He followed up his life-altering little speech about his thoughts on my body by bringing me closer to him and handing me my wine, and fuck if I didn’t lie back against that massive chest and sip on my sauv blanc until I passed out right on him.

Chapter Twelve

Theo

“Damn, this place is swank,” Dani, the friend Alba pulled all those all-nighters with—yeah, I was salty about it—exclaimed as he walked into the house with the rest of our pool party guests in tow. When I’d agreed to the party, I thought it would be a chance to do something that was not work related with my new roommate. Especially after that night when she’d shared some of her history with me. After hearing about why books meant so much to her, it had taken superhuman self-control not to kiss her, but I was determined to take things slow. I didn’t want her to think this was about just sex for me.

Sure, I’d had to jerk off twice before getting any sleep, but it had been worth it to have her lie on my chest for a couple of hours before she shuffled to her bed all soft and sleepy. I hadn’t been able to get that conversation about her first years in the States out of my head either. It was hard to imagine Alba as a little girl, hiding out in a corner of a library. Finding refuge in the pages of books because life was overwhelming her. She was strong, the strongest woman I’d ever met, but now that I knew about vulnerability behind that hard-ass façade, I only wanted her that much more.

But in the week since we’d seen each other only in passing unless we were on set. As I suspected, most of my job was to smile and look pretty while I regurgitated the shit that Julio and his team were doing. I wasn’t bored; Cecilia had connected me with Tom Hughes about the veterans’ housing project and going through the material for that had kept me occupied. But I was determined to get some time with Alba today—if she ever came home, that was. She’d run off at barely six in the morning to do “a couple of errands for Bookish” promising she’d be back in time for her friends to arrive, but she was still MIA.

“Come on in.” I grabbed the gigantic charcuterie board Julia had with her while I waved the others inside. They all had their hands full of food and drinks. Rocco had a case of what looked like a mix of local craft beers. Salome had at least four bottles of wine and a bag with disposable plates, cups and cutlery. Dani had steaks and a bottle of bourbon.