It Started with a Kiss

As for the man who’s been standing on a street corner waiting for me for no other reason than to make sure I’m all right, I don’t think I’ve ever known how to love until he showed me, still showing me every day through his actions, words, and praise, the way we navigate any conflict. That’s how couples become great. They work through life’s troubles together.

So whatever has him scowling at his phone, I want to be there for him and fix it, just like he’s been here for me.

He looks up and sees me, a smile following automatically. I grin because I can. I survived what I thought would be a challenge. Amelia made it easy for me to leave, even if she didn’t intend to.

I hold the orange folder in the air and waggle it. He says, “You’re still fired?”

“Sure, if she wants to call it that.”

His large hands slide around my waist and settle on my lower back. “What do you call it?”

“A move in the right direction.” I lift to kiss him. His lips are warm from the sunshine despite the slight chill in the air. When I lower back down, I say, “Thanks for waiting.”

“Always.” He takes the envelope to carry for me and to free my hand to hold it before we start walking down the street. He says, “You’ve had quite the start to the new year.”

“No one can ever say I don’t go big.”

“That’s my girl.”

He’s right.

I am his girl and so completely under his spell.

24

Marlow

“What are you doing?” Jackson asks, cutting through to the kitchen while wearing nothing but a dark-gray towel that seems to be refusing to stay tucked.

I watch with rapt attention hoping the towel wins.

“I . . . um.” I lick my lip and then bite it. I will openly admit that the man is ridiculously distracting, parading his body around like it’s not built to drive women wild. Especially after a hard workout. I’d like to take credit for that, but he went to the gym. Then he took a shower, and now this towel situation has presented itself in front of me. Even if he’s totally unaware of what he does to me, I’m well-aware. “How am I supposed to get anything done around here?”

As he looks at me from the kitchen, the counter hides his lower half so all I see is nakedness. Again, how am I supposed to work in these conditions when all I want to do is ravage the man?

His jaw ticks as he stares at me with his hands planted on the counter before him. “What’s wrong?”

“You.” I scoff and then roll my eyes.

“Me? What did I do?”

My eyes go wide, my eyebrows shooting toward the ceiling. “Are you kidding me right now?” When he continues to stare at me with utter confusion written across his face, I say, “I can’t focus with you walking around in your nakedness. It’s hard enough when you’re dressed. But now this . . .”

“You mean this?” He holds the towel in the air next to him and drops it. Towel drop.

I decided I wouldn’t spend my day searching for a new job or even worrying about the one I lost. There are plenty of days ahead for that business. Instead, I get to work on something that I control. I take a deep breath and stand, setting my laptop with the listings I was working on next to me on the cushion, and march into the bedroom.

I start stripping my clothes off, and then I walk back into the living room, knowing how to push every one of his buttons. I may have lost the battle, but I can still win the war. “Two can play that game.” I give it three minutes, four tops before he’s begging for me to meet him in the bedroom.

“I didn’t know we were playing a game?” he says so casually while restraining a grin. I’m not sure he even believes his own words.

“Oh yeah, buster. It’s game on. I know exactly what you’re doing . . .” I don’t tell him his plan is working, and I’m total mush in his hands. Nah, I play it as cool as a cucumber. “Let’s see how much work you get done.” I walk to the couch and sit on the blanket before wrapping it around my lower half.

Taking my laptop, I sit back and continue listing the next five bags I begrudgingly decided I need to sell. But then he’s behind me, just a whisper between his lips and my ears, his breath tickling against my skin when he says, “I’ll be in the bedroom if you need me.”

The towel is dropped over my head, and I hear him padding across the floor. I pull the towel off just in time to get a glimpse of that great ass of his. He thinks he’s won, but I have one last trick up my sleeve. “I’ve been thinking the kitchen.”