It was enough to spur me on, to drive me wild. I pulled back on her top, sliding her black suit back until I could see the dark, puckered skin of her areola, the full, hard tip of her nipple. I took it in my mouth, sucking and licking in tandem with my other thumb, swiping over her other nipple.

She let out a moan that made my cock harden. I covered her lips with mine, kissing her deeply, tangling my tongue with hers. I wanted more, these clothes out of the way, her skin against mine.

But I had to back off before I couldn’t stop myself. She deserves more than me taking it further in the car. Our first time together was going to be something she’d remember as perfect. “Fuck,” I moaned against her lips. I moved her clothes back in place and kissed her gently. “You are irresistible.”

“Irresistible?” she asked, a slight smile on her lips.

They were so kissable, I kissed them again. “Irresistible, incredible, the whole damn package,” I said. “And this weekend is going to be amazing. For you and your friends. And your grandma should know how much you love her if she doesn’t already.”

Hen closed her eyes, nodding, and I slipped my fingers through hers.

There was an unspoken understanding in the car. I needed to get back to work, and Hen had things to take care of at home. But the best was yet to come, and damn, was I looking forward to it.

She drove the last couple minutes to the job site, and then when she parked in the small dirt lot, I didn’t want to get out.

“Text me if you need anything while you’re out of town,” I said.

She nodded, biting her lip.

“And call, if you want to talk.”

Now she smiled. “Do you like talking on the phone?”

I shrugged, not wanting to give myself away. “When you live on the road so long, you get plenty of practice.”

There was awe in her eyes as she looked at me. “I can’t believe you’re interested in me.”

But the words sounded so wrong. I took her face in my hands, not caring if any of the workers saw me. She needed to hear this. “Hen, there are billions of women on the planet, and none of them have ever amazed me the way you continue to do. Please, believe me.”

Her eyes softened as she took in the words, and I couldn’t stop from kissing her one more time.

“I’ll see you at the wedding,” I said.

“I’ll be the one in the purple dress, walking down the aisle.”

“And I’ll be the guy sitting there, wondering how in the hell he got lucky enough to be your date.”

32

Henrietta

Confession: I’m done keeping secrets from my friends.

I tooka drink from my own bottle of champagne, my toes dangling in the hot tub, a terry cloth robe wrapped around me. Mara, Birdie, and Tess sat with me around the hot tub, in pure heaven as the sun sank down a sky of orange and gold.

A spa day for the bachelorette party had been brilliant. We’d spent the day drinking cucumber water, soaking in mud tubs, getting waxed, having our nails painted and our hair done. Even the bride-to-be seemed relaxed, which was the exact opposite of how my sisters-in-law had been prior to their weddings.

Birdie raised her bottle of champagne toward Mara. “A toast to your last moments as a single woman. Can you believe you’re getting married Saturday?Onepenis for the rest of your life?”

Mara giggled, swinging her feet through the water. “Oneamazingpenis. You forgot that word.”

Tess covered her ears and started humming, and I giggled so hard my stomach hurt.

Okay, so maybe we were getting a little tipsy.

Birdie laughed. “It must be amazing for you to feel so happy about settling down.”

Mara reached out to uncover her sister-in-law’s ears and smiled as she rolled the champagne bottle in her hands. “You know, I used to think that settling down was a bad thing, like it was an act of giving up. Settling for less than you wanted. But this feels so much different.”