Page 44 of Reckless Kiss

I was nota patient man and I was absolutely positive I would lose my mind when Marie called me in to work Saturday. My cock had plans, and those plans involved bedding Esme until she couldn’t see straight.

After our unexpected tryst in her office I invited her back to my bed. She accepted. It was very much like a dream waking up with her naked body pressed against mine, but before I could enjoy it, my nightmare arrived in the form of a ringing phone.

I quickly silenced the beast, but the damage was done.

Esme stretched and slowly opened her eyes while I ran my hands over her silky skin. “Good morning, Esme.” My voice was still rough with sleep despite being awake for nearly an hour enjoying simply being beside her.

“Morning.” Her eyes widened and she froze.

I ran my fingers through her hair. “Don’t you dare second guess what happened last night. I won’t allow it.”

She nodded and slowly relaxed, leaning her face against her folded arm. “I guess that answers my question.”

“I’m going to pretend you never thought it. Do you like coffee in the morning?”

She nodded again. “Black.”

“Take your time waking up. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Unfortunately ignoring my phone did not stop it from vibrating. By the time I returned from the café down the street with coffee and breakfast sandwiches, Esme was chewing on her lip and eyeballing the infernal device like it might explode.

“Fuck, has it been going off?”

“I don’t think it’s stopped.”

She accepted the coffee and I noted she was still beautifully naked, so not all was lost.

“This better be good,” I barked at Marie as I answered.

“I must be interrupting something good,” she chuckled.

I was not amused. “Get to your point quickly.”

“Ahhh...she’s still there. Got it. Well bad news, I’m afraid. We’re assembling in the main conference room. We need an action plan before this thing blows up in our faces.”

I let my gaze drift to Esme as I sipped my coffee. Work instead of sexual bliss? This was bullshit. But at least I had Esme’s promise. She wouldn’t disappear when I left for work. We had months and months to enjoy each other.

“Fine. I’ll be there in an hour.”

I hung up before Marie made any jokes about how I wouldn’t need to bring condoms for everyone. She loved a good condom joke. The woman was rabid about safe sex and gave out boxes of prophylactics for every holiday and provided information about the failure rates of each kind of contraception. She was ridiculous but also very effective at keeping all of our heads on straight.

“Work?”

I glared at my phone as I threw it on the dresser. “Unfortunately.”

Esme sat cross-legged with the sheet pulled up over her breasts as she clutched her coffee. “Did you mean what you said last night?”

Her voice was so full of apprehension I set down my cup and crawled across the mattress to her. “Which part? That you’re mine for six months? Or that I don’t give a fuck about your past?”

I didn’t care about anything but being with her, even if it was irrational. I was head over heels crazy about her and as far as I could tell everything else was just a problem to be solved. All problems had a solution.

I took her coffee and set it on the nightstand, then removed the offending sheet from her breasts. “Better,” I growled appreciatively. “Now tell me what you specifically need to know.”

I had to admit I was momentarily distracted by the fullness of her breasts, the way her nipples pebbled when they hit the cool air, and the rest of her naked body.

But then she spoke and all I could see were her eyes.

“That you want to understand all of me. The light and the dark.”

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