than a mistress.