Page 87

Archer
“Igot the flowers you sent me. They’re beautiful.”
I prop another pillow behind me on the hotel bed, closing my eyes in relief as the dulcet tones of Serena’s voice come through the line. I don’t think she realizes just how much I need to hear her right now.
“They reminded me of you.”
Sentiments I would have never believed myself capable of a few weeks ago seem natural now, something about her willingness to open up and be honest with me unlocking a similar vein within myself.
“Mmm.” She inhales, and I can only assume she has them there next to her. “Roses and peonies. You remembered my perfume.”
“Of course I did.” I still can’t get the scent out of my head. I swear I woke up smelling it this morning before I realized I was alone in my hotel room.
“How’s work going?”
I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “It’s going.” I have a newfound respect for Connor and all the bullshit he has to deal with daily. There’s a reason I didn’t go into project management. “Mostly I was looking forward to talking to you tonight.” This whole being in opposite time zones has already proved to be difficult, and I only left her a few days ago.
“You’re sweet.” There’s a smile in her voice, and I wish I was there myself to see it, to lean in and kiss the curve of her lips, to taste her the way I’ve been imagining all day. Could this separation have come at a worse time? “You know, I was having a dream about you,” she continues, yawning.
“Did I wake you?” I check the alarm clock by my bedside. It’s eight-thirty p.m. here, which means it’s seven-thirty in the morning there.
“Yes, you woke me,” she laughs. “I don’t understand how you willingly wake up at such an ungodly hour every morning.”
“But you’ve woken early plenty of times.”
“To be with you,” she says softly. “I wanted to spend some time with you before you left all day for work.”
I roll my lips between my teeth, glad she can’t see the smile trying to break free. I’m pretty sure I’ve smiled more in the last two weeks than the last two years. “What was your dream about?”
“Where are you right now?”
I glance around, as if I’m supposed to be somewhere else. “My hotel room.”
“Are you alone?”
The slight tease in her voice finally clues me in, a surge of arousal racing through me. “Yeah. Completely alone.” Is she going to tell me about it? “Was it a, uh, naughty dream?”
“Maybe.”
My dick perks up. “Stuff we’ve already done? Or haven’t done?”
“Haven’t done.”
“And was it something you want to do?”
“Mmm hmm.” Is it my imagination or is she breathing faster?
There’s a pause, and I blurt out, “Describe it to me.”
“Over the phone? Like… phone sex?”
Oh, shit. She had to call it that, didn’t she? I look down at my pants, my dick pressing uncomfortably against my fly now. “Have you ever done that before?”
“No. Have you?”
“No,” I admit. “We don’t have to, I just thought-”
“I want to,” she interrupts. “I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”