Page 34 of Do You Take This Man

“Oh, there won’t always be time to get naked.” Her eyebrow was up again, and it felt like a challenge. “I can be very efficient with the right partner.”

I thought back to the night in her apartment and how she’d reacted to me, how she’d responded to my touch. “Fair enough. Like, friends with benefits or something?”

She tucked her phone into her bag and stepped closer, resting her palm on my chest. She smelled faintly of cocoa butter and cherries. “We’re not friends.”

I rolled my eyes. “Enemies with benefits, then?”

She patted my chest. “You’re smarter than you look.”

The dip of her waist was a perfect fit for my hand. “You’re meaner than you taste.”

“Don’t you forget it.” RJ’s breath puffed against my neck. “If either of us finds someone else or it just isn’t working anymore, we’re done.”

“Sure,” I said, making sure we were alone in the room and then lowering my lips to the side of her neck, figuring out the rules here as we went. I kissed below her ear.

The breath that escaped her lips was motivation enough to kiss her there again.

“You’ve been tested?”

That familiar prickle at the back of my neck rose at her question. I remembered the smell of the clinic and how numb I’d felt asking for everything. “I’m disease- and virus-free.”

RJ didn’t notice the shift in my tone. “Me, too.” Her voice was all business, except for the breathy way she continued when I reached the base of her throat and my hand tightened at her waist.

My entire body wanted to connect to hers as I inhaled the scent of her neck. “Birth control?”

“I have an IUD. Condoms?” RJ’s voice was low against my ear, seductive and somehow matter of fact.

“I have one in my wallet.”

RJ pulled back and met my eyes. “No drama.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.”

She nodded and wrapped her hand around mine. “C’mon.”

“Where are we going?”

“To find a supply closet.”

Chapter 19

RJ

TODD, MY ASSISTANT,had flagged things of interest in the research I’d asked him to gather and I read through notes, communication, and reports on the Avente Foundation, headed since its inception by Andrew Mayfield. I skimmed over the summary and then clicked between documents. Mr. Mayfield had put all of his energy into the foundation and it seemed to be a priority for him, but both Mayfields were emotionally attached. If there was going to be a weak link in his chain, it was there, but so far everything was all about helping kids of color go to college and making dreams come true.

“You’re early.” Lear strode toward me, his gait cocky, a half smile on his lips.

When my meeting ended, I’d decided not to drive back across town but to use the wedding venue as a makeshift office. “No sense wasting billable hours driving back to work.”

“Mm,” he said, reaching me, resting a shoulder against the wall to my left, his arms crossed loosely over his chest, sleeves rolled. His gaze dipped to my lips and my lower belly clenched in anticipation. “Couple won’t be here for an hour.”

I glanced at my watch and set aside my phone. “I can give you fifteen minutes.”

His smile quirked. “You’ll want more.”

Brushing my palms down my skirt, I glanced around the small space. “Not if you’re efficient.”

“Is that how this enemies-with-benefits thing will work? I take what time you’ll give me?”