Page 66 of Between Hello and Goodbye

Chapter Eleven

A slant of morning light fell over me, pulling me out of a heavy sleep. I peeked an eye open at the woman beside me, and a slow grin spread over my lips that had been everywhere on her last night. Finally sleeping with Faith—touching her, kissing her, being inside her… Fucking bliss.

And it fixed nothing.

My grin faded as I swung my legs over the side of the bed and hung my head in my hands.

“Shit.”

Nothing felt satiated or settled by having Faith all night because it wasn’t just herbody I lusted after so desperately. The pure, mind-blowing want of her didn’t begin and end with sex. I felt it in every corner of my heart—neglected, broken corners I didn’t let anyone touch and few suspected even existed. My desire for her felt like a ravenous animal, starved from countless quiet nights and an empty house.

An empty life.

I’d had dozens of women in my bed, but she was the only one I wanted to stay there.

Quietly, I padded in my underwear to the en suite bathroom to brush my teeth and try to get a grip on myself. I had the day off—Friday—then four long shifts. Faith left on Sunday.

What the fuck do we do with that?

The bed sheets rustled, and I watched in the mirror as Faith limped to me, naked but for her barely-there thong and her quartz pendant. My fantasy had come true—I’d had her all night with her wearing nothing but that necklace. It’d dangled between us as she rode me…

I snapped out of it as Faith’s perfect tits pressed against my back when she wrapped her arms around me.

“Mmm,” she sighed and laid her cheek to my skin. “So warm.”

I spat the toothpaste out, rinsed, and then turned around to hold her. I brushed a lock of blond hair out of her eyes. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She cocked her head, studying me. “Something on your mind?”

“Something’snoton yours?”

“Not a thing.” She slapped my ass and then used the bathroom, leaving the door open. “Don’t look so scandalized, Mackey. I sat on your face last night. You can handle some pee.”

I frowned, even as her words instantly conjured the image of her silky thighs on either side of me, my hands on her hips, my mouth latched between her legs, sucking her as if I were dying of thirst…

I coughed. “We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“You know what.”

She nudged me aside with her hip to wash her hands. “About how I’m walking unaided? Pretty great, right?”

“I knew that’d happen from the beginning.”

I also knew getting involved with a woman who lived on the other side of the Pacific Ocean was a bad idea, yet here we are.

Faith rolled her eyes and hopped up onto the sink. “Yes, you’re very smart. And handsome.” Her fingers trailed over my chest. “And sexy…”

She leaned in to kiss me, but I pulled away. “Faith…”

“Asher.”

The air was thick between us. A cloud of residual heat and desire from last night that was ready to re-ignite, tinged with emotions neither of us was equipped to deal with.

My phone rang from the bedside table.

Faith cocked her head. “You going to get that?”