Page 30 of At the Heart of It (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #4)

She gave a nervous little laugh and slid her fingertips over his pecs. “So are you. It’s no wonder women line up to watch you walk dogs down the street.”

“You’re the only woman I want watching me right now.”

God, that sounded cheesy. But she smiled anyway, and the heat in her eyes was enough to make him forget he was hopelessly out of practice at this.

At taking his clothes of in the presence of another person and giving everything he had to mutual pleasure instead of standing like some motionless statue to be admired.

Somehow they made it to the bed, kicking aside covers and pillows as they fell into each other. He couldn’t get enough of her, touching arms and hips and belly and breasts and a few body parts whose names he couldn’t recall in his lust-addled state.

“Condom,” Kate panted as she let go of him and fumbled open a red plastic trunk the size of a small cooler. It was filled to the brim with foil packets, and Jonah felt alarmed again.

“How long are we planning to be here?”

Kate laughed and tore open a wrapper. “They’re for the show. It’s in the rider for all relationship-driven reality shows to have condoms on set at all times. I doubt they’ll miss one or two.”

“So it’s product-testing, then.” Jonah groaned as she rolled the condom on, then rolled Kate onto her back. “Research.”

“Unexpected job perks.” Kate gasped as he slid inside her, and Jonah watched her fingers twist into the sheet. Then she let go and ran her hands up his back, holding on tight as he moved in and out of her.

The pressure built faster than he wanted, and he fought to keep his head in the game.

“Sex is the most natural expression of our humanness.”

He hated his ex-wife’s words in his brain, but couldn’t stop hearing them.

“When two people join together as ? —”

“Shut up,” Jonah growled.

“Sorry.”

“No! Not you. I swear, I just?—”

“I know,” she murmured, smiling up at him.

And he thought maybe she did.

He moved again, and Kate arched tight against him gasping with pleasure. He wondered if she really did know, if the voices in his head and the voices in hers sometimes whispered the same words, hinting at the same old ghosts.

“Jonah, I’m—oh, God?—”

He felt her break open beneath him, clenching and clawing and making the sweetest, most joyful cries he’d ever heard in his life.

That’s all it took to undo him. He let go with a soft groan of his own, driving into her again and again until they both lay breathless in a shocked and sweaty pile of wonder.

When he finally rolled away, he pulled her with him. They lay facing each other for a few moments, breathing fast, with Kate’s eyes closed and her lashes fanned out on her cheeks.

“That was unbelievable,” he said.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she laughed softly as she reached up to brush hair from his eyes.

“I can’t say this is how I expected to end my day.”

“Me neither. But I’m glad it happened.”

“So am I.”

Neither of them said anything for a long while.

They lay there wrapped in each other’s arms, legs twisted together and the sheets kicked somewhere near the foot of the bed.

She shivered once, and Jonah reached down to pull the covers up.

He arranged them over the top of their bodies, then pulled her close, nestling her snug against his chest. They were still facing each other, but so close a bookmark wouldn’t fit between their bodies.

“Kate.” He planted a kiss along her hairline, then another on her earlobe. “No matter what happens, this was never a mistake. Things like this don’t happen by accident.”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. Something wary shimmered in them, something startled. She started to pull back, but he held her against him.

“I didn’t mean that to sound ominous,” he continued. “I just meant—shit, that came out wrong.”

“No, I get it,” she whispered. “I think I know what you mean.”

Jonah tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and breathed in the grassy scent of her shampoo. “This might make things complicated,” he said. “Or maybe not. But no matter what, I don’t regret it. We were pulled into each other’s orbit for a reason.”

She stared at him for a few moments, then nodded. “I agree.”

Jonah stroked her hair again, needing to touch her.

He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her more gently than he had before.

The urgency had ebbed, leaving them here in this big white bed wrapped in a feather duvet.

They were just two people craving each other’s touch, exploring each other’s bodies, warming each other’s souls.

As Kate slid her palm over his shoulder blade, Jonah could almost pretend it was as simple as that.

Kate slipped into the bathroom sometime around five the next morning. She’d always been an early riser, and having Jonah spend the night in her bed had left her too flustered to sleep well. She kept opening her eyes to look at him, hardly believing this was real.

“No matter what, I don’t regret it. We were pulled into each other’s orbit for a reason.”

Okay, so he’d quoted his ex-wife in bed. Not a verbatim quote, exactly, but the part about being pulled into each other’s orbit was something Viv had written in But Not Broken .

It was possible he didn’t even know. It’s not like Viv had trademarked the expression, and it wasn’t such a unique turn of phrase that no one else could have said it. Kate probably wouldn’t have picked up on it at all if she hadn’t read Viv’s books a million times.

She stepped under the shower spray, trying to rinse the anxious thoughts from her head. They had a busy day of filming ahead of them, and so much to do.

Get footage of Sam and Elena walking in the park together.

Film Sam at his office for clips to demonstrate job stress.

Grab B-roll around downtown Seattle to lay groundwork for the second couple.

Try not to look like you just slept with Jonah Porter.

Kate was smiling before she knew it. She ordered herself to knock it off. This was serious business, after all. She could be jeopardizing her working relationship with Viv, her future on the show. Her whole career, dammit.

But still, she was glad it happened. Grateful she’d had a chance to be with Jonah like that, no matter what came next.

She finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair and stepped out of the shower.

Grabbing the lone towel off the rack, she dried herself off and wrapped up in one of the plush hotel robes.

The towel rack was empty, so she padded back into the room and phoned the front desk with a whispered request for more towels.

“Hey there.”

His gravelly greeting made her turn, then smile at the sight of his tousled hair and his bare chest peeking over the edge of the sheet. “Hi.”

He smiled back and watched her with sleepy eyes at half-mast. “You’re up early.”

Kate padded back to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. Leaning down, she nuzzled the side of his neck, planting a soft patch of kisses just behind his ear.

“Mmm, that’s nice,” he murmured.

She sat up again, making her robe gape open in front. She started to reach for it, but Jonah caught her hand. “You’re so beautiful. I love looking at you.”

She smiled. “I should get dressed.”

Part of her didn’t want to, but she knew she couldn’t linger here all day. Jonah sat up and scrubbed his hands over his eyes. “I take it you’re an early riser?”

Kate nodded and stood, cinching the belt on the robe. “It’s my secret to getting so much done in a day.”

Jonah groaned and flopped back on the bed. “I’m the opposite of an early riser,” he said. “A lazy ass?”

“You’re not lazy,” she said with a little more vehemence than she aimed for.

But she remembered their conversation about dyslexics feeling lazy or stupid, and it seemed important that he know she didn’t believe that.

“You’re one of the hardest-working guys I know.

Your body clock is just different from mine. ”

He reached up and brushed hair off her forehead. “I never told you the fifth thing, did I?”

She smiled and shook her head. “Nope.”

“It was a toss-up, actually.”

“Between?”

“Your willingness to look for the best in all people, or your stellar ass.”

Kate laughed began shuffling through the closet. She stopped at a navy pencil skirt she’d always thought flattered the latter feature. “Which were you leaning toward?”

“Ass,” he admitted. “Might as well stick with Average Joe mode. But I appreciate the other stuff, too.”

Kate selected a V-neck top that dipped just a tiny bit lower than she’d normally choose for work. She felt sexy this morning, her skin humming with delicious energy.

She set the clothes on the dresser, pulled out a bra and panties, and began to get dressed. “You know, I only gave you three,” she said. “Last night at the club? I only told you three of the five things I appreciate most about you.”

“Intelligence, selflessness, and an openness to changing my mind,” Jonah recited. “Were there really two more, or did you just sleep with me so you wouldn’t have to come up with the rest?”

She laughed and fastened an earring on her left lobe. “Guilty as charged.” Slipping the other earring into place, she sat down on the edge of the bed again. “Actually, that’s not true at all. You want the other two?”

“Absolutely.”

“Loyalty,” she said. “And your sense of humor.”

“Why those?”

Kate pulled off her towel turban and began to rub her hair dry.

“Well, sense of humor because it’s hands down the sexiest trait a guy can have,” she said.

“And because you’ve been making me laugh from the first day we met.

Since before we met, actually. Your parts in On the Other Hand were hilarious.

There were so many things in that book that made me want to cry the first time I read it, but then I’d flip to one of your sidebars and suddenly I’d be smiling again. ”

Jonah reached up to catch her hand in his. He planted a kiss over the top of her knuckles before releasing it. “Why loyalty?”