Page 65 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

RICK

K im lay with her back to me, half tangled up in her off-white duvet. Her naked back was exposed, along with her hip and ass, and her left leg was hooked over the blankets which she cradled to her front. She’d dozed off about half an hour ago and I didn’t have the heart or the will to wake her.

She’d earned her rest.

I listened to the steadiness of her breathing and tried to calm the torrent of thoughts raging in my brain.When was the last time I’d fucked a woman like that? When was the last time a kiss had left me unhinged?

And why hadn’t I felt it with Verity, who I thought I wanted to marry?

Talk about confusing. I couldn’t riddle out what it meant, but all I knew was I didn’t want to head home without Kim. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I possibly could. I could hear the warnings friends and family would shout my way if they knew what I was up to.

It’s too soon after your breakup to be with someone else.

There’s no way you actually care about this new girl. She’s just a rebound. Fuck her and leave.

You need time to figure out how you feel.

You’re taking advantage of this poor girl.

I rubbed my eyes and sighed. The situation wasn’t ideal. Not at all. But damn did it feel good. Right. Steady.

And the best part?

Kim clearly wanted me as badly as I’d wanted her, and that in itself was a feeling I didn’t realize I’d been missing in my relationship with Verity.

How had something so important slipped through the cracks?

Had I really been so blinded by Verity’s beauty that I let everything else fall to the wayside?

“How pathetic,” I grumbled.

Kim shifted in bed and rolled over.

I grimaced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

She blinked sleep from her eyes and smiled at me as she nuzzled her cheek into her pillow. “I hope you weren’t talking about your dick. Because it is not pathetic.”

“Ha. Ha.”

She grinned.

“I was just talking to myself,” I said.

“About?”

“Nothing.”

Kim arched an eyebrow before pushing herself up and raking her fingers through her thick dark hair. Her perky breasts dared me to take her nipples in my mouth and have my way with her again, but I resisted.

Instead, I blurted out, “Come back to my house with me.”

Kim’s eyebrow remained arched.

“Chessie and I have a movie night planned,” I explained. “We eat lots of junk food and I put the mattress from the spare bedroom on the living-room floor and we make a night of it. It’s good fun. You should join us.”

Her eyebrows fell back into place and she shook her hair out, trying to remove some of the tangles. Her breasts jiggled beautifully as she did so. “I don’t know, Rick. I wouldn’t want to cut in on your father-daughter time with Chessie. Nights like that are precious.”

“You’re not cutting in.” I sat up too and took her hands in mine. “Besides, Chessie has been asking about you for over a week now. She misses you. And every night in our house is father-daughter night. Throwing you into the mix would just make it all the more special.”

Kim let out a soft feminine giggle and leaned in to give me a sweet kiss. “Twist my arm, why don’t you?”

“Is that a yes?”

“Mhm,” she cooed. Then she turned around and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Her bed was high, so she did a cute little hop step down onto the floor and proceeded to pad barefoot to the open door of her bathroom, where she paused in the doorframe and glanced back at me over her shoulder.

“I’m going to take a shower and freshen up first. Care to join me, handsome? ”

I whistled. “Damn, I’m a lucky man.”

“You have no idea. I’ve never slept with a client before. Maybe I should make a habit out of it.”

I tore the duvet off and followed the sounds of her giggling into the bathroom. When I caught up with her, she’d already turned the water on and the shower was filling with steam. “Maybe we should start that habit right now.”

Kim stepped through the shower door and backed up into the spray of water from the rain showerhead.

In seconds, her hair was slicked down her back and rivulets ran down her cheeks and nose.

She was a goddess, an absolute goddess, and as I followed her in and closed the door behind her, I wondered dimly if this might be a dream.

You’ve wanted this for a long time . And life has been pretty good at kicking you in the balls lately.

When she took my face in her hands and kissed me, I knew it wasn’t a dream. It was too real. I backed her up against the cool stone wall of her shower, pressed my knee between her thighs to spread her legs, and pressed my cheek to hers to whisper in her ear.

“I hope your hot water lasts a long time.”

Kim turned her face to mine for sweet kisses. “Let’s find out.”

Kim stood over my right shoulder as we stared at the selection of chips and candy at the local convenience store two blocks from Kim’s apartment.

Her hair was still wet and tied back in a long braid and she hadn’t bothered to put on any makeup before we left.

Her skin was bright and dewy, her cheeks still a little red from the shower—and other things—and she looked like a snack in her tight gray leggings that her ass just wouldn’t quit in.

“Hurry up,” Kim said. “How hard can it be to pick out snacks?”

“The food makes the evening,” I said. “Come on. You’re a wedding planner. Shouldn’t you know that?”

She gave me a lopsided smirk. “Touché.”

I loaded my basket with chips, candy, and chocolate and made sure one of each thing was Chessie’s favorite.

Original potato chips, sour gummies, and cookies-and-cream chocolate were her standbys and had been for the last two years.

If I came back home without them, chances were high I’d feel bad and head out again to make sure my little girl had the best.

Kim peered into my basket. “I think we have plenty.”

She was right, but I still grabbed a couple more things before we weaved down the aisles and made our way to the cash register.

The woman working the till had short silver hair and tattooed lip liner. Her nametag read “Carol,” and when she spotted us, she gave us a big smile and began scanning our items.

“Stocking up for the week on the good stuff?” she asked. She had a nasally smoker’s voice.

I slid my hands into my pockets. “Nope. Just the night.”

“Where do you put it?” Carol asked, looking me up and down.

Kim snickered. “I was wondering the same thing. Men, am I right?”

“Infuriating,” Carol agreed.

Whatever they were talking about went right over my head. I looked back and forth between them as Carol loaded our two bags of candy and processed the payment. She gave me back my card and wished us a good night, and as we walked away, Kim was smiling.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Nothing.” She walked up ahead of me and turned so she was walking backward and could face me. “It’s just nice to be out and about with you, doing normal things.”

“You mean it’s nice knowing each other outside of business relations?”

“Exactly.”

She fell back into step beside me and reached for my hand.

I pulled away from her reach, wound back, and popped her hard on the ass as we walked out the automatic convenience-store doors. She let out a surprised squeal and looked wildly at me. “ Rick! ”

My palm stung a bit. I flashed her a playful grin. “What, baby? I thought you said you liked being out and about with me on non-business terms.”

“I didn’t mean—”

I cupped her ass cheek and gave it a squeeze. She half-heartedly swatted my hand away and looked around as we crossed the parking lot to get to my car. “If you don’t want me grabbing your ass in public, don’t wear these leggings again.”

She pinched her bottom lips between her teeth. “I love these leggings.”

“Same.”

She laughed lightly and we reached my car. I put the “groceries” in the back seat and opened her passenger door for her. She slid into the seat and I leaned into the car, bracing myself on the open door.

Kim smiled deviously up at me. “What now?”

I reached down and spread her legs.

“Rick,” she whispered. “You’re insatiable. We can’t do this here. We’re in the middle of the parking lot for crying out loud.”

I cupped her pussy over her leggings and ran my thumb in slow circles over her clit. Kim let out a little whimper and tried to close her legs. I pushed them back open.

“I can’t wait to get you alone again,” I said.

She sank lower in the seat, trying to hide out of sight. “Alone being the key word in that statement. This is not alone.”

I chuckled. “No. It isn’t.”

She rolled her hips against my touch like the good girl she was and I straightened up, satisfied that she would be thinking about fucking me for the rest of the night now.

I closed the passenger door and reveled in the way her eyes followed me as I walked around the hood of the car and got in.

Once I had my seatbelt on and I started reversing out of the parking space, she put her hand on my cock.

“Two can play this game, Romeo,” she said, giving me a squeeze.

“Careful, girl.”

She squeezed again. “What? Can’t take a little pressure?”