Real Men Will (Donovan Brothers Brewery 3)
He frowned at the nervousness in her voice. “What’s up?”
“Oh, I wanted to find out what happened with the detective.”
Of course. His shoulders fell a little. “I let him know exactly what you told me. He made note of it. It might come up in the trial, but it won’t affect the investigation.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
“He said he’d get in touch with you if he needed to use your story.”
“Great. Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated, aware of the awkwardness growing between them. A sign, maybe, that things were better left as they were. They were nothing alike. All they’d had was sex. But goddamn, it had been good sex.
“Thanks—” he started, but Beth cut him off.
“Would you like to come over?” she asked.
Eric blinked, sure that he’d heard her wrong. She’d spoken quickly, after all, the words running together on one long breath. “I’m sorry?”
“Would you…would you like to come over?”
“Tonight?” He glanced at the dashboard clock. 10:30. “Yes.”
He felt that he wasn’t quite grasping this. She couldn’t mean—
“I know we had an agreement. So I understand if this is over the line.”
“No,” he said. “No! There’s no line. Absolutely not.”
“So…”
“Yes.” Had he just said that? He wasn’t supposed to see her again. That had been the deal. One night. Nothing more.
“Yes?” she asked, as if she were giving him a chance to change his mind.
He should say no. But what the hell was he trying to protect? He wasn’t the same man he’d been six months ago. His family and his work…those were slipping away. And if there was one thing that was totally separate from those parts of his life, it was Beth Cantrell.
“What’s your address?” he asked.
He thought he heard a sigh of relief from the other end. Had she worried he’d say no? Jesus, he was already putting the car in gear. She gave him the address, and he was on the road. If this was a mistake, he didn’t want time to consider it. This was one mistake he was determined to make.
CHAPTER TEN
BETH CAREFULLY SLIPPED ON her favorite new panties, then added the matching bra. Strangely calm, she turned and looked at herself in the mirror, trying to see her body as Eric would see it.
The midnight-blue silk looked amazing against her skin. She trailed her finger along the edge of the bra where her breasts pushed up into enticing mounds. Eric would like it just fine. And it was nice to think of being with him again. He already knew what she looked like. Too curvy for today’s standards of the feminine ideal, but just right for him, maybe. And he wouldn’t be surprised by her unadorned skin and unpierced erogenous zones. She was the same plain Beth she’d been the last time.
She slipped on a black wrap dress that she loved but had worn only once before. She was always afraid the tie would come loose or the top would gape open, and there she’d be for all the world to see. If that happened tonight, it would only help things toward their natural end.
Last, she put on her favorite black stilettos, trusting that Eric wouldn’t feel the need to lick them at any point during the night. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” she said to herself, sighing. Her whole career was based on giving people just what they wanted, after all. But that didn’t mean she had to extend the customer service to the bedroom.
She?
?d jumped in the shower before calling him, so the last thing she needed was lip gloss and mascara, and she was done. Ready to see him. Ready to figure out the quickest way to get him to her bedroom.
She kicked her workout clothes under the bed just as the doorbell rang.
Wow, he hadn’t wasted any time. Which meant he wanted this, too, mistake or not. And who the hell cared if it was right? For once, she was looking forward to sex as if it were a treat instead of a test.