Page 23 of Total Obsession

"I'm not one for pushing," he said. "But, I feel like this is one of those situations where you just need a little encouragement."

"I don't want to burden you with these things," I said, fighting him.

He was persistent. "Burden me? Why would you sharing things with me be a burden?" He seemed genuinely perplexed by my question.

I was unable to fight the urge any longer. I opened my mouth and all of it rushed out. "I'm scared because we've been so long without one another. I don't want to lose you again. I feel like I just finally found you, but I don't see how I'm going to see you again. I don't see how it's going to work."

He smiled, and I suddenly started to worry that he was about to laugh at me. "Is that all?" he asked.

I felt mortified by his answer. Maybe he thought I was being a foolish girl. I sort of was. It was really illogical of me to be so attached to him already, but I couldn't seem to help it. I couldn't even understand it.

"What on Earth makes you think I'm going to let you slip through my fingers? Did you ever think that you're someone worth seeing? Someone who is more than worth the time and the effort? You're moving to New York, right?"

I nodded my head.

"We'll see each other," he said to me. "I'm in New York often, and," he added, "even if I wasn't, I'd make the trip to see you."

"Oh," I said, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" he asked.

I felt my heartbeat calm, and I shook my head. The wheels touched down and I jostled about in my seat. It was all very fitting, given that was exactly how my heart was feeling.

* * *

A black executive sedan was waiting for me out on the tarmac when we landed. I looked at Axe and he smiled.

"The driver already has your address," he said. "He will take you home."

"You really shouldn't have," I said to him. I tried to reach into my purse, and he put a hand on top of mine to stop me. "At least let me give you something for all of this," I begged.

"Don't be silly," he said. "I got to spend an entire twenty-four hours with the most beautiful and coveted woman in the world right now. Money really doesn't play a factor here."

"That's a bit of an overstatement," I said.

His finger was under my chin again, and he forced me to look up at him. "I have a task for you, pretty girl," he said.

"Okay," I whispered, the sound barely escaping my lips.

"While we're apart, I don't want you self-deprecating anymore. You're a gorgeous and beautiful woman. I want you to feel that, and if I have to remind you of it every single day, then I will."

"Okay." I felt helpless to say anything else. If any other man had said this to me, I'd laugh him off as being cheesy or ripping off lines from a romance novel, but when Axe said it to me, with his finger under my chin and his green gaze captivating me, I felt unable to fight him.

"That's my girl," he said, before placing another gentle kiss to my lips. I was starting to crave those kisses. I was starting to crave a lot of things that Axe had given me over the past twenty-four hours.

He walked me down the steps of the plane and over to the car.

"Will you. . . " I started to say before trailing off, embarrassed.

"Call you? Text you? See you, again?" he asked, immediately knowing what it was I was thinking.

"How do you do that?" I asked him.

"Do what?"

"Know what it is that I'm thinking? Say it before I even have the courage to?"

"I guess it's because you and I have a special connection," he said, eluding to our past for the first time.