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I looked at her, her blonde hair spread out on the pillow beneath her, as she put her palm on my cheek.
“Sean, I know this is probably the last thing you want to talk about right now …”
I nuzzled her neck. “Does it involve signing an NDA?” I asked.
She balked. “What? No.”
I grinned, running my fingertips along the length of her arm. “I knew that would get you. All right, what is it?”
“You got this beautiful canopy for me. I’m so flattered. I mean, this just elevated the date to something special. Nobody has ever done anything to make me feel so special. I realize this might be common in your circle?—”
“It isn’t,” I said firmly.
We stared at each other.
I wanted her so much. Night after night, exactly like this.
I wanted it so badly that I felt like I’d explode if I couldn’t have her again.
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her before saying, “In fact, I’ve never done this for any other woman, Chloe. I’ve never had the desire to do anything like this for another woman. This is a first for me too.”
She looked me in the eye as I said that, and when she spoke, she said, “I love knowing that. Because it’s different for me too. Of course, I feel passion and heady and pure, unadulterated lust for you. But when I’m with you, it feels like it’s the first time I’ve ever been truly intimate with someone.”
I groaned and captured her mouth in mine in a ravenous kiss. Her words nearly drove me mad. Add that to how I loved her voice, her smell, her taste, and I wanted to take her deeply. To fuck her hard and to feel her clench around my cock again. Because I couldn’t process all the emotions that were sweeping through me anymore.
We were coming up close to the end of her work assignment for me. I didn’t want to think about the time I’d walk into workand not find her there. Waiting for me with my coffee and her special smile.
That thought made me feel a strange sort of ache in my rib cage.
I was feeling hot and restless, so I kissed her long and hard, turning over so I was on top of her. In a moment, we were rocking into each other in perfect rhythm.
She was so tender and so sweet that I felt a storm of emotions flood my veins. Something in me had unraveled. My cold heart had finally cracked. I felt my heart pumping wildly, beating for her. Chloe rocked her hips with my rhythm, her blue eyes watching me as her breathing picked up.
Did she know what she had done to me? I fucked her slowly, sensually, enjoying every moment of being in her and the way she reached for me as her climax neared. She lifted her arms, cupping my face as she rose to meet my lips.
We kissed while both of us came apart, exploding into a beautiful, sweet release.
Sleep was heavy, and my eyelids fell shut briefly as we dozed off in each other’s arms.
Hours later, in between moments of fistful slumber, her phone rang through the quiet night.
She got up, sitting up and wrapping the blanket around her, before she answered it.
As she spoke gently into the phone, I traced my fingers around her shoulder blades. I frowned when I saw an old bruise on her left shoulder, hoping that I wouldn’t see any more bruises now that she had a better bed.
And in a minute, Chloe hung up and turned back to me, disappointment written on her face.
“What is it?” I asked, hoping the answer wouldn’t be what I was afraid it was.
She hesitated.
I reached for her waist, wrapping my hand around her and pulling her closer. Her hand went to caress the soft blanket, and she spoke thoughtfully.
“Henry fell off his wheelchair,” she said. “He was trying to reach something on the kitchen shelf when he fell.” She cursed under her breath. “If only I’d kept it accessible.”
I pressed a kiss to her bare upper arm. “Do you have to go? Isn’t there a neighbor who could help?”
“Greg—a neighbor—did help. He was out pulling back the trash bins when he heard the shelf fall and rushed over to help. It was Greg on the phone now, too, letting me know what happened. He said Henry was shaken and was wondering when I’d be back. That shelf has been unsteady for a while now, and it’s my fault for not having noticed it earlier.”