Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
But he refused to rush, easing inside me with deliciously slow, measured strokes, giving me a little more each time. When he was buried to the hilt, his eyes closed, like this was heaven to him and nothing had ever felt so good. I inhaled deeply, drunk on the scent of his skin and the way he filled me and the masculine weight of his hips between my thighs. Running my hands down his back over his round, muscular ass, I pulled him in deeper. He groaned and crushed his lips to mine, kissing me passionately before he began to move.
There’s nothing between us, I thought blissfully. We’re as close as two people can possibly be.
And I felt myself unraveling in a way that wasn’t just physical.
Instantly on alert, I spanked him playfully. “What’s with being so gentle?”
“I’m trying very hard tonight,” he replied, his voice tight with the struggle.
“Dex.” I urged him to move faster with my hands and my hips. “Don’t hold back. I want to make you come.”
“Fuck. You don’t know what it does to me when you say that stuff.”
“When I tell you I want your cock?” I said breathlessly. “When I tell you how good it feels inside me?”
He growled angrily, getting rougher. Faster. Harder. Deeper. It was exactly what I needed to keep my feelings locked up where they belonged. This wasn’t about being close to him.
This was about heat. Friction. Desire. Chemistry. Sweat.
His body on mine. His thick, hard cock pumping inside me, rubbing against me, taking me higher, making me gasp and bite and cry out and dig my nails into his muscles. A moment later, he was pouring himself into me, groaning long and loud as my body tightened and pulsed around him.
“Okay,” I panted. “Okay, we’re friends again.”
“Are you sure?” His breathing was ragged and quick. “Because I could come back tomorrow and keep trying to win you over.”
I paused. “Right. Good point. I take it back.”
Laughing, he lifted his chest off me and looked down. “You do?”
“Yes—you’re still a jerk, and you need to go home and think about what you did.”
“Oh, I will.” He pressed his lips to mine. “You can be damn sure of that.”
A little later, I walked him down to the door. “How was the girls’ first day at school? I was thinking about them yesterday.”
“Good. I pick them up Sunday after church. I’m sure they’ll be on your doorstep soon afterward.”
I laughed, pulling my robe closed tighter around me. “I’d like that.”
“They’ll be sad to hear you’re moving.”
“I’m sad to move away too, but the offer is too good to pass up.” I’d been telling myself that for two days.
He nodded. “And you leave when? Early October?”
“Yes. I have to fly back a couple weeks later for that wine tasting dinner I’m co-hosting with Ellie, but the woman who hired me said that was no problem.”
He thought for a moment. “So you have about a month here.”
“Right.” I gave him a flirty grin. “Think you can fully redeem yourself in thirty days?”
“I don’t know,” he said seriously, scratching his head above his right ear. “I mean, you’re pretty hard to please.”
“It’s the new me.” I stood taller. “I’m setting higher standards for myself.”
He took my forearm and pulled me toward him, wrapping me in his arms. “Good. You should.”
With my cheek against his chest, I snuggled against his warm, hard body and waited for him to make another joke, but he didn’t. Tucked in the shelter of his embrace, I felt safe and content—so safe and content, I quickly grew uneasy.
“Okay, time for bed.” Gently, I pushed against his chest and stepped back. “See? This is me being independent. The old me would have asked you to stay the night.”
“And the new you is kicking my ass out?”
I nodded. “Straight to the curb.”
“Good.” He pulled the door open and glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Night.”
Then he was gone, pulling the door closed tight behind him. I was still standing there looking at it when two soft knocks made me jump. I pulled it open.
“I forgot to tell you I don’t love you.” He shrugged. “Given how nice I was tonight, I didn’t want you to get worried or anything.”
I laughed. “Thanks for the reminder. I don’t love you either.”
But as I went up the stairs, I couldn’t help thinking it was a damn good thing I was moving away soon. Because I might not love him now, but I could.
I easily could.
Around one the following afternoon, I knocked on my Aunt Chloe’s office door.
She looked up from her computer and smiled. “Hey, Win. What can I do for you?”
“Got a minute?” I asked.
“Of course.” She closed her laptop. “Take a seat.”
I perched on the edge of one of the chairs in front of her desk and looked around. Her office was bigger than my dad’s, but just like his, the shelves were full of family photos—a wedding picture of her and Oliver; school photos of their teenagers, Sawyer and Elsa; a professional family photo of them on the beach in coordinating khaki pants and white button-downs.