Page 95 of Counterfeit Connection

We end the call and I toss my phone onto the small table beside the chaise. She gave me so much to consider, but all I know is I’ve never been happier… and that has to be enough. At least for now.

I close my eyes, letting the white noise of the cool breeze and the sound of nature lull me into relaxation. I may have fallen asleep for a moment, because I don’t even hear Griffin open the sliding door or approach my side.

“You took your heels off,” he pouts.

I pop my eyes open and smile. His white dress shirt is open and hanging around his hips. The fabric floats around him with every little bit of air near us. “They were hurting my feet. Sometimes, it hurts to look that good. Taking them off was like an orgasm. I couldn’t resist.”

“Like an orgasm, huh? I’d like to give you a couple of those and test that theory later,” he says with a grin. “Would you like me to rub them for you? I’d like them to feel good enough to put them back on for me later with not much else.”

I tilt my head. “Sounds like someone has a fantasy.”

Griffin sits at my feet. “I do. Her name is Kaitlyn Logan.” He presses his thumb deep into my arch. I can feel the tension release all the way up to my knee. “You know what I just realized?”

“That you can get whatever you want from me as long as you never stop doing what you’re doing right now?” He tickles the tip of my wiggling toe while I wrinkle my nose at him.

He chuckles softly. “No. I don’t know your middle name. I never snuck a peek at your driver’s license.”

“Mmmm. It’s Joy. It’s the same as my mother’s” I arch my back at the sensation. One could argue that it’salmostas good as sex. Almost.

“Joy.”

He says it like he’s working something out in his head. “What?”

“It makes all the sense in the world.” Just when I think he can’t say anything sweeter, that’s what he says. “You know, I really love having you here, in my space. I like seeing our things together.”

And I was wrong, yet again.

“I’ve never lived like this with someone before. I mean, Martin would stay a day or two and vice versa, never a twenty-four seven thing. I didn’t know if I could do it.”

His thumb moves to my other foot. “Now you know you can?”

“More like now I know I want to.”

His sparkling white smile grows even wider for just a second. “Were you talking to someone on the phone? I thought I heard your voice.”

“I called Gilly. Needed a girl minute.”

“A girl minute? What did this minute involve?”

“Well. She’s seen all the things on the internet.”

“Fuck.”

“No, wait. I told her about your mother. I told her this is real. I told her I love you.”

Griffin

They know. The world knows. It’s like chains falling off my body. This beautiful woman loves me. I love her more than my mere words could ever tell her. Right here, right now, I want to show her.

I release her foot from my grasp, tugging her body toward mine at the end of the chaise. She makes a little sound of surprise as her skin slides against the fabric coming to a stop at my thighs. My lips reach in to take a taste from hers. The faintest bit of coconut coats my lips. I fear my teeth may or may not have left an indent in her perfect skin.

My left arm holds her close while my right hand begins a walk from her knee, disappearing under the hem of her dress, allowing my fingers to dance along the hidden line of lace beneath the cover.

“What are you doing?” she whispers.

“What does it feel like?” I respond.

Kaitlyn giggles softly. “What? Here? Won’t someone see us?”

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