Caught Up In You 3: Designer Love and Empty Things (Edgeplay) Read Free Page B

ponytail before emerging from the bedroom. Connor has poured me a glass of orange juice and is whipping something up at the stove.
     “I thought you might like some French toast and sausage for breakfast.”
     “Sounds great, but where did the food come from?”
     “I had it delivered,” he answers, cracking eggs into a bowl.
     I watch in awe as my kitchen gets a real workout for the first time in years. Connor even finds an electric frying pan I’ve forgotten all about. Thick slices of cinnamon raisin bread that must have come from a bakery are dipped in the rich batter and then cooked on the hot griddle beside aromatic sausage patties. My mouth is actually watering.
     Connor sets a huge plateful of what must be 1500 calories in front of me before going back to fix his own breakfast.
     I cut up a slice of toast and can’t suppress a groan of pleasure. “You really are a gourmet. No wonder you’re so popular with the ladies.”
     He casts me a veiled look over his shoulder. “I’ve never cooked for anyone before.”
     Seriously? “Why not?”
     He shrugs but I can tell there’s more to it than he’ll admit. He brings his plate to the small table and sits down across from me. I’ve already eaten two slices of French toast and two sausage patties. I bite my lip trying to resist going for a third.
     “Have more.” Connor gestures to my plate.  
     “I shouldn’t.”
     “Why not?” he challenges, meeting my gaze.
     “I’m not going to be able to burn all that off. It’ll just stick to my hips, where it’ll be in good company.”
     Connor, who already ate twice my portion size, scowls. “So?”
     This from the man who dated at least three supermodels in the last six months. “I already need to lose about forty pounds.”
     “No,” he says simply and begins clearing the table.
     “I’m sorry?” I must have misheard. He couldn’t have just shut me down.
     But he repeats himself. “No, you don’t need to lose forty pounds. You’d be severely underweight for your height, and it would put too much strain on your organs. There is nothing attractive about starvation. Your body is perfect exactly as it is. If you weren’t still recovering I’d throw you over my shoulder and demonstrate exactly how perfect you are.” The heat in his eyes tells me that is no bluff.
     Something warm spreads through my chest and I can’t seem to wipe a silly grin off my face. Knowing that Connor Edge desires me so intensely is heady stuff. Is it any wonder I’ve become completely addicted to him?
     ~*~
     We spend the rest of the day snuggled together on the couch watching old movies on cable. I rest my head in his lap and he strokes my hair. “Don’t you have work to do?” I ask him at one point.
     “It can wait,” he replies.
     I smile softly, flattered that he’d rather hang out with me even if we’re not having screaming sex. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any safe topic to share with him.
     “You were going to be a nurse?” Connor asks, sifting his hands through my hair.
     I freeze as the contentment I just experienced slips away. Of course he heard me talking with the ER doctor yesterday. “Yeah, I was going to be, but I had to drop out of the program.”
     The next logical question falls from his lips. “Why?”
     “It’s complicated,” I say, then roll my eyes at how ridiculous that sounds. It’s the same old tired excuse everyone uses when they don’t want to discuss a topic.
     Connor doesn’t respond, just keeps combing my hair with his fingers, massaging my scalp lightly. He’s waiting me out, I realize, waiting for me to open up and share bits of myself with him. He’s looking after me so tenderly and I want to be honest with him.
     I struggle to sit up and he steadies me with one hand, always so attentive to my needs, so watchful. I both love and resent his scrutiny. “Who’s asking, my boss or my boyfriend?”
     His lips twitch. “Am I your