Page 77 of The Surrender

“Yeah, I’m getting the keys to my new place tomorrow. We’re doing an IKEA trip Sunday. I need to buy some furniture. Especially a bed. I need a bed.”

“Even though you stay at Jude’s every night?”

“It’ll be over an hour to Jude’s from my new place. I can’t sustain that during the week. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I hang up and smile down at my phone, happy things are back on track with the girls. And my dad.

I look up when Jude appears at the bedroom door. “Everything okay with your dad?”

I tilt my head. He wasn’t listening. He just knows, and once again I’m adding something to the list of things I love about Jude. It’s far outweighing the list of things I don’t like. “I better think about getting myself home in my new car.”

Remaining where he is in the doorway, Jude considers me for a few seconds, and I just know he’s plotting to keep me here. “Grant me one wish,” he eventually says.

“Just one?”

He cocks his head, slightly amused. “For today.”

“What?”

“Let me be overprotective and controlling for a moment.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Go on.”

“I’d rather you didn’t drive these roads in the dark. At least, not until you’re familiar with them. Let me drive you.”

I bite at my lip, pondering that. Only for a second. “Okay.”

“Oh, well, that was cleaner than I expected.” He comes to the bed and lays himself all over me, kissing me in thanks. And I’m his again.

“I love my car,” I mumble in between the swirls of our tongues. “I love my pen.” Another swirl. “But the best gift you gave me today was you.” Everything he’s shared, I’m so grateful for it. Forhim.

“Mum would have loved you,” he says quietly, pecking his way to my ear.

“She’s famous for being a lady of exquisite taste.” I inhale and absorb the feel of his tongue dragging lightly up the shell of my ear, his arousal growing against me. “Of course she would.”Oh God, I just can’t get enough of him.

He chuckles and kisses his way to my nose, biting it. He looks deep into my eyes. Lets his mouth fall to mine again.

“You know,” I mumble around his slippery-soft tongue teasing mine, “it’s light at five a.m., so I could drive home then.”

Jude pulls back, his eyes sparkling happily. “You know how to please your man.” And then he resumes our kiss, rolling us so he’s on the bottom. “You’re staying the night.” He rips my robe open, stroking over my breasts as I lift and get him positioned at my entrance before slowly sinking down. His eyes squeeze shut, and I watch his face contort as I ride him unhurriedly, circling and grinding, feeling every inch of his prime chest.

Beautiful.

Just . . . beautiful.

Chapter 17

Leighton appears from his office as I’m wandering down the corridor. I bite my tongue, mentally repeating to myself to keep my mouth shut. “How’d your meeting with Mr. Harrison go?”Fuck it.

He sneers at me, an eye narrowing. He can’t possibly know it was me who stuck a spanner in his works, but still. I feel like he’s looking at me accusingly. “Momentarily deferred.” His pace slows, indicating he’s about to stop and try to chat. So I keep mine up, passing him. Postponed?Idiot.“Lunch?”

“Busy,” I say, smiling sarcastically over my shoulder. As soon as I’m in my office, I roll my eyes. “Creep.” Going to my desk, I drop to my chair, dump my files down, and work my way through some client approvals so I can start actioning the movement of some funds. I must carve out time to make notes for my meeting with Tilda Spector too. I smile to myself. Leighton will have a hernia.

“Amelia,” Gary says, breezing in. “How’s it going?” He lowers to a chair and reaches for my glass paperweight, tweaking it.

“Great.”

“A little birdie told me you have a certain lunch meeting with a certain semi-retiring adviser that goes by the name of Spector.”

“How do you know?” I ask, taken aback. I’ve not mentioned it. I don’t want to jump the gun; nothing may come of it, and I certainly don’t want Steers knowing.