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Chapter Twenty-Three

Bennett

Leaving her in the darkness, curled in a half-ball like she usually slept could have been a colossal mistake. Rebecca had thrown a lot at me last night, though, and in the light of day, I knew she needed her space. She was intelligent and passionate. The passion terrified her as much as it thrilled her. I’d been honest when I told her I could dig deep inside of her for years and I’d never grow tired of searching for what made Rebecca tick.

And part of that, I knew was her need to be respected as well as take the time to make decisions.

She hadn’t worked so hard in her life, escaped the terrors she alluded to by making rash, emotional decisions. There was no way I could tie her to me further, and I did want her tied to me, but I also respected her enough, knew her well enough to know that when she came to me, she came to me with a signed job contract in one hand and preferably, her heart in the other.

The workday drawled by. Every time I looked at her empty office, I questioned my decision but in the end, I was right.

She made decisions by lists and pros and cons and pushing through her fears. My choices were made by instinct and they rarely let me down.

With the way she’d clawed me to her last night, one of the few nights I gave her use of her hands, and then held me afterward, peppering my arms and abs and chest with kisses, I figured there wasn’t much to worry about.

Unless of course, she said no.

Fuck.

I tossed my pen on my desk, scowling as it skittered to the floor at the same time my phone rang.

Friday afternoon. It wasn’t unheard of for my buddy Simon to call me. The sissy liked my pep talks about his hockey team, even if this year he didn’t need it. Currently undefeated, they were literally skating to the state championship tournament two months from now if they kept up their hard work.

I didn’t have an investment in Simon’s hockey team other than he was a friend of mine, and I freaking loved the game, so I went as often as I could.

“Hey, loser,” I said, answering the phone.

“Ugh,” he groaned. “Get my head off this crap. We play Irondale tomorrow and they’re right on our heels fighting for first place. I need a beer, man. You free tonight?”

“Nope. Got a date.”

He choked, coughed through the phone line and I rolled my eyes. “Date?”

“Yeah. And that’s all you get from me except that now I know why you felt like you were going insane when things were uncertain with you and Chloe.”

“God, fuck. Glad that shit’s over and done with.”

I was too. I never would have touched her, but since Simon and Chloe got together, I’d never seen my good friend so damn happy. And yeah, I was jealous. I wanted the same shit he had, even if Rebecca was the complete opposite of Chloe.

“So, who is she?”

“No one I’m telling you about.”

He laughed. “Yeah? Afraid she’d come crawling to me?”

He meant it as a joke, but I knew exactly what he had Chloe do when they were alone in his house. “She’ll never crawl.”

As soon as I said it, I loved the idea of it. Good fucking luck talking Rebecca into the idea that crawling on her hands and knees like an animal wasn’t demeaning, but sexy as hell.

“Whoa. Dude. Calm down. She’s got you tied in knots?”

I picked up my pen and tapped it against the desk. “No. I’m not tied in knots. I’m undone by Rebecca.”

“Rebecca.” He whispered the name like he wanted it on his lips after an orgasm. I clenched the pen in my hand. Yeah, he was doing it to piss me off. It was working.

The son of a bitch.

“Before you kill me,” Simon said, laughter in his voice. “You coming to the game tomorrow?”