Page 61 of Bad At Love

“Fuck, Char,” he said, stilling inside her. His powerful body draped over her like a blanket, his breaths warm gusts of air over her neck. “You and your fantasies…is it any wonder I don’t need to dream up any? Keeping you satisfied is more than enough.”

“Yeah?” she said, sinking her fingers into his sweaty hair and pulling it until she could reach his lips. Then she kissed him, licking away the sweat and her own taste from his mouth. Willing him to hold her in his heart just for a little longer.

Slowly, gently, he pulled out of her, and cum leaked down her thighs. “You want to get into the claw-foot tub and wash this off?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, hid her face in his chest. “Yes, please. And then, maybe I could go on my knees for you.”

“You aren’t tired?”

“Motivated, more than anything,” she said, nipping his neck. “There will be beautiful women on this trip, no? I’m hoping you’ll remember my face and your cock in my mouth if you’re…distracted by any of them.”

He tucked his chin on top of her head, his hands roaming restlessly over her hips. “You’ve ruined me for anyone else,” he whispered the words into her sweaty hair. But Chaaru heard them anyway. Fiery satisfaction swept through her.

Hands under her thighs, he picked her up, and she tangled her arms around his neck, breathing him in. Storing away the feel and taste and scent of him. Willing her heart to be patient and strong, just one more time. Just for him.

If he could wait twenty years for her, she could damn well wait two months for him.

He was worth it.

23

Ten Weeks Later

DP directedthe cab driver to stop at the end of Chaaru’s street, his pulse racing at the mere proximity to her.

For March, the day was exceptionally sunny even with little daylight left. He was exhausted after traveling for nearly twenty-six hours through several time zones, but desperate for a glimpse of her. He rubbed the contours of the small box poking out of his backpack, as if it were a talisman to keep him strong and ready for what lay ahead.

Tapping his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, the cabbie stared at him through the rearview mirror.

“Just a few minutes please,” DP said, leaning forward in his seat and craning his neck.

It was a Sunday and while she couldn’t always avoid working on weekends, Chaaru tried her best to keep it open to spend with Kaasi. She cooked elaborate meals and invited Mona, him or Laura over, always eager to pamper her friends.

It was ridiculous to creep on her from the cab but ten weeks later, he just wanted one look at her, her soft smile, her pretty eyes. Of course, he could get down and simply knock on the door and take her in his arms. But his nerves weren’t prepared yet for what he planned to do. Scaling a mountain peak had nothing on this.

Minutes ticked by and the cabbie’s drumming got louder. Finally, the bright yellow door opened and a smartly dressed woman stepped out. A woman that wasn’t Chaaru. He barely took in her crisp pantsuit, the designer bag, and a shiny folio in her hand when a couple stepped out onto the porch with a little girl dangling between them.

DP frowned.

None of the faces were familiar to him. On further scrutiny, he realized the smartly dressed woman could be a real estate agent. Had Chaaru decided to sell her townhome? Why?

They’d exchanged a few texts and talked on the phone once while he’d been gone. He had kept their communications to minimum, in some ridiculous effort to forget her for a while, if not get over her. Turned out extra hard on him because there had been so many things he wanted to share with her. In the end, he’d realized that he had to put himself and his love on the line, he had to tell her that he wanted forever with her.

Even if it meant they would take it one week at a time.

But selling her home...why hadn’t she told him she was making such a big decision? And where would she live?

Had she met someone that had swept her off her feet?

The thought struck him hard, punching his breath out of him. No, that wasn’t possible. Their week together had meant something to her, she’d admitted that much. And if the impossible had happened, he’d have heard about it from Maggie, or Kaasi or Mona.

So what the hell was happening?

“Let’s go please,” he muttered to the driver, leaning back into the seat. He’d spent so much time during his trip imagining their reunion. Had been sleepless for a few days, wondering if he’d made a mistake by being gone for so long. Wondering if he should have demanded more than that week when they were still high on their connection.

But he’d needed to do this for himself. Needed to give her the distance to miss him, to recognize what they had, to make her see that their lives would be so much richer together.

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