My mouth became as dry as the Sahara desert. I wouldn't have been surprised if when I tried to speak that sand flew out from between my lips. If ever I needed a drink, it was at that moment. I tried to moisten my lips, but it was no use.
Clearing my throat, I croaked out, "I don't want this to end."
"Are you referring to your job with Stone Worldwide or your relationship with me?" he asked sharply, stroking the pad of his thumb against my jaw.
"Both."
"I can assure you that you have a job with Stone Worldwide as long as you'd like."
"This job?"
He dropped his hand to his side and pursed his lips. "Well, at some point I'm going to run out of suites for you to work with, but I can promise that you'll have a job that will take advantage of your artistic talents."
I swallowed hard, knowing that we'd gone as far as we could concerning the job. Now he was going to want my answer to what I wanted with him.
"But you haven't answered my question, Nina. What do you want from me?"
I closed my eyes and took the biggest chance of my life. Inhaling a deep breath, I said, "I want you. All of you."
There was complete silence as the last word left my mouth, and I feared opening my eyes to see his reaction. I couldn't even hear him breathe as he stood next to me. My heart sank as he continued to stay quiet. What was he thinking? Had I jumped the gun? Didn't he want me to want him?
"Open your eyes, Nina," he ordered gently.
I looked up to see him smiling down at me. My emotions were a jumble, making it impossible to figure out what to do next. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I wanted to run. I didn't know what to do.
When he continued with his silence, I blurted out, "You know, I hate this thing you do. It makes me uncomfortable. It's rude to stare at someone and not say anything. I know you're trying..."
He cut me off in mid-sentence and took me in his arms, kissing me deeply. As his tongue teased mine, his lips pressed tenderly against my mouth, telling me everything I needed to know.
Tristan was happy.
After the longest kiss I'd ever had, he pulled away and took my face in his hands. "I just hope I don't disappoint now that you'll get everything I am."
Shaking my head, I said, "No way you could disappoint me. Thank you for not freaking out when I said I wanted all of you. A lot of guys might have wanted to."
He leaned in to kiss me gently and whispered against my cheek, "I know I've asked you before, but what kind of men have you been dating?"
As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I answered with the honest truth. "All the wrong kinds."
"Well, I'm happy to be able to help you remedy that."
My emotions were ready to overflow, so before I began crying tears of complete and utter happiness, I whispered in his ear, "What do you say to remedying my hunger with some Tony's pizza?"
He stood back from me and looked at his watch for a long moment before he nodded. "I think it's about time."
We walked toward the car and as he opened the door for me, I said, "I probably look like a disaster. That lump on the back of my head doesn't hurt anymore, but it's like I have a stegosaurus ridge back there."
He leaned in and kissed me. "That will sound great on Page Six."
Page Six. My stomach did a funny somersault. This was the first time he'd ever mentioned anything even remotely related to being with me in public, and the idea was at once thrilling and terrifying. This was everything I'd wanted and now that it was happening, all I could think about were my deficiencies.
I wasn't a tall, willowy, supermodel type whose clothes hung perfectly off her. I had a tendency to make silly comments when I was nervous. For God's sake, there were times I couldn't even get my hair to lay right and not look all flyaway.
Tristan got into the driver's seat and started the car, but one look at my expression and he knew something was wrong. "Did I say something? What's going on?"
"I just remember you saying you never took girlfriends to those events that land you on Page Six, but then you just mentioned it. I'm just wondering if I'm the right type to be on the arm of someone like you."
He cradled my face in his hands and shook his head. "Don't say that. You're a beautiful, intelligent, charming woman who makes me smile. That's more than I can say for anyone I've ever met at those things. If you don't want to go to them, I'm fine with that. But it would be nice to have someone to talk to at them."