Page 69 of When Annika Met Thom

“Crazy for it, but she’s not allowed to have hoisin sauce.”

“So protective of your girl.” Annika’s tone was teasing.

“It’s not good for her…”

Thom didn’t finish what he was saying because Annika looped her arms around his neck, then kissed him on the mouth. It was way too short of a kiss, but long enough to muddle Thom’s thoughts.

“So, what are we now?” she asked when she broke their kiss. Thom was seriously tempted to pull her close again, but her words stopped that. “Friends with benefits?”

“No such thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“The benefit is sex. Friends don’t have sex. Once you’re having sex, you’re not friends anymore.”

“Then what are we? Lovers?”

Thom shook his head. “That implies an emotional bond.”

She frowned as she considered that. “Quite reasonably, I think. I mean, who has sex with someone they don’t even like?” She fixed him with a look. “Have you?”

“No.”

“See?” Her expression was triumphant.

He opened the fridge instead of answering, planning how he’d salvage the meal.

“How about this?” she asked, apparently undeterred. “We’re going for satisfaction, by mutual agreement, and we’re keeping it simple.” She looked him in the eye and seemed deadly serious. “We have a deal. No emotional connections. No talk of the future. Just lots of good clean fun.”

“More data for your experiment.”

“Exactly!”

Funny how Thom didn’t find her easy agreement that satisfying.

Meanwhile, Annika looked down at the cutting board. “I’m starving,” she said. “How fast is your house special to finish? Do you have to start over now?”

Thom had always believed that when something seemed too good to be true, it probably was. Another week of sex with Annika and zero commitment would be like a fantasy come true—which was why he didn’t believe it would work out that way. By breakfast, she’d be spinning plans of forever and saying how they obviously belonged together. He wasn’t going to encourage that—because when the inevitable disappointment came, she’d cry.

But once more tonight was impossible to resist.

“Shouldn’t take long,” he said gruffly.

Annika laughed and got two glasses out of the cupboard. As Thom began to organize the ingredients again, she popped the cork on the Prosecco and poured him a glass.

“To experiments,” she said, eyes dancing.

And Thom was only too happy to drink to that.

* * *

Annika feltlike she’d been cheated, like she’d bought a book then discovered that the last chapter was missing. She’d had no idea that sex could be so amazing. She’d wanted more before because she’d only had crumbs from the table. Now, she wanted to cruise the entire buffet, at least three times, and try every option possible. She’d always hoped for more before, but now she felt insatiable.

She realized that Leo wasn’t just selfish in his choices: he was selfish in bed. He was only concerned with his own satisfaction and if his partner found her pleasure along the way, well, good for her. He’d never gone out of his way to drive her crazy the way Thom had. He’d never made her wait for it or tantalized her with his fingers or otherwise tried to drive her insane with lust. That was addictive.

If sex could be this good between comparative strangers, it had to be off the scale when people were in love.

Annika felt a new optimism for the future, but was ready to learn all she could in the interim. She understood that Thom was skeptical that she could defy his expectations—he exuded doubt like a dark cloud—but she’d change his mind, too.

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