Free Pure Pleasure by Ava McKnight Page B

month!”
    I opened my mouth, thinking I had some sort of contestable retort, but he gave me a challenging look and I suddenly grasped what he was saying to me. What he was trying to make me see.
    But I needed him to see something in return.
    “I liked who we were at the race,” I told him. “We were comfortable with each other, without any airs or pretense. I haven’t had that since I moved here. I’ve dated… all the wrong men. Ones who expect me to look and act a certain way. To always say the right thing and know which fork to use. I always felt put on the spot, you know? And then I met you, and I wanted to tell you all the things I’d kept inside. I wanted to feel all the wonderful things I’ve waited my entire adult life to feel.”
    “Tired of being someone you’re not?” he asked in a low voice.
    I nodded. “Yes. The clothes and shoes are nice, but I’d forgotten how much I missed tennis shoes,” I said as I lifted a foot to show him mine.
    “Well, darlin’,” he said with a smile, “this is about as dressed up as I prefer to get. I’ll wear a suit or a tux for you, if you ask me to, but I like my jeans.”
    “I like you in your jeans too,” I admitted. “And out of them.”
    He chuckled. Then he came around the corner of my desk and sat on the edge of it. In a serious tone, he said, “There are a few concessions I can’t make for you.”
    I eyed him curiously, wondering what the deal breakers were, and hoping with all my heart they were insignificant. Because he’d been right the other day. I had fallen a bit in love with him that night we made love. More so since he’d arrived at my office.
    “Such as?” I ventured with bated breath.
    “Well, for one,” he said in his sexy Southern drawl. “I’m not givin’ up the boat.”
    I laughed, my heart lightening instantly. “How can I argue with that? It has sentimental value to me.”
    “Good. I’m partial to the helicopter and the truck too.”
    “Part of your racing team. I can certainly live with those things.”
    “And this?” he asked as he flipped open the issue of Scottsdale Live he’d taken from the gift bag.
    He handed over an envelope tucked between two pages and I couldn’t even begin to fathom what was inside. I folded back the flap and found an airline boarding pass inside.
    My gaze flashed to his as his grin widened. “This is a ticket to Seattle,” I said on a sharp breath.
    “Yes. First class. Sorry, but my legs are too long for coach.”
    I shook my head. He was just too much. Which prompted me to ask, “What else?” Because I could tell from that now familiar wicked glint in his sky-blue eyes that he had more up his sleeve.
    “Well, don’t get angry, but I did book us a suite at the Four Seasons. Booked one for your mom too.”
    Tears sprang to my eyes again. “That’s just…way over the top.”
    “Yeah, well,” he said as he took my hand and pulled me to him, so I stood between his parted legs. “That’s just something you’re going to have to get used to about me. If you love me, you have to love all the crazy things I do.”
    This time, I nodded as the drops crested the rims of my eyes. “I can accept that.”
    “And you can believe that your past doesn’t bother me? That it makes me respect you even more for forging your own path and moving away from everything you knew and loved in order to make a better life for you and your mom?”
    Again, I nodded. “You wouldn’t be here if that weren’t true.”
    “No, I wouldn’t, darlin’.”
    He pulled me closer to him and kissed me in that tender yet exciting way that made my heart melt at the same time it sent my pulse racing.
    When he finally broke the kiss, he whispered, “We’ve got a few hours to kill before our flight.”
    I grinned as he brushed the rest of the tears from my cheeks. “My article is done and with the copy editor. I’m free for the rest of the afternoon.”
    He hopped off my desk and took my hand after I put my boarding