Abel (5th Street 4)

The lazy yet sexy haze that draped over his eyes made her smile. He was as satisfied as she felt. “I’d been waiting to do that from the moment I got in my car to come here tonight.” He smirked against her lips. “Hell, I’ve been waiting to do that since the last time I was with you.” He kissed her sweetly and softly, unlike the way he’d kissed her most of the night. “You look beautiful tonight by the way.” His words were so tender, and he looked so deeply in her eyes in a way she’d never seen him do, that something tugged at her heart. “I love seeing you in your skirt suits.” His playful grin teased. “You’re insanely sexy.” Just when she was beginning to exhale and remind herself to not over think things, he added with the same tenderness as before, “But still beautiful, Nellie, so beautiful.”

He kissed her longer this time but just as sweetly and softly. She tried concentrating on the sweetness of his kiss—enjoying every heavenly moment of it—but her mind was already fast at work. So he said she was beautiful. He was smooth. How could he not be? The man had probably looked this good his whole life. As young as he was, he’d still had plenty of years to perfect his lines and his delivery. God, what a delivery! She’d nearly melted into him from that one compliment alone.

Nellie knew she wasn’t beautiful. She never had been. Only just recently had she discovered she could even still be and feel attractive but beautiful? No. And nothing had reiterated the reality that she was lacking in the way of looks more than the fact that she’d never been enough for her ex-husband. The bastard had cheated on her from the very beginning.

Falling deeper into Abel’s embrace, she allowed herself to go with it. Why shouldn’t she? She’d take the compliment: this one and any more he wanted to throw her way. One thing she knew he couldn’t possibly be faking was that he was as turned on by her as she was by him. Even if it was just a sexual thing, for the first time in a very long time she felt sexy again—wanted. He’d reawakened a part of her she thought her ex had destroyed for good. She’d enjoy every unbelievable moment he’d give her, and when this was over, she’d walk away a better, stronger, woman because of it.

Chapter 4

The sound coming from Nellie’s phone woke them both up. Abel had actually woken up a few hours before when it had beeped a few times. Now it was ringing. He’d almost snuck out earlier while she slept soundly as he had all the other times. She hadn’t even stirred from the phone beeping. But he got caught up watching Nellie sleep. He knew now he must’ve dozed off again, because the last thing he remembered was lying back on the pillow and staring at her.

Not missing the double take she did when she realized he was still in bed with her, Abel smirked, watching her reach for her phone. The second she saw it, she sat up quickly.

“Shit! Is that the right time?”

Abel nodded. “Long exhausting nights will do that to you.” He didn’t even try to hide the satisfaction that the very thought made him feel. Bringing his hands behind his head in no hurry at all to get going, he smiled smugly. In fact, he couldn’t think of anything better than sticking around and going a few more rounds with Nellie. “But it’s Saturday, so it’s okay to sleep in, right?”

Nellie’s phone rang again, and already she was making her way off the bed. “Yeah, but I was supposed to meet someone this morning.” Grabbing a robe from the chair next to her bed, she flung the short barely-there thing around her. She held her hand up to Abel, clicking the screen on her phone then bringing it to her ear before he could ask who she was meeting. “Logan? I’m so sorry. I’m running really late, but can I meet you in like forty minutes?”

In direct contrast to how fast he felt his insides warm, Abel sat up slowly, staring at her. He’d had a feeling from day one that, if it ever came down to it he, might be a little bothered to hear about her with someone else. It was to be expected, right? It was human nature. But he hadn’t expected to feel what he was feeling now.

“Oh, The Country Kitchen sounds delish. Their breakfasts are huge and I’m starving actually.”

He continued staring at her, feeling a bit of curiosity and something else as she rummaged through her drawers. This had to be business. No way was she jumping out of bed with him to go meet another guy for breakfast. Sure, they had an unspoken understanding, no f**king demands and all that shit, but he’d been certain Nellie had more class than this. Was she really chatting it up with another dude while he was still lying naked in her bed, listening to her?

The rest of her conversation with the guy was even more frustrating. The guy was obviously doing most of the talking because she wasn’t saying much more than “uh huh.” She wasn’t giving Abel much more to go on about who this Logan guy was.

The choice of clothes she laid out on the bed as she continued with her call only made his insides warmer. Instead of business attire like the suits that drove him nuts, she laid out a pair of jeans and a casual knit top. As off-putting as the idea of her wearing a sexy skirt suit to go meet Logan at The Country Kitchen was, it would’ve at least meant that this was for sure a business meeting, not a casual breakfast date with a guy.

He’d gotten out of bed himself now and watched as she brought out the big sexy wedge sandals from her closet. She finally hung up just as he’d finished pulling on his pants. He stared at her as he buttoned his fly, doing his best to keep his cool. If he blew up now, this whole thing could come to an end. He’d known from the beginning that it inevitably had to end, but he didn’t know if he was ready to end this just yet.