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“I haven’t finished reading it.”

Eve watches me closely. “Why not?”

I swallow hard. “Because I don’t know if I should.”

Aubry reaches for the letter. “Then let us read it.”

I hesitate, but in the end, I let her take it.

The three of them huddle together, reading in silence. Their expressions shift—curiosity, shock, something softer.

Aubry fans herself a couple times.

My stomach coils with tension and embarrassment and something else I can’t quite pinpoint.

It’s long.

It’s detailed.

It takes them entirely too long to read it all.

I pour myself another glass of wine. Use the restroom. Let Flash out and then back in again where he settles himself under my feet.

When they finally look up, it’s Nora who speaks first.

“You need to finish it.”

Aubry nods. “She’s right.”

Eve meets my gaze. “No more avoiding it, Dr. R.”

Twenty Two

Past

Iwatch Cooper as he sits across the room from me. We’re at the inn again.

Another weekend away.

Last night, another push of my boundaries.

The woman in bed with me plays with my nipples as Cooper watches.

Suddenly he’s propped himself up over me. Taking me in. His eyes sweep over my face and travel down my neck to my breasts. They linger between breasts and belly button, and an overwhelming desire to know what he’s thinking hits me. Before I can utter a word, his gaze moves down, over my groin, caressing my thighs followed by my calves. His eyes devour every aspect of my body in a way that I can physically feel. An appreciative smile forms on his sinful mouth.

Cooper feels too hot, too bright, like a wildfire that will consume me if I get too close. He buries his face between my thighs and I feel his tongue; my body shudders toe to shoulder. The woman continues teasing my breasts. A glance at Coopershows his eyes on the movement of her hands on me. He rarely joins in—preferring to watch while pleasing himself. This participation has my pulse skyrocketing. I reach out and touch the woman’s breasts.

He growls between my legs.

“Cooper,” I gasp, a desperate warning. He only grips my hips tighter in response, and his name scatters off my lips again, syllable by syllable until I am nothing but an exclamation.

It takes too long for the aftershocks to fade, too long for my vision to clear and make sense of the dust motes haloed in sunlight above us. He crawls up beside me; dismisses the woman. His chest mirrors mine, both of us heaving like we’ve just sprinted out of hell and back.

We tangle together on the bed, my arms wrapped tightly around him. He could easily pick me up and toss me around. He heaves a long sigh that could have stirred the curtains. Then he puts his head on my lap.

“You okay?” Cooper brushes his thumb along my cheek, smirking when I don’t— can’t—answer right away.

We’ve been doing this for a few months now—this secret, illicit affair that has swept me off my feet…sent ripple effects throughout my life, through my very core values and judgment. Flash sleeps curled up on the dog bed that Cooper bought for him to use while we’re here.