One for the Money

My stomach knots. “That fucker.”

Her laugh ends on an abrupt sob. “I thought we were like Romeo and Juliet, from two warring families, and we would find a way to be together.”

“That story is a tragedy.”

“Yes,” she says with a soft sigh. “Yes, I figured that one out the hard way.”

“Plus Romeo wasn’t twenty five years older than Juliet.”

She flinches. “Twenty-seven, actually.”

I drop my head against her breastbone. She’s so goddamn sexy. I swear my cock is going to get so hard it breaks right off. But I can’t force myself to seduce her. This is a different kind of seduction, one where I lure information out of her. It’s somehow more important than sex. “I’m afraid to ask but… how did it end?”

“We were together for nine months. We had fancy hotel suites and champagne. Sneaking around. I thought it was romantic.” A caustic laugh. “I was stupid. He took me on trips outside the city. My parents thought I had a new internship. It seemed so real.”

It seemed so real. Unlike what she has now.

I roll back onto my back and pull her against me.

She sighs with apparent relief. “And then I realized he was using me.”

“How?”

“Like I said, I fell in terrible love. Enough that I told my best friend about it. My best friend, who was my brother. Leo told me that he’d had an affair with Caroline. And that Lane was only using me as revenge.”

“Isn’t he younger than you?”

She nods, averting her eyes. “I think Caroline was just using him to get back at Bryant. We became pawns in the fight between our parents.”

Fuck. “I’m sorry.”

“I confronted Lane.”

“Did he admit it?”

A small shiver runs through her. Old pain. “Yes, but he said it changed along the way. Somehow he ended up falling for me for real. At least that’s what he said. Maybe he was lying about that, too, but looking back, I think I believe it.”

“You still stopped seeing him, though.”

“Of course. I couldn’t allow them to use me to get back at Leo.”

Naturally she was more worried about her sibling than herself. “Of course.”

“He kept calling, though. I think the connection was real between us, but it would always be tainted by how it started. He followed me to my college class one time. Leo found out and put a stop to it. I don’t even know what he did, but Lane never talked to me again.”

“Did you grieve when he died?” Every cell in my body rejects this idea.

“It was years later, but I guess… yes. I cried. It’s not that I wanted to get back together with him. Or even that I still loved him. Love fades after a while. It was more like crying for me, for my brother, for the fact that neither of us could trust people. That was before he met Haley, though. She changed everything for him.”

My heart clenches at the reminder of Haley with her false contractions and her husband’s worry. “That will happen for you,” I say, a knot in my throat. Of course I want her to be happy. To have a long, fulfilling relationship with a man who doesn’t forget his own name. “You’ll find someone, and it will change everything for you. You’ll love again. And have a family.”

She glances up at me, her eyes clouded with some emotion I can’t name. “If you believe in second chances for me, why not you? You can have those things, too.”

I don’t bother trying to convince her. There’s no time for that. No point, either.

We only have right now.

Her breasts finally capture my attention, and I nuzzle the gentle slope. Fuck, she’s soft. I kiss a path around the outside curve and underneath, making her squirm, reveling in her panting breaths. When I close my mouth around her nipple, she moans her pleasure.

“Please,” she whimpers.

Hunger rages inside me, an inferno through a field of gasoline. I’ve been holding back ever since I woke up. That’s over now. I’ll kiss her pretty pussy later. I’ll make her come again and again, later. I’ll spend time on foreplay later, because now I need to be inside her.

I spread her legs, but she puts a hand out to stop me. She stammers in an adorable way. “Shouldn’t we be using a condom? I guess you’re right. I don’t have a lot of experience. I didn’t even think of it earlier.”

Every muscle in my body locks up. No. No.

“What the fuck?” I say. “How did we not use one?”

Except I know the answer. I was crazed with lust. “I didn’t think about it,” she admits, looking guilty, as if it’s somehow her fault that I fucked her raw.

I thought you could use protection this time. Because I didn’t use it last night. That’s never happened before. I always use a condom. Everyone knows to be safe these days, but I’m extra careful. It’s not just about accidentally knocking someone up.