Finally, I answered, “You’re pretty special yourself, big guy.”
He grinned. “I’m ready to take you back to bed.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” I said with a delighted laugh. “I’m sore. I haven’t had sex in a few years, and now that we’ve done a marathon with several sessions, I can hardly walk.”
“Does it hurt?” he said unhappily. “I’m sorry, gorgeous. I should have thought about that.”
I shot him a mischievous smile. “I’m not complaining, but I may need a break. At least for a few hours.”
“We’ll take all the time you need.”
“It won’t be long,” I assured him as I raised my hand to run my palm against his five-o’clock shadow. For some reason, I thought the rapid whisker growth was a very good look on him.
“I want more than just sex, Riley,” he said huskily. “You should know that.”
“What else do you want?” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper.
“Everything,” he said in a warning tone. “I like waking up with you in my bed. I like seeing you at the end of the day just so we can talk about what happened while we weren’t together. I like meeting you at the Coffee Shack when we need a break. I like seeing you laugh. Really, I like everything about you, even your temper.”
“I don’t have a temper,” I told him with mock indignation.
“Bullshit,” he said teasingly. “You busted Easton’s balls. I wish I’d been there to see it.”
I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t miss much. He cried like a baby. And I had a reason to kick his ass. I wasn’t about to let him near Penny. Maybe I did have a little suppressed rage about what he did to me, too.”
“If that was just some residual anger, I’d hate to see you furious.”
“If you stick around for a while, you’ll see it someday.”
“I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
I searched his eyes, trying to see if he was telling the truth. Now that I knew that I was completely head over heels for him, this whole relationship thing was pretty damn scary.
Seth was capable of destroying me, but I was going to have to learn to put my fears aside. “So this relationship is going to be monogamous?”
“Are you kidding?” he asked gruffly. “Of course it is. I can’t even think about being with another woman anymore. Hell, yes, it’s monogamous and committed.”
Committed?
Did I want commitment?
With Seth, I was fairly certain that I did.
I nodded. “Okay. I guess I just wanted to know exactly what we’re doing.”
“Isn’t that what you want, too?” he asked, sounding slightly apprehensive.
“Yes,” I answered swiftly. “I slept with you, Seth. If I didn’t want it, I wouldn’t have done that. But I’m a little bit scared. I’ve had a total of one man in my life. I can’t really count the college thing. And look how that turned out.”
I’d ended up being nothing except an ornament to Nolan.
But this time everything was different.
Seth was different.
“I’m not Easton,” he rumbled.
“I know that.”
“I’m not even going to pretend that I might not be a somewhat jealous boyfriend. I’ll also be an overly protective one, too, because I can’t stand to see you hurt again. But I’ll be loyal. Always.”
I thought for a minute before I answered. “Then I guess we’re monogamous.”
“Glad you got that worked out,” he answered, like he never intended to take any other answer.
I shrugged. “I don’t want to be with anybody else, either.”
“Thank fuck!” he said hoarsely. “I doubt I’d handle it well if you did.”
My attention was momentarily distracted as I sniffed the air. “Oh, my God! The bacon!”
The noxious odor I’d smelled was smoke.
I pushed against Seth’s intimidatingly large form so I could rush back to the stove, and quickly turned off the gas while I waved my hand in the air above the bacon to dispel the thick smoke.
“I ruined it,” I said wistfully as I used a fork to stir the blackened mess.
Seth put his hands on my shoulders. “It doesn’t matter, gorgeous. Don’t sweat it.”
“Of course it matters,” I mumbled. “We’re both starving. It’s your fault for distracting me.”
He chuckled. “Did I ever mention that I really like my bacon extra-crispy?”
I was still pissed at myself for doing something so stupid, but I couldn’t help myself.
I snorted.
And then I laughed.
CHAPTER 23
RILEY
Dear Ms. Montgomery:
I’d like to make you a proposition.
Even though you’re the sexiest attorney I’ve ever laid eyes on, I find myself wanting something other than your legal expertise.
In fact, it may very well involve groping your ass, and having hot sex, something you were previously against in our old arrangement.
Let me know if you’d like to continue breaking that previous contract—as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Seth Sinclair
“I’m very much interested in destroying that old contract forever,” I said with a laugh as I read Seth’s email.
Over a week had passed since we’d first been intimate, and it seemed like we couldn’t get through a workday without some kind of communication from each other.
Pathetic, right?
I leaned back in my office chair with a smile on my face.
When I’d kissed him good-bye this morning and made my way back to my own home office to work, I’d known damn well that one of us would break down and text, call, or even email—the form of communication he’d decided to use today.
I let out a huge sigh, knowing I was useless for the rest of the day. My mind was now focused on every single dirty thing I’d like to do in order to keep breaking my previous contract with Seth. Luckily, it was late afternoon, and I’d done everything I really needed to do for my clients.
Every single day, I seemed to find myself crazier about Seth than I had been the day before. Strangely, I wasn’t as scared as I used to be about my situation. I was convinced that he was into this relationship just as deeply as I was.
I practically lived at his house now, coming back to my cottage only during the day to work. If I didn’t turn up at his home when he got back from the office, he’d come over to my place to find me.
Is that normal? Is it really healthy to be so connected that we want to be together almost every moment that we aren’t working?
Since I had very little experience with normal, I wasn’t certain what a couple should really be doing together.
Does it really matter what other people do?
Probably not. Seth and I were both pretty content to keep on doing what we were doing now.
I leaned forward and read the few lines of his email again.
It occurred to me that Seth was usually the one to reach out during the day. Not that I didn’t want to, but I usually waited until he did.
Knowing exactly what I wanted to do, I got up, grabbed my keys, and headed for the garage door.