Dreaming of You by Alexa Rivers

Author:Alexa Rivers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alexa Rivers

“Hi, gorgeous.”

Clarissa smiled when Mark’s greeting filtered through the phone. “Hi, flatterer.”

It was Sunday, a week after they’d last seen each other, and Clarissa adored Sundays. They were her one day free of customers and business concerns, when she could embrace the creative aspect of her job. She was sitting cross-legged on her apartment floor and had been leafing through a stack of the latest bridal magazines, snipping out images of dresses or accessories that captured her imagination, when Mark had called. At present, she was surrounded by photo clippings, the center of her spartan living room in disarray.

“Am I interrupting anything?” he asked.

She put the phone on speaker and set it on the coffee table beside her. “No, I’m just doing some industry research. I can keep going while we talk.”

“Oooh, that sounds interesting. What does ‘industry research’ involve for a wedding dress designer?”

“It comes in lots of different forms,” she hedged. “But at the moment, I’m cutting and pasting designs I like into a brainstorm notebook.”

He chuckled. “You’re doing arts and crafts?”

She bristled, but he wasn’t far off. “And I suppose you’re using your Sunday more productively?” If she sounded snippy, so be it. She knew he was teasing, but she was used to people belittling her work, and she wasn’t about to take it on the chin. Not from him. Not if she wanted to build a relationship with him based on mutual respect, and she thought maybe—just maybe—that might be where this was going.

“On the contrary, I rolled out of bed an hour ago, had a coffee and a shower, and all I plan on doing later is making a trip downstairs to the gym.” He hummed, a deep, contented sound. “I might not even leave the building. Oh yeah, and I’ve got a podcast to record. Will you be listening?”

“Of course. I hope you answer the question I sent. I much prefer hearing you talk to me during the livestream to reading an email after you’re done.”

“And why is that?”

It was her turn to laugh. “Why do you think? I like the sound of your voice, and I like seeing your face and knowing you’re thinking about me, even if it’s only peripherally.” Saying these things to him was easier when she couldn’t see him. It removed the visual barrier, making her confession seem safer.

A beat of quiet followed her statement. “Have you always felt that way?”

She shrugged, then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Maybe.”

“Clarissa,” he said, his voice rumbling from low in his chest. “I need you to be completely honest with me.”

She nibbled her lip, hesitant to agree without knowing what he’d say next. “I’ll do my best.”

He needn’t know her fingers were crossed behind her back.

“Before we met, when I was just some guy you listened to online, did you have a thing for me?”

She squirmed and contemplated hanging up, but that would be childish. “Just a little one.”

“Clarissa Mitchell. You had a crush on the teacher.”

She blushed ferociously. “Okay, okay, I did.

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