Page 156 of Bleeding Hearts Duet

I didn’t see how those dots connected in his mind, but I didn’t really understand these things. Ryland was also forced to attend some events he’d much rather not because he said it was good for business. So I didn’t see the harm in having one dance at a public event with this man, even though Ryland was going to hate it.

“Okay,” I relented. “I guess that could be arranged.”

“Perfect.” He grinned. “Once that’s accomplished, I’ll be more than happy to make a rather sizable donation to your cause.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Burton.” Nicole bobbed her head in excitement. “We really appreciate this opportunity to have you attend one of our events.”

He looked at me again and winked. “Believe me. The pleasure is all mine.”

***

Three days had passed since my meeting with Alex, and I still hadn’t told Ryland about it. I hated hiding things from him, but everything was going so well I didn’t want to ruin it.

The charity gala was on Saturday, and Nicole and I were out shopping for dresses. There wasn’t a large selection of maternity wear that I liked, and everything seemed to cling to my body too tightly. I grumbled in frustration as I shoved another silky gown back onto the rack.

“What about this one?” Nicole held up an emerald green dress.

I wrinkled my nose in response. Everyone always told me I should wear green because of my red hair, but it was so not my color.

“Well, I’m afraid that’s the last suggestion I have,” she said. “Should we try another store?”

I nodded, and we walked back out onto the street. There was a man leaning against the brick building across the way reading a newspaper. Normally, I wouldn’t have even noticed, but I’d seen him earlier while Nicole and I were having lunch too. That was all the way over by our apartment.

“Didn’t we see him earlier?” Nicole whispered.

“Yes,” I grumbled.

“This has Ryland written all over it.” She shook her head. “He’s so paranoid something’s going to happen to you.”

While my first inclination was to agree with her, there was something different about this guy. Mick often wore suits, but they were department store fit. This one looked like it had been seamlessly tailored to this man’s body, and I knew his shoes were real Italian leather because Ryland had the same pair. There was something suspicious about it because he didn’t look like a bodyguard. I mentally catalogued it as something else I’d have to bring up with Ryland later as we continued on to the next store.

By the time we finally got back to the apartment, I was exhausted. Shopping with Nicole should have been considered an Olympic sport. I set down my bags and kicked off my shoes before I went in search of Ryland. I found him on his weight bench, pressing out reps like nobody’s business.

Good Lord, he was sexy like that.

He had the music up, so he didn’t hear me come in. For a moment, I just stood in the doorway and watched his biceps flex as he lifted the bar above his head. His entire chest stretched and pulled, rippling down his abs from the effort. They were glistening with sweat, and I had the strangest urge to rub all over him. Chalk it up to the hormones.

With any other man, it wouldn’t have been sexy. But Ryland in this state had my panties clinging to me already. My eyes roamed over the trail of hair that disappeared into his black fleece track pants. I could see the bulge of his cock from where I stood, even though he wasn’t hard. I was having a hard time tearing my eyes away from it when he looked up and caught me ogling him. I grinned and shrugged in embarrassment as he hit pause on the stereo remote.

He sat up and leaned forward on his elbows, rubbing a towel over his face before he smirked.

“What’s up, baby girl?”

I walked towards him and slid onto the weight bench in front of him, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling his face to mine.

“Miss me?” he murmured against my lips.

“Every second of every day,” I answered.

He crushed me against his chest with a groan, pushing my dress up my thighs with strong warm fingers. “Do you want to take a shower with me?” he asked.

“No.” I shook my head adamantly. “I want you just like this.”

He groaned again and then nipped at my ear. “Such a dirty girl.”

He tried to lift me up, but I placed my hand in the center of his chest and pushed him back down. There was something about seeing him in this position- vulnerable to me- that I really liked. And I had every intention of exploring it.

His eyes flared when I leaned down and flicked my tongue over his nipple, tasting the salt on his skin. He made a strangled noise in his throat that sounded very much like approval, so I did it again to the other side.

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