Tyce looked at his watch. It was bang on nine and he’d been up since five, had gone to his warehouse to pick up clothes and returned here before six. He’d then pushed back her furniture and done an hour of Tai Chi before heading outside for a run. Sage was barely functional.
Tyce walked across the room, his bare feet making no sound on the wooden floors. “Morning,” he said, stopping a foot from Sage’s turned back.
Sage yelped, squealed and groaned. She turned around quickly and, hand on her heart, scowled at him. “Holy crap, Latimore! Scare me to death, why don’t you?”
“Sorry.”
Stepping around her, Tyce reached for a cup from the cupboard above the coffee machine and placed it beneath the spout of the machine. He hit a button and the air between them filled with the rich scents of very expensive coffee. For the last few years he’d been living on a budget, curtailing his expenses, but good coffee was one of the few luxuries he’d been unable to deny himself.
Sex with Sage, as he’d decided last night when she lay across his chest, damp and boneless, was another of the necessities of life he couldn’t do without. Speaking of, it had been too long since he’d last kissed her…
Tyce was just about to place his hands on her hips, lower his mouth to hers, when she spoke.
“So, I supposed we’d better talk about what happened last night.”
Ugh. He really didn’t want to. Tyce succumbed to his urge to touch and hooked his hand around her neck, using his thumb to tip her face upward. “I always prefer action to discussion.”
Sage half smiled. “I know you do but I think that, three years ago, one of our faults was that we spent too much time making love and not nearly enough time talking.”
Tyce mock frowned at her. “FYI, a man can never spend enough time in bed.”
“Duly noted.” Sage placed her hands on his chest and pushed away. “But, sorry for you, I do have something to say.”
Dammit, Tyce thought, stepping back. Here it comes… I don’t think this is a good idea; we shouldn’t complicate the situation; I’ve got a lot on my plate. He was expecting at least one excuse for them not to continue sleeping together, possibly all three.
“Are you interested in having more sex with me?”
Hot damn. Was that even a serious question? Judging by the traces of insecurity he saw in her eyes and the tremor in her voice, it sure sounded like one. Hell, yes, he wanted to sleep with her again. As many times as was humanly possible. “Uh… Yes?”
“You don’t sound too sure,” Sage replied.
“Trust me, I’m damn sure,” Tyce growled. “What’s this about, Sage?”
Sage placed her hand over the rim of her cup and rolled the cup on the counter. “Well, we can do that, if you want.”
Holy crap. “Is that something you want too, Sage?”
He knew it was but he suddenly needed the words. “Yes. But…”
Yes. It was a small-sounding word but it had huge consequences. He was going to have her again, and soon. As soon as she gave him the green light he’d kiss her and then he’d pull that thin cashmere jersey off her slim frame and he’d flip open the button to her jeans. They’d be naked and on the way to heaven.
“But it can’t be more than sex, Tyce,” Sage said, rushing her words. “It’s what we’re good at. The rest of the stuff, we aren’t good at that.” She crossed her arms and rocked on her heels. “I don’t want to be hurt again, Tyce. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I hear you, Sage. I don’t want to hurt you either. But we don’t have to label this, define this. We don’t have to put on restrictions, shove what we have into a box. No expectations, no pressure,” Tyce told her. “We’re just two people who think the other is hot, who are having a baby together and who are now sleeping together.”
Tyce couldn’t help but notice the relief in her eyes but sighed at the worry one layer down. Sage was still so damn vulnerable, and he’d have to be careful with her and for her. He’d have to be the one who kept an eye on how far and fast this went because there was, no matter what he said, always the possibility of this situation blowing up in their faces. They had a baby to raise together and they couldn’t do that effectively if they ended up hating or resenting each other.
It was important that he looked at this situation clearly. He’d been alone for so damn long, hell, he’d spent his life alone and he didn’t know how to make the emotional connections that people needed. Only now, as an adult, did he realize how tired and drained he was when he was younger from constantly living in a state of fight-or-flight. Yeah, he’d take Sage’s offer of sex—what man wouldn’t?—but he’d put himself in a situation of feeling out of control and desperate.