Page 38 of Pucking My Grumpy Accidental Husband

"Why not? It's true." I let my gaze drop to her mouth, then back to her eyes. "I've been thinking about it since Detroit. About how you'd look in my bed, wearing nothing but that smart mouth of yours."

"Jesus," she breathes, her hand coming up to touch her throat unconsciously.

"I want to kiss you until you forget every professional boundary you've ever set," I continue, my voice getting rougher. "Want to make you come apart with just my hands until you're begging me not to stop."

She's staring at me now, her lips parted, and I can see her pulse fluttering at the base of her throat.

"And then," I lean closer, close enough that my breath brushes her ear, "I want to take my time learning every inch of you until I know exactly how to make you scream my name."

The wine glass slips from her fingers, and she doesn't even notice when it lands on the couch cushion.

"That's..." she swallows hard, "that's very detailed."

"I'm a details kind of guy, Tessa. Especially when it comes to things I want." My thumb traces along her jawline, and she shivers. "And I want you more than I've ever wanted anything."

"We're supposed to be taking things slow," she says weakly, even as she tilts her head into my touch.

"We are taking things slow. If I was doing what I really wanted to do right now, you'd already be naked and I'd be finding out if you taste as good as you did in Vegas."

Her breath hitches audibly. "Dax Kingston, you are absolutely terrible for my self-control."

"Good. Because your self-control is overrated anyway."

We're staring at each other now, the movie forgotten, and I can see the exact moment when her resolve crumbles. Her gaze drops to my mouth, and when she unconsciously licks her lips, I lose what's left of my self-control.

"I really want to kiss you right now."

"That would be very unprofessional of you, Mr. Kingston."

"Good thing we're off the clock, Dr. Bennett."

She's already moving toward me when we hear the unmistakable sound of a key in my front door lock, followed by Jamie's voice calling out,

"Yo, Dax! You home? I brought Chinese food and gossip about my sister's terrible taste in men!"

CHAPTER 9

TESSA

The sound of Jamie's key in the lock sends me into full panic mode. I literally dive off the couch, army-crawling behind the kitchen island while Dax frantically adjusts his shirt.

"Shit, shit, shit," I whisper.

"Stay calm," Dax mouths at me. "I've got this."

"Dude, I brought enough orange chicken to feed a small army!" Jamie calls out as he closes the door. "Sofia just texted me about this guy who showed up to their date in a Batman costume. Not for Halloween. Just Tuesday night at Applebee's."

"That's... creative?" Dax calls back.

"I figured I'd rather not listen to that soundtrack, so I grabbed food and came home."

I'm crouched behind the kitchen island wearing my best lingerie under my clothes because I had optimistic plans for this evening, and now I'm about to be discovered by my secret husband's best friend who brought Chinese food.

"I could eat," Dax says, probably trying to block Jamie's view of the living room where my wine glass is still sitting next to our abandoned movie.

"Sweet. And I brought beer because I figured— Dude, why is Fifty Shades paused on your TV?"

I freeze in place. We forgot about the movie.