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They settled in on the overstuffed couch. As she leaned against his arm, he sent a silent prayer of thanks to his brother for suggesting the purchase back in the day.

Bennett hit play and rested his head against hers. He was tired, too—had been for a while now—but he was determined not to miss a moment of this gift beside him. He’d waited too dang long, and it was finally, finally in his reach.

With that thought, he brushed his lips over her hair and smiled. She gazed up at him, her eyes reflecting the desire brewing just beneath his skin every moment she was nearby.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

He didn’t hesitate and dipped into her embrace. When their mouths collided, any trace of exhaustion vanished. Bennett ran his fingers through her hair, opening his mouth to explore and taste all he could of Maggie. One of them groaned, but he couldn’t be sure who, only that the sound escalated the moment.

He lifted Maggie by the hips and sat her down on top of him. The gaze they shared was filled with promise and passion and punctuated by a nod from Maggie. That was all he needed to lift her arms and remove her top, exposing more of her bare skin for him to kiss.

“Please.” She moaned when he unclasped her bra.

Her breasts were fuller than when he’d been an awkward young man, trying to work up the courage to cop a feel during one of their make-out sessions. The pleasure he got taking each of them in his mouth, flicking her nipples with his tongue was worth the wait. She arched her back, pushing closer into him, grinding her hips against his erection.

It was exquisite pain, wanting her this badly, but he wouldn’t trade it for all the success, all the money in the world. All he wanted was Maggie, forever.

She unzipped his pants, and slid the jeans over his hips, and he smiled. Yeah, he could get used to this.

Chapter Thirteen

Maggie awoke with a start. What was that sound? She glanced toward the kitchen window and saw a squirrel at it, banging an acorn against the glass. Pale yellow light snuck between the lime-green leaves of the tall oak trees that guarded the home like sentries. A mist hung over the valley, thick and wet. She smiled, but it fell when her gaze caught the two wineglasses on the table, a snoozing puppy nestled below her. She shot up.

Or tried to, at least. Something held her down.

Not something. Someone.

Bennett. His arm was draped around her, heavy in his slumber.

She’d stayed the night? She’d asked him to take it slow, and then this? And they’d just started dating, wading through the misunderstandings piled at their feet by their pasts.

What a rookie move.

Yet memories of how she’d spent the night assaulted her. Bennett’s mouth on her breasts, her stomach, then bringing her to climax. His sculpted body on top of hers, thrusting and eliciting a pleasure she didn’t know her own body was capable of feeling. Cuddled against his bare chest as he drew circles on her back with his fingers once they’d sated each other’s primal and seemingly never-ending needs.

The comfort of being with him was as surprising as the passion between them. And also, it wasn’t. They’d been building to this moment their whole lives if she was honest.

But still, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Forget the gossip if people—namely, a few of Mae’s regulars—found out. She’d lost hours she could have used to finish the kitchen renovation before she had to be in the field.

She cringed as he shifted beside her. He pulled her tight, but she was able to take advantage of a deep exhale to slip underneath his arm. She slipped back into her dress, grabbed her purse, her phone, and shoes and sprinted out of the house before he or Gander awoke.

Careful not to peel out of the driveway and alert the neighborhood to her hasty exit, she drove the block home, then sprinted from the cab of the truck until she was inside the familiar old wood doors that barely locked her inside, away from her mistake.

Her phone chimed.

You up?

Damn. It was Jill. Maggie just needed time to figure out how she felt about sleeping with Bennett before she wrestled with Jill’s questions.

Good. Great. Effing fantastic—that’s how it felt, her subconscious chimed in.

Yeah, but also confusing. She was wholly torn between taking it slow and diving right back into Bennett’s bare arms for the remainder of the week.

She dialed Jill’s number. Better tackle this now or she risked her friend showing up and seeing for herself why Maggie was behind on the Steel Born contracts.

“Hey, lady. What’s up?”

“The sun and yet there still aren’t any contracts in my inbox.”