“Huh? Oh God, I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head back and forth. “Could you do me a favor, and repeat what you just said? I’m sorry, my mind skipped town for a second.”

“God, I know how that feels,” I said sighing. “But I asked about privacy and how we would maintain that for ourselves.”

I watched him as he brought himself back into the conversation, and I he looked at me with a soft look in his eyes that took me back a bit. He went from being on another planet to being right there, up close and personal, in our conversation. I could be going crazy, but I couldn’t help but ask myself if he was staring at me. Instantly my cheeks began to blush, wondering what was going through his mind, and whether he was having similar thoughts to me.

“For example,” I said quietly. “The bathroom, showers, and morning routines.”

“Oh, that’s no big deal at all,” he said, waving his hand. “We have two full baths, so I’ll just use the one in the hallway, and you can have the one in the bedroom all to yourself. There is no reason for you to feel uncomfortable about simple things like that.”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Because, if the court official comes and notices that all of your toiletries are in a separate bathroom, it is going to raise some questions,” I replied. “Since we’re trying to keep things as much on track as possible, we might want to cohabitate as much as possible as well. It will just make things less stressful in the long run. The last thing I want to do is look through the peephole and panic, running around the house moving your shampoo and toothbrush. Besides, that may be a little strange for Jake, too.”

I could see myself running around the house like a mad woman, sweating profusely when I finally answered the door. I didn’t want it to look so perfect that it was unbelievable, but I also didn’t want to take any chances. If I was going to uproot my entire life to see this through, I wanted to leave nothing to chance. There were always going to be little things, the same little things you would think were normal in a real married couple’s place, but put under scrutiny can become suspicious activity. If all the big things were set in stone, it would be a lot easier to explain away the little things and have them changed shortly after the official leaves. All in all, I was pretty much looking at sharing practically everything with Luke, which was oddly okay with me.

I watched him as he ran my words through his head, nodding his head up and down and taking a long sip of his wine. We actually made a really good team, which was nice since we were going to have to be living together for quite a long time. Where one person was weak, the other could pick up the slack, oddly like a real marriage was supposed to work, but rarely did. Maybe there was something to be said about arranged marriages like this.

“You know, you really do have a really good head on your shoulders,” he said, lifting his glass. “And of course, really nice shoulders, and everything else.”

I stopped in my tracks, not really sure if I had heard him clea

rly or not. Did he just pay me a really sexy compliment? No, that couldn’t have been what came out of his mouth. However, from the way he was looking at me over his wine glass, I was definitely thinking he had just flirted with me, telling me that I was good looking in a strange sort of way. I had to hide the smile that was creeping over my lips. His words were causing something to happen inside of me that I hadn’t felt in a really long time. I shifted in my seat trying to excuse what he said, but the warmth that flooded me was too much to ignore. I could feel my cheeks glowing bright red, and I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t; my mouth was frozen shut for some reason. I hadn’t actually ever been paid a compliment like that before, and coming from him, it was really sexy. He stared at me for several seconds, but then started laughing, calming the thickness of the air.

“I am such an ass,” he laughed. “I’m sorry for being so corny.”

Immediately, my mouth curved up and broke into a huge smile, making everything seem much less serious. He was such an interesting man, and if corny was his thing, I would take it anytime. He shook his head and took in a deep breath looking back at me.

“At least it forced a big smile out of you,” he said. “You have been stressed, I know, but I like to see you happy and content. Hopefully you can get to that point while you are here.”

“That would be nice,” I said with a smile.

“So,” he said, picking up the bottle of wine and refilling our glasses. “I was out on the field the other day taking notes in front of where the cheerleaders practice and I overheard one of the players hitting on the girls. It was the most awkward and creepiest displays of manhood I had seen in a really long time. He looked at them and said, ‘Hey ladies, are those space pants? Because your ass is out of this world.’ I literally had to get up and walk away because I couldn’t control my laughter.”

“Oh my God,” I said, laughing hard. “That is so bad. I can’t even imagine having a guy say that to me. I can’t imagine what I would say in return.”

We both continued laughing, setting our glasses of wine down so we didn’t spill them. I couldn’t help but think how absolutely charming Luke was, even when he was telling a story like that. It was like he couldn’t help being that smooth, and I couldn’t help falling for it. Just as that thought crossed my mind, I watched as he leaned forward, pressing his lips firmly against mine. Immediately we both froze, unable to part lips but curious as to what the other was thinking. Slowly both of our shoulders released, and I could feel his warm, soft mouth moving over mine. It had been a really long time since any man had kissed me, and never in my life had a man as sexy and charming as Luke made a move on me like that. I really didn’t know what to do; my mind was screaming to get away, while the fire in my belly was yelling at me to go for it.

Finally, after fighting myself for several moments, I said fuck it, and leaned into his kiss, releasing the stress and anguish I was feeling. His body was so warm, and he reached his hands up, cupping my face before kissing me even deeper than before. I whimpered into his mouth, feeling his tongue slip across my lips and push inside, exploring my mouth and intertwining with mine. I ran my hand up his leg and stopped at his thigh, feeling the intensity of his thigh under my hand. The warmth in my belly traveled down between my legs, and I could feel the wetness pooling in my panties. I wanted him, there was no question in my mind, but at that moment all I could do was sit frozen in his arms, allowing him to taste me, and ravish me with his mouth.

I had finally given in. I had surrendered, and everything that made me a woman suddenly came flooding back to me. All of those things had been trapped away in my mind, locked behind closed doors after my marriage failed, and my child died. I didn’t feel like a human for a very long time, but as his warm breath collided into mine, something opened up inside of me. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I was definitely not wanting any of it to go away. How could I have gone all of this time, without even the whisper of passion in my life, and with one kiss be brought back to the twenty-something young, vibrant woman who I used to be, at least in the bedroom.

Whatever had happened, I didn’t regret it one bit, and I hoped that this kiss didn’t have to end.

Chapter Nineteen

Luke

My eyes were closed, but I didn’t want them to be; I wanted to experience every little taste, sight, and sound of what it was like to kiss Quinn. Her lips were so plump and juicy, and she tasted absolutely amazing. I ran my lips over hers and rolled my tongue through her warm wet mouth, imagining other things that I hadn’t dared think about her yet. She was the girl who had saved my relationship with my son, but she was also a powerful, funny woman, who I couldn’t stop myself from being attracted to. Everything about her screamed freedom, like she was trapped inside of herself and bursting to get out. I ran my hands over her body as my mouth claimed hers once again.

Her lips and tongue tasted like cinnamon cookies, and I just wanted to keep tasting, exploring even more depths of our passion. I felt like this moment had been building up since the first time I noticed her beautiful eyes, and now that the stress of the courtroom was off our shoulders, and we were beginning settling into a life together, however brief, we were letting loose, allowing ourselves to act on the attraction that had been there all along. The feel of her fingers moving up my thigh drove me wild, and I had to concentrate very hard on not bursting from my pants, or ripping her clothes off and taking her right there on the couch.

My mind kept trying to remind me that she was off limits, that she was the woman who was going to ensure that I got to have time with my son. I didn’t want anything, including my ignorant sensibilities when it came to relationships, to get in the way of that. I couldn’t break her heart; it just wouldn’t be fair of me, and if she were to leave, I would lose everything. No matter what my mind was telling me, though, I couldn’t seem to tear myself away from her lips. In reality, I didn’t want to stop; I didn’t want to think about what could be. I wanted to find out what all of it meant, but I wanted to do it using my mouth against her body.

I growled deep in my throat, pushing the vibrations of my noises into her mouth. She moaned softly as I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her against me. I needed her close, I wanted her close, and I wanted nothing in the world to interrupt that moment. I knew it was only a matter of time before her brain kicked back in and she pulled away, but until then, I was going to kiss her and do it completely and thoroughly. My hand slid around her waist and up her back, grasping the back of her neck and tilting her head back slightly, allowing me to kiss her even deeper than before. Just as her hand approached the crotch of my pants, we froze, listening to the loud pounding coming from the front door.

We sat there for what seemed like several seconds, staring into each other’s eyes, not wanting to move from that moment, because neither of us knew if we would ever make it back there again. I took in a deep breath and leaned forward, kissing the tip of her nose before pulling back, releasing her from my grip. The knock came louder this time, and I sighed, getting up from the couch and opening the door. What a time for the pizza guy to show up. Never in my life had I been cock-blocked by a pizza guy, but I guess there was a first time for everything. Part of me wanted to make that joke to Quinn, but I wasn’t sure how she would take it. She was a strange girl sometimes, and I didn’t want to say or do anything that would make her unhappy or uncomfortable around me, and not just because of the court officials.

Tags: Claire Adams Romance
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