Page 80 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

“It’s okay.” I sat up against the pillows, yawning. “I forgot to set an alarm.”

Last night replayed in my head.

Holy crap. Holden and I didn’t even have sex and it was still the best I’d ever had. I didn’t have to fake it. I didn’t evenrememberto fake it. One second I was teasing him about being overconfident and reaching for my vibrator. The next minute, he was devouring me and making me come harder than I ever had.

With his tongue. Imagine that.

A tiny part of me wished I let him stay, but letting him sleep over was dangerous territory.

“How’s life in the middle of nowhere?” she asked.

Images from last night flooded my head and I grinned. “It’s actually pretty great.”

She did a fake gasp. “What? Did that Holden guy move away?”

I laughed. “No, he’s never leaving this place.” I shrugged, gazing out the window at the overcast skies. I’d go for another forest walk today, by myself this time. “The people are pretty cool here. I’m making friends.”

“Aw. I’m glad.”

“That Holden guy and I have become friends.”

Silence stretched on the other end. “I’m sorry,what?”

I laughed. “We’ve been hanging out a lot while working on the inn.” For some reason, I held back from telling her about the deal Holden and I struck, about finding him a wife. “He’s not so bad.”

An image of him pulling his shirt over his head appeared in my head. Muscles rippling and eyes on me. I bit my lip. Not bad at all.

“You hooked up.”

My mouth fell open. “How can you tell?”

Willa let out a loud laugh. My heart panged and I missed her.

She let out a long sigh. “It was the way you saidhe’s not so bad, like you were picturing him naked.”

My chest shook with laughter. Busted. “Okay. We hooked up.”

“Iknewhe had a thing for you.”

My stomach rolled with pleasure and warmth and I smiled. “It’s not like that. We’ve decided to be friends with benefits.” I shrugged. “You know, because I don’t live here.”

And he wanted a wife, my brain reminded me.

Friends with benefits had been a stroke of genius on my part. All the fun without any of the terrifying commitment stuff? Genius, baby. Genius.

It wasn’t dating, because we weren’t letting feelings get involved. It was just sex with an expiration date.

“Good for you. Might as well make your time there worth it.”

Besides, from the way Holden wielded his tongue like he did last night, it would be awasteto not sleep with him. Men like him were a rarity.

“It’s already worth it,” I told her, smiling. “I love renovating the inn. I should have done it years ago with Katherine. It feels like…” I trailed off.

I glanced around my bedroom at the overwhelming wallpaper. Once we finished the bathrooms, I’d remove it. My heart twisted at the idea of stripping it, though. The ugly little flowers were growing on me, like when a pet is super old and half bald but you still can’t help but love it.

“What?” Willa asked, her voice soft.

I thought about how excited Katherine would be to see the changes in the inn, and my heart squeezed, warm and happy.

---