Chapter 116
Chapter 116
“ Amos.” She stilled his anxious babbling with a hand on his chest. “You don’t have to take me anywhere p>
“I know I don’t have to, but I want to do right by you. I want to give you the things you deserve.” Ile raked his fingers through his hair again. He had to do this right. He knew he wasn’t the most exciting man, immortal or otherwise, but he would do whatever it took to make Chloe happy.
Chloe curled her fingers around his bicep, pulling his arm down before he tugged all his hair out. “I’m on my feet all day every day. A night in would be perfect p>
That made sense, and he wanted to believe her–largely because staying in suited his own introversion. But he was afraid she was just being polite. “Are you sure? I told you I was going to court you properly, and I meant it p>
“Honest. I don’t really want to be surrounded by people right now. I spend most my waking hours at work, surrounded by people, and even when I’m at home, I’m constantly surrounded by family.” She blew out a heavy breath. “I love them, but they’re… a lot p>
Amos couldn’t be glad that she was so stressed all the time, but he was grateful that he could be a quiet harbor for her. “Alright, if you’re sure.
“I am p>
The tension eased from his shoulders. “How does a movie sound, then? ”
“Perfect p>
He pulled out his phone, controlling his entertainment system from it. He brought up a streaming service and scrolled through titles, insisting Chloe pick.
She settled on a comedy Amos remembered hearing good things about, but had never actually seen. He got it started and set his phone aside. As soon as he had settled back against the couch cushions, Chloe scooted up next to him, curling against his side.
Amos went totally still, surprised by the easy intimacy. He looked down at her, arm held aloft like a seagull with a broken wing. Chloe glanced up, alerted by his stillness. Whatever she saw in his face must have reassured her. She relaxed against him, wrapping one arm around his midsection. Her free hand reached up to pull his hovering arm down around her shoulders.
He could feel her breasts pressed against his side, the warmth of her body seeping into his. It took a moment, but he finally managed to relax. Contentment rumbled in his chest with every breath. He tried to suppress it, but the purr wouldn’t be silenced. In any case, Chloe didn’t seem to mind. She laid her ear against his sternum, listening.
The movie ended up being fine. Not particularly memorable, but not unenjoyable. The real pleasure though, came from the easy, unhurried conversations they kept getting into, instead of paying attention to the TV.
“Have you ever courted anyone before?” Chloe asked during the opening credits.
Amos tensed. “Yes p>
“Do you not want to talk about it?” she asked gently.
He ought to. If he was going to court her, if he was going to ask her to accept a permanent bond with him, he needed to be honest with her. “There’s not much to tell. There was a woman I met in… 1952? Mary Catherine Donovan p>
Chloe snorted. “You have a thing for Catholics? ”
Sudden alarm seized Amos’s heart. “Are you Catholic?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
She shot him a questioning glance. “I mean, I’m Italian and Mexican, so my family is all Catholic, and I was raised Catholic. Baptized, CCD, Confirmation, the whole thing. But I’m not really religious. The only time I go to mass anymore is for a wedding or a funeral p>
“So you don’t have any, er, spiritual objections to p>
me p>
08:42 C
Caught Naked By My Alpha Neighbor! Now I’m His – No Escane.
Chapter 116
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, no, Amps. No” The arm around his midsection squeezed tighter. “Let me guese Mary had some objection p>
“Yes. But, you don’t need to feel too bad for me. I wasn’t irrevocably in love with her. She was just she was kind. And we got slang very well. And i
he shrugged“-there wasn’t.” thought there was a possibility there. But-
P
“I’m sorry.” She was quiet for a moment. “Was there ever anybody else p>
“There was one other person p>
Chloe waited.
“His name was Michael Delacroix p>
“Oh.” She paused, and in that pause, Amos became acutely conscious of the precariousness of his relationship with Chloe–the newness of it, all of the unknowns between them, the weight of its potential. “How did you meet him?” she asked, sounding merely curious–not disgusted, not angry, not confused.
He didn’t realize how tightly his jaw had clenched until then. He relaxed, letting the tension ebb away. “We met in 1965. He and I worked together–nights, of course–at an investment bank. A.G. Becker & Co. It doesn’t exist anymore. I was a computer programmer, he was the rustodian
“Workplace romance,” Chloe mused, still draped against him. It felt incredibly strange to lay entangled with a woman and tell he lover–and a man, at that. He’d told Etta all about it, of course, but Etta was different. She knew what it was like. Her sympathy
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