A Lie for a Lie (All In 1)

“Just don’t squeeze too hard unless you want a shot in the face,” Lainey says, somewhat breathlessly.

I laugh into her cleavage. “Can I kiss and lick?”

“Yes—everything is supersensitive, though, so just be careful.”

I devote attention to her breasts, 100 percent enthralled with them and the fact that most of the time I’m not really allowed anywhere near them. Lainey writhes under me, legs wrapped around my waist, fingers in my hair.

Eventually I go lower, kissing my way over her stomach. And just like I planned, I tug her panties down with my teeth and kiss her until she comes.

She reaches over to the nightstand and opens the top drawer, rustling around until she produces a box of condoms. A spike of jealousy hits me.

Lainey puts her hand on my cheek and forces my gaze back to hers. “I bought them after you started coming over here every night. I wanted to be prepared, just in case all my restraint evaporated and something like this happened.”

Relief that I don’t deserve hits me, and I settle between her thighs and roll my hips. “I missed you. I missed us.”

“Me too.”

I open the box and tear a condom free. Lainey plucks it from my fingers and pushes on my chest. She rolls it on, and instead of pulling me over her, she settles in my lap, slowly taking me inside.

And when we’re together like this, connected in the most intimate way we can be, it’s like we’ve never been apart, like the year that separated us has been erased. We find a slow rhythm that allows us to kiss and touch and breathe each other in. Lainey comes first, and I get to watch her tumble over into bliss. I missed this with her—I missed everything in her absence, but this feeling, like my world has been tipped back into alignment, tells me what I knew then but failed to acknowledge: that she was and always will be my balance.

I don’t look away from her as my own orgasm hits, and afterward we stay wrapped in each other, kissing, hands roaming, relearning each other through touch.

I cup her face in my hand and meet her stunning chocolate gaze. “I love you, Lainey.”

She smiles softly. “I love you too.”

“I wanted to tell you that when we were in Alaska, but I ran out of time,” I admit.

“Well, you can tell me as much as you want now, can’t you?”By the time we leave her bed we’re cutting it close for dinner—not that it matters, since they’ll hold my table regardless. Lainey checks her reflection in the hall mirror while we wait for the elevator. “Oh my God, did you leave a mark on my neck?” She tips her head to the side and inspects the right side of her throat.

I wrap an arm around her waist and press my chest against her back. “I don’t see anything, but if you want a mark I’m more than happy to put one there.”

I nuzzle into her neck and nibble on the spot just as the elevator doors slide open. Lainey elbows me in the side, and I take a step back—which is when I notice Walter standing in the elevator.

Lainey covers the side of her neck like she’s hiding something. “Walter! Hi!”

This should be fun.

“Lainey.” He gives me a curt nod as he reaches out for something beside him. Which turns out to be a someone in the form of a petite brunette. He pulls her into his side and awkwardly throws his arm over her shoulder. “This is my cou—date, Ursula.”

His “date” Ursula’s eyes widen, and she looks up at him, maybe a little confused. He squeezes her shoulder, and she grimaces. “We went out for dinner, and now we’re going to watch Jeopardy!” He turns his head to look at her. “Isn’t that right, Ursula?”

“Uh, yes?” Her eyes bounce back and forth between me and Lainey, and then her brows raise. “Oh my God, is this your neighbor? The one that lives across the hall?”

“We have to go! Jeopardy! is starting, and we don’t want to miss the first round! It was nice to see you again, Lainey.” He shoots dagger eyes at me as he drags Ursula out of the elevator. “RJ.”

“Bye, Walter—it was nice to meet you, Ursula.” Lainey gives me raised eyebrows.

We step into the elevator, and the doors start to close, but not before we hear Ursula ask, “Isn’t that Rook Bowman? The hockey player? Oh my God! I would have gotten his autograph! And is that the Lainey woman you were dating? God, she’s really pretty—no wonder you’re such a mess. Good thing you didn’t tell your mom about her, right?”

The doors slide closed, and I hit the button for the lobby, waiting until we’re moving before I speak. “Sooo . . .”