Page 82 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

‘So, what are we going to do about it?’ he asked.

Iris lowered further into his lap, pressing her ass into his cock. ‘I have a few ideas.’

‘And when things get messy?’

‘They won’t,’ she promised, grinding against him and his breath caught. ‘And if they do, I promise we’ll protect Olive from it all.’

He breathed a sigh of relief at that. They’d protect Olive. Together. This thing between them didn’t have to hurt his daughter.

‘Okay, good.’ His fingers dug into her hips and she rocked forward. ‘But you have to stop doing that or things are going to get real messy, real fast.’

Iris laughed, her breath warm on his face. ‘I want it messy and fast. I don’t want to wait any more for this.’

‘Jesus, Iris,’ he breathed.

‘This time,’ she said, already shucking her yoga pants and Archer barely had time to register her bare legs, her bare ass. ‘Next time we can go slow.’

Next time.His thoughts snagged on that little promise.

‘Please, Archer.’ Iris’s desperate voice snapped him back to reality. She was half naked in his lap, her cheeks flushed pink, asking him to do the one thing he’d not stopped thinking about since she moved in.

‘Yes.’ Yes to her please, yes to everything. And then her hands were on him, tugging his sweats down, wrapping around him with such single-minded determination that Archer nearly laughed, but it died in his throat. Iris stroked him once, twice, three times before raising up on her knees and notching him at her entrance.

She held his gaze. Hers was hungry.

‘I’m on the pill,’ she said, and he nodded. ‘Okay, Archer?’ He knew what she was asking.

‘Yeah, it’s okay. I’ve been tested.’

‘Me too.’

He kissed her hard and desperate as she slid down, both of them gasping when she was fully seated. Christ. It was too good. He wasn’t going to last. But Iris was already moving, already moaning like maybe she wasn’t going to last either.

She rocked her hips hard and fast, and Archer wished she wasn’t still wearing her top and he wished he’d gotten a chance to taste her and he wished he had seen her body, but she rocked and rocked and the wordsnext time, next time, rolled through his brain.

He held tight to her hips, kissing her as she rode him.

‘I’m close,’ she gasped. ‘So close.’

Archer gritted his teeth. So was he.

Iris rolled her hips again, her fingernails digging into his shoulders, a low moan coming from her lips. He hadn’t had time to pay attention, to take it all in, Iris in his lap, Iris sighing and gasping and moaning. It was too quick, too short, too lightning fast, but he couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t stop Iris moving against him or his own pleasure from barreling into him.

‘Come with me, Archer,’ she said and he did, thrusting up into her as she clenched around him. Luckily the house was empty because neither of them were quiet. The moment was loud and breathless and frantic, weeks of tension finally coming to a head. But it wasn’t enough.

‘Holy shit,’ Iris said, slowing her movements and resting her forehead against Archer’s.

‘Yeah.’ He huffed a laugh. ‘That was…’

Amazing, hot. Insufficient to purge this need for Iris from his system.

‘Yeah.’ Iris smiled. ‘That was.’

The pleasure had barely subsided before Archer felt a surge of panic that now that Iris had gotten off, there wouldn’t be a next time. Now that the tension had worn off, she wouldn’t need a next time.

And he shouldn’t care. A one-night stand was nothing new to him. One-night stands were perfect for the old Archer. They’d almost always worked in the past for getting an attractive co-worker off his mind so he could focus on the one thing that really mattered to him, his work.

But he didn’t want that anymore. Not with Iris. His work wasn’t the most important thing in his life anymore. In fact, it ranked a distant third at the moment. The tension was gone, but he still wanted her. He wanted her in his life. Period. Whether they were having sex or not, he wanted Iris Fraser around.