Page 55 of Almost Love

With a gentle nod, she stopped moving. He dragged his hands up her arms, then around her waist to pull her closer. For a moment, she couldn’t think. Or breathe. All she could focus on washim.

“You’re shaking,” he said softly.

She hummed and set her hands on his chest. “We need rules.”

“What kind of rules?”

“I know we’ve both got our issues with sex, but still I feel like it needs to be clear that there can’t be anyone else.”

“Okay.”

She swallowed and continued. “I’m not ready for people to know, so we’d spend our time at my house. No dating, but I’ll still be your food guide.”

“Okay,” he repeated, a wrinkle forming between his eyebrows.

“We’re exploring pleasure and helping each other. But we’re not putting labels on this, we’re not making any promises outside of that.”

“Clem…”

She could hear the confusion in that one word. “I need to feel some kind of control, Oakley.”Don’t break, don’t break.

His eyes searched hers before nodding slowly. “Okay, baby. Can I still kiss you?”

“You mustalwayskiss me.”

He nodded, his hands moving up her back. One cupped her neck while the other traced the front of her blouse. “Anything else, Clem?”

“We’re going to take it slow.”

His finger dipped into her cleavage and their eyes met, sending a spark of lust up her spine. She was panting, but didn’t want him to stop.

“Keep going,” he mumbled.

“Kissing, touching, teaching,fucking,” she breathed out, another shiver running through her.

His warm breath brushed against her cheek as he leaned in, the hand around her neck moved into her hair. She licked her lips, eyes falling shut and leaned into his touch. Her hands settled on his hips, fingers curling into the loops of his jeans. She felt him press a featherlight kiss to her cheek and arched into him, turning her head in the hopes of kissing him. Oakley suddenly seemed so far away, but as she was ready to give up, his mouth pressed against hers and she released a moan of relief. It was a soft kiss, one that sent explosions of pleasure all through her body. A slight parting of lips, a brief touching of tongues and all of her came alive.

“Tonight,” he mumbled against her mouth. “Let’s start tonight.”

CHAPTER 16

By the time Clementine left the shop, he’d already eaten three full donuts.Eating my feelings is my new favorite thing.When Fox showed up, eager for his sugar fix, he wasn’t impressed with the leftovers. In the days after their sleepover, Oakley had told himself to take it slow. She needed the time to get used to what they were doing, and honestly, so did he. He wanted her, there was no doubt about that, but he didn’t want to force either of them to do something because they agreed on it.

They kept their texts brief and he barely flirted when he stopped by the bakery, because there were always too many people around. He wanted to hold and touch her all the time, and until that morning when she laid out the rules, he didn’t realize that she wanted the whole thing to be a secret. Well, maybe notsecret, but she didn’t want everyone to know.

It should have upset him, but he got it. What they did was nobody else’s business and quite honestly, he liked having her all to himself. The rest of her rules had been fair, but confusing. The ‘no dating’ one really stumped him, because he thought that’s what they were already doing. Then again, they hadn’t really gone out all that much yet. She had made pizzas that first nightand they’d gone to The Hive, but nothing beyond that. Knowing Clementine, she’d have dinner ready when he showed up that evening too. As for dating other people? Oakley had zero interest in that. Kristof had definitely asked him to make friends and meet single people, and he’d done it.

He’d met the only single person he wanted.

Once he’d finished a fourth donut Oakley washed up and went to help Carin with a full leg tattoo they’d been working on. He drifted in and out of the conversation with the client, because his mind was fixed on Clementine. He was relieved when she said that he must always kiss her, because he didn’t know if he’d survive without the taste of her mouth. Now that he knew how soft and eager she was, it would be impossible to stop.

The rest of the day went by in a bit of a daze. He had a few appointments of his own, quick and easy tattoos with minimal conversation. The minute his last client slipped him a tip and walked out the door, he was hurrying out as well. After a quick stop at Daisy’s Patch to grab her a bouquet of carnations, peonies and gerberas, he made a mental list of things they definitely needed to talk about and repeated them as he pulled into her driveway.

Flowers in one hand, he forced himself to breathe slowly and then rang the doorbell. He was prepared to see her in another devastating outfit, but instead he heard her yell, “It’s open!”. Frowning, he turned the handle and let himself inside. Locking the door behind him, Oakley toed off his sneakers and followed the scents to the kitchen.

“You can’t leave your front door unlocked, babe.”

“It was unlocked for you,babe,” she countered, not even bothering to look at him. But that allowed Oakley to admire her. He thought he’d always been an ass guy or someone who was drawn to legs. With Clementine, he was drawn to all of her. He also liked that in this outfit—sweatshirt that slipped off hershoulders and another pair of tiny shorts—he had unfettered access to all his favorite parts of her.

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