Page 164 of Dark Endures

“Believed us? She’s got us married with a kid on the way in her head.” Mindy steps out of her shoes.

This wins for the best show I’ve ever watched. “The married part doesn’t sound bad at all.”

“Don’t even joke about things like that. My brain can’t handle any more trauma tonight.” She sets her clutch on the dresser.

Every step of the way is going to be a fight with her. I walk over and get in front of her. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now.” It’s impossible not to touch her. “But you need to understand, this isn’t a game. It isn’t fake or a show. We are real. Maybe you need some more convincing.”

Mindy shakes her head. “No more kissing.”

“I said convincing, not kissing. But it’s good to know you spend as much time thinking about it as I do.”

“You do?”

How can she not know? “All the time.” I lean down so our lips almost touch. “I want to kiss you every moment of every day.”

“Oh.” She closes her eyes.

It’s tempting to take what’s offered. But if we start, we’re never going to stop, and tomorrow is going to be a very long day. “You should get ready for bed.” I walk away, pulling my tie off.

“What?” She stares at me.

“You’ve got to be tired.”

“Tired?”

I can’t stop myself from walking over and kissing the tip of her nose. “Get ready for bed.”

“What?”

Mindy’s cute when she’s dizzy from kissing me. “You don’t need to worry. I’ll sleep on the floor.” It won’t even get close to the worst place I’ve slept.

“The floor.” Her eyes move from my lips to the bed.

“Yes.”

“No. You can’t.”

“I’ll be perfectly comfortable.” I don’t know about comfortable, but it won’t affect my ability to sleep.

“It’s not that.” She tips her head. “Well, it’s not all that. Mom—”

“You’ve got to not let her affect your life so much.”

“She won’t see me again until the divorce in a few months.”

Mindy’s mom is in for a rude awakening. There hasn’t been a divorce in the Linckester family. Marriage is for life, quite literally, with them.

“But the future doesn’t matter right now. She’ll know we didn’t sleep together.”

“So? I won’t sleep with you before we get married. It’s the truth.”

“What did you say?” She grabs her head like she has a massive migraine. “Don’t answer that. I can’t handle this. I’m not asking you to have sex with me right now. All I’m asking is that we sleep in the same bed so that my mother doesn’t know.”

Like I want to sleep anywhere but at her side. Why am I fighting this? Because of that reaction. We’re going to need to have a real adult conversation soon. “Fine. I’ll sleep with you.”

“Good.” She nods. “No funny business. I promise.”

That woman doesn’t know what a temptation she is. But after twenty years of teaching teenagers to respect their partners and the consequences of their actions, there’s no way that temptation is going to win.

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