Page 132 of Recklessly Rogue

I tip my head back so he can kiss and lick and nip his way to the other side. “Well, gee, okay.”

He squeezes my hips. “That’s my girl.”

“But youwillfuck me tonight, right? Maybe slow and sweet? And dirty?” I already know the answer.

“If you’re a good girl at dinner.”

“And that entails…” I ask with an eyebrow up.

“Well, for one thing, when I slide my hand up your leg and beneath your skirt under the tablecloth, there better not be any panties in my way.”

I moan. “That can be arranged.”

“And—” He’s cut off by his phone ringing. He sighs. “Hold that thought.”

He reaches into his bag and withdraws his phone.

I see Cian’s name on the screen.

“Hey,” Henry answers, hitting the button to put Cian on speaker.

“Hey! We’re ten minutes from your place!”

Henry stiffens, and our gazes meet. Our plans are about to get derailed.

“You’re in New Orleans?” he asks.

“Yeah, we’re on our way back to Ohio from the community opening in Dallas and thought we’d stop in. Surprise!”

Yes, Cian and my sister still manage to drop in even though they live a thousand miles away.

It’s been a month since we’ve seen them. I text Scarlett every day, and we talk at least three times a week, but my schedule is crazy with school, and it’s hard to connect more than that. She understands, of course, and is super supportive, so it’s all fine. We do send selfies and photos and memes all the time. We text about the podcast after every episode. I made sure to send her a photo of the amazing muffuletta sandwich I had the other day—her favorite—and she and Mariah send photos of Pete the Pig almost daily. He’s getting huge.

But we haven’tseenthem in a while. We miss them, of course, but time goes fast in-between visits. We’re busy. They’re busy. And they are doing so great.

What should I do?Henry mouths.

My phone dings with a text. I look at it.

Scarlett:Hey! We’re in town!!

Oh, man.

I don’t know, I mouth to Henry.

“Hey, Cian, hang on. I’m at the gym. Just finished up a session with the kids. Give me a minute.” He mutes the call. “Gem, we haven’t had a lot of time, just you and me. I really want that tonight,” he says.

I nod. “Me too.”

“So…”

“So… we send Cian and Scarlett to Autre tonight and we see them tomorrow.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

That’s fine. We shouldn’t feel guilty about that. They’ll love seeing everyone in Autre and we’ll have the whole day tomorrow, maybe the whole weekend, together.

“Oh, I do have to study Sunday night, though,” I say.

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