If I Say Yes (Say Something #1) Read online

  I sit and ponder this for a moment before I squeeze his hand. “I have no place I would rather be.” And I mean it. Reid smiles before he turns his attention back to the road and eases through the light. A few minutes later, we turn on a road that is very familiar.

  My heart stops and drops to the pit of my stomach. My throat dries and I find myself struggling to breathe. It’s the same road that leads up to the house, the one I grew up in and didn’t have the nerve to sell after I made the drastic life change. Whether I like it or not, it’s a part of me, a part of my past, and it will always be with me. That is something I can’t change.

  A few minutes later, we are pulling through large iron gates not very far away from my childhood home. I turn my head slightly as we drive past the gate, gaze up to the top of the hill, and see that the house is still standing there, as majestic and beautiful as it was the last time I laid eyes on it. A tear stings my eye, and I casually wipe it away, hoping that Reid doesn’t notice. I turn my head back down the winding driveway when a large house appears in front of it. I hold back laughter when I see it. The house is just what I expected when we had pulled into the front of the cabin house in the woods.

  Large white columns line the front of the equally white three story house. Perfectly trimmed rose bushes edge the walkway up to the grand double doors. Reid pulls to a stop in front of the house and is at my door in the blink of an eye. I smile as I place my hand into his, and he leads me towards the house.

  When I reach the doors, I see the wood is carved with an incredibly intricate design. The detail in the wood is beautiful, and I stare for a moment at the twirl and swirls of the lines before Reid pushes open the door on the left hand side. We step into a grand foyer, much like the one in the house I grew up in. “So this is it,” he says softly.

  “It’s beautiful.” And it really is. I let go of his hand and walk to the center of the foyer, spinning in a slow circle. The floor is checkered with black and white tiles. A larger chandelier dangles above our heads. The ceiling has a beautiful mural gracing it, like da Vinci himself rose from the dead and painted it, and the staircase is made of dark mahogany wood.

  “There’s time to see the rest of the house later,” he says softly. “Let’s get you settled into your room.”

  My room? For the past two weeks, we’ve been sharing space. Whether we fall asleep on the couch or upstairs in bed, I’ve gotten used to his arms holding me tightly against his chest, and feeling his warmth invade me. Now we’re going into separate rooms. The thought is absurd, and I almost say so as he leads me up the stairs. Maybe I am just overthinking things, and maybe he isn’t trying to push me.

  I follow him down a long hall off to the right of the top of the staircase. Photographs line the walls on both sides, much like the ones in the cabin, but here they are a bit different. Instead of just photos of his mother and him, they are family photos with his mother, a man I presume to be his father, and another male who seems to be a few years older than him but practically identical. I don’t remember Reid ever mentioning he had a brother. I almost ask him about it but throw the thought aside just as quickly.

  If he wanted me to know about any siblings, he would have told me. I can’t start prying into his life when I have secrets of my own that I am unwilling to share. I know I am being selfish, but the thought that he is keeping something from me tugs at my heart. Reid has been nothing but completely honest with me. Now, I am beginning to wonder if I really know him all that well. Granted, he’s been an open book, answering any questions that I have, but this is big. Having a brother is not something that you easily forget.

  You’re one to talk. I shake my head and try to escape my inner critic.

  We stop in front of a simple white door. Reid glances back at me and smiles before he opens it. The door opens into a large room, just as breathtaking as the rest of the house. Huge windows across the room overlook a beautifully sculpted backyard. To my right is a large stone fireplace built into the wall with a small sitting area placed in front of it. A large four poster, canopy bed rests on top of a raised platform to my left. Thick embroidered cream colored drapes surround the bed, which are tied to the poles at the end of the bed, revealing a matching bedspread that seems like pure luxury.

  “I’ll let you get settled in,” Reid says as he pulls me into his arms and brushes his lips against my forehead. “My room is just across the hall.” I pull my head back and gaze up at him. A wicked grin spreads across his face, and he winks at me before exiting the room.

  I walk across the room and throw myself on the bed. Lying there, I feel as though I am on cloud nine. The softness of the silky material brushes against my skin, and I sink deeper into the bed. I let out a deep sigh before pushing myself up and scanning the rest of the room. I see a set of double doors off to the corner of the room and decide to go investigate. I have an idea of what is behind the doors, and the thought alone excites me. I can use a nice hot bubble bath right about now.

  The last thing I expect to see when I pull open the doors is a fully stocked closet with clothes in about my size. My excitement of finding the bathroom quickly diminishes and turns into rage. I don’t know why I am angry over the wardrobe. Any woman would love to find a new closet full of clothes, but I am beyond pissed. I turn on my heels, storm out of the closet that is nearly the size of my room, and head straight for the room Reid said was his.

  I don’t knock before barging into Reid’s room, and I am caught off guard when I see him shirtless. Yes, I have seen him shirtless more times than I can count over the last few weeks, but it always takes my breath away. I forget for a moment why I am in his room and take the time to admire his smooth, perfectly carved chest. My eyes finally land on the V-cut just above the top of his linen pajama bottoms. I hear Reid clear his throat and feel the heat of embarrassment rushing to my cheeks from being caught. “See something you like?”

  “Y-y-yes…” I manage to say. I shake my head and glare at him. “I mean no. Stop trying to distract me. What the hell is that in my bedroom?”

  He smiles and shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Oh no,” I say, slightly irritated. I narrow my eyes on him and begin to stalk across the room like a lioness after her prey. “You know exactly what I am talking about.” The smile disappears off Reid’s face when he realizes I am being quite serious. “The monstrosity in my closet. What is up with all the clothes?” I stop just in front of him and cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t need your charity.”

  “It isn’t charity. I-I-I thought you would like some clothes for work.”

  I send a shooting glare at him. “I have clothes. If I wanted more, I would have had you stop by my apartment.” Reid says nothing and drops his gaze from mine. I know I’m overreacting, but for some reason, the whole situation is getting under my skin. “Reid…” I reach out to touch his arm, and he pulls away from me.

  “You’re right. I’ll send them back tomorrow.” He turns and heads towards what I assume is his closet. My anger quickly dissipates, turning into guilt. Why did I overreact about this? It’s just a bunch of clothes. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it, other than to making me comfortable. He probably didn’t think I would be feeling up to swinging by my apartment to grab more, which would be correct. Reid might have slightly gone overboard, but he meant well. Feeling defeated, I take a deep breath and follow him into the closet.

  I can’t find him anywhere until I see light shining from underneath a door to my right and hear water running. I knock slightly, giving warning to my entrance, before I open the door. Reid is standing at the sink with shaving cream on his chin. “You’re going to shave?” I ask weakly. I take another step towards him. “I love the scruff.”

  Reid doesn’t respond. I cast my eyes down towards the floor, afraid to look at him, but I can feel his eyes on me. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I overreacted. It’s just… you could have warned me about the clothes.”

  I
feel his arms come around me and pull me close to him. I take a deep breath, inhaling the scent that is only Reid, and relax in his arms. “We were both wrong.” He laughs deeply. “But we were both right. I should have told you about the clothes. I just wanted to surprise you.”

  “I hate surprises,” I mumble into his chest. I can feel his laughter vibrating through me.

  “I know.”

  I pull back and gaze up at him. I press my lips against his. He breaks free first. “Liza?” He laughs softly. “You have cream on your face.”

  “I don’t care.”

  I press against him again, straining to reach his lips again, but he holds me back. “Let me get this cleaned off, and then we can make something to eat and watch a movie.”

  “It’s a date.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  THE KITCHEN IN this house would be every chef’s dream. The space is enormous. My entire apartment can fit inside of it. Everything about this room screams finesse, from the spacious black granite counter tops that provide enough room that you could prepare all the food you need to serve a seven course meal on it and still have room for desert. The cherry colored oak cupboards are filled with everything you could imagine needing for cooking and snacking. The double door refrigerator secretly flush against wall holds practically every refreshment known to mankind and the widest variety of beer and wine selections. All the appliances, including the double oven, is black. The thing that wins me over the most, however, is the dishwasher. My rinky-dink, rundown apartment doesn’t have one of them, and I have grown tired of washing dishes by hand.

  I don’t claim to be a master chef, but I like to think that I know my way around a kitchen. Which is why Reid sat at the breakfast bar nursing a dark ale beer as I whipped around, cooking up a storm. “Where do you keep the whisks?” I ask over my shoulder while adding some salt and pepper to the bowl of eggs sitting in front of me. I hear Reid laugh and stop long enough to look at him. The tip of the neck of the beer rests against his lips, and he is smirking. “What? What is so funny?”

  Reid sets the beer down on top of the counter and walks towards me. He reaches up with his thumb and wipes my nose. “You had a bit of flour on your nose.” I feel my cheeks blush and turn back to keep prepping the food. A long arm reaches around me and holds a whisk in front of my face.

  “Thank you,” I say and take it out of Reid’s hand. “Now I have some eggs and pancakes to make. Let the chef work.”

  “You know…” Reid’s voice becomes softer as he crosses the kitchen. “I could get used to this.”

  “To what?”

  “Watching you cook in my kitchen.”

  “Oh yeah?” I ask. I continue beating the eggs with one hand and use my free hand to throw a handful of bell peppers into the mixing bowl. “Well, don’t get used to it. I’m only cooking because I’m hungry, too.”

  Another loud laugh escapes Reid. The witty banter flows between us easily as I continue to cook dinner. Some people may hate the idea of breakfast foods for dinner, but nothing comforts me more than a plate full of pancakes, my signature scrambled eggs, and bacon.

  Once the food is done, we eat at the breakfast bar. Reid is still sipping his beer, and I have orange juice for myself. When we clear our plates, Reid picks them up, rinses them off in the sink, and places them in the dishwasher. He finishes his beer and disposes of it in a recycling bin hiding underneath the stainless steel double sink.

  We decide to head back upstairs to his room and watch a movie. As we approach his room, butterflies begin to flutter around in my stomach. I don’t know why I am nervous. It’s not like we haven’t lay next to each other in a bed before. It still doesn’t help, though. All through dinner, Reid remained shirtless, and it began to stir feelings inside of me that I forgot even existed until I met him.

  Inside of his room again, I actually take a moment to really glance around his room. It’s clean and elegant like the rest of the house. A fire is burning in the fireplace across the room, and I can’t remember if it was burning the first time I came in here. The room is much like the room he deemed as mine, with the exception of his bed. Instead of a canopy bed, his is larger, resting on top of a raised platform, with slick black linens neatly tucked in at all the corners. Several pillows line the top of the bed against a very elegant, wooden headboard carved with a design I can’t quite make out. At the end of his bed is the only thing that doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the house, a huge, battered chest with a large padlock on it.

  More secrets?

  I try not to think about it. I am a total walking contradiction. Of course, he must have some things he hasn’t shared with me. I don’t like the thought of him keeping things hidden from me however. I mean, yes, it’s only fair that he keeps things hidden from me, but Reid is seemingly perfect in my eyes. It slightly frightens me what kind of secrets he has that he feels he can’t share with me. God, I’m such a wench.

  I watch Reid grab a series of remotes of the nightstand next to his bed, hit a button, and can barely contain the squeal of surprise that escapes my lips as I witness a TV raise out from the edge of his bed. How is that even possible? I glance up at Reid, who has a slight smile on his face, but deeper down I can see the traces of uneasiness creeping in. Glad I’m not the only one who feels nervous for some reason. He motions for me to sit down on the bed as he hits another button and the wall near his bed begins to shift and reveals the biggest movie collection I have ever seen. I shift nervously on his bed in anticipation as I wait to see what he puts on. He climbs onto the bed next to me and drapes his arm across my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. It feels so right to be there with him, sitting on his bed, snuggling, and watching a movie like any normal couple. Yet I still don’t know where we stand.

  “Reid?” I pull away and stare at him. He gazes back at me and raises an eyebrow. “What are we?” I ask quickly. He tilts his head at me and eyes me curiously, like he doesn’t understand my question. “What I mean to say is… what are we doing? Are we dating? Are we exclusive?”

  “I feel sorry for any man who even thinks about touching you. You are mine.” It isn’t the exact answer I am searching for, but if I can’t understand what he means by that, then I clearly need to go back to school. I lean back against him with a smile plastered on my face and my heart beating rapidly.

  As we wait for the previews to finish playing, my mind races with a thousand thoughts. What am I thinking? I can’t be in a relationship, yet I want to be. But how can the two of us really be in a relationship if the both of us are hiding things from each other? I’m about to spill my life story to him when I see the menu for the DVD come on and begin to laugh. “Friday the 13th?”

  “I recall you telling me that you have an unhealthy obsession with all things horror.”

  “That I do.” Amongst many other things, including you. I settle in next to him, amped to be watching one of my favorite movies.

  Halfway through the movie, I try to ignore the fact that Reid’s hand has lowered itself to the top of my leggings, tracing circles along my waist. I press my body closer to him, kissing his neck, and smile when he moans in pleasure. Desire comes over me, and I begin to leave a trail of kisses down his neck and his still bare chest. Slowly, one kiss after another, I make my way down his chest. His grip on my waist tightens as I make my way back up his body and kiss his neck again.

  “Liza…” he says, straining for control.

  “Hmm?” I whisper, leaving another kiss along his chin. I flip over so I am straddling his lap and place a kiss against his lips.

  “Liza…” he says again, his voice sounding more like a warning this time.

  I laugh against his mouth and let out a low growl. “Just shut up and kiss me.” Reid pulls me down against his body, one hand lightly gripping a handful of hair as he presses his lips against mine. I can feel his erection growing through our clothes, and I begin to grind against him. Another moan escapes from him, and he stops kissing me to look at me.


  “Are you sure?” he asks softly.

  I say nothing and just nod my head. I let out a yelp when he quickly flips me over onto my back and kisses along my collarbone. His fingers line the hem of my shirt. I take a deep breath as he begins to slowly lift up the bottom of my shirt. He stops once my jagged scar is revealed. I watch him, waiting to see if I can see disgust in his eyes, if he finds my mutilated body a horror. I inhale a sharp breath when he presses his lips against the biggest bulge of scar tissue protruding from my skin and lightly kisses it. “Beautiful,” he whispers. Another kiss on my scar. “Every part of you is absolutely beautiful.” He continues to leave kisses across my abdomen as he lifts my shirt higher until he pulls it over my head. Lying there in my bra, I feel completely vulnerable, but I don’t move.

  He kisses the corner of my mouth, cupping one of my breasts in his hand and massaging it. The feeling sets my body on fire, igniting a spark I thought burned out a long time ago. I press my body against him again, trying to get as close as I possibly can, and search for his lips until I find them with mine. My lips slightly part, and his tongue slips into my mouth. Our tongues begin to dance, darting around quickly. I dig my hands into his back, bringing his chest crushing down on mine, and moan out in pleasure.

  Reid reaches underneath me and unclasps my bra, setting my breasts free. He breaks away from the kiss, much to my disappointment, and kisses me on my chin. A moan of pleasure escapes my throat when he takes my breast into his mouth. His tongue flicks across my nipple and he alternates the sensation with slight nips of his teeth. One hand caresses my other breast, pinching the nipple between his thumb and finger, tugging on it. His other hand slips down my leggings, rubbing against my folds over my underwear, and I struggle to keep from moving. I run my hands over his broad shoulders, feeling each cut of his muscle, and slide my hands down his backside. Slowly, I bring my hands around to the front and slip one into his pants. Reid moans as I grip his length and begin running my hand up and down. I’m taken aback by the size of him. Even with my inexperience, I know he’s bigger than average, but nothing I don’t think I can handle.