Page 120 of Breaking News

“Hey,” I said gently, glancing back over my shoulder. “I want to keep going, but this isn’t working. My elbows…”

Concern flickered on Graham’s face. He leaned in, kissed the back of my neck, and whispered, “Thank you for telling me.”

Then, without hesitation, he reached for the cuffs and unfastened them. My arms dropped to my sides, relief already washing through my joints.

But the hungry way he looked at me let me know this wasn’t over.

He gripped my wrist and guided me down the deck stairs to the corner of the yard where the hammock hung between two posts. His Father’s Day present from the kids.

Graham sat first, legs spread wide, and tugged me onto his lap, my knees on either side of him, my dress still bunched around my hips.

“Better?” he asked, his hands gripping my thighs.

I touched his face, letting my thumb graze along the edge of his jaw. He’d been growing a short beard this summer—just when I thought he couldn’t get any sexier. “Much better,” I answered.

“Good.” Graham swallowed. “Ride me.”

And that’s just what I did. I freed him from his pants and slid over him, sighing his name as he filled me inch by inch. I moved slowly, savoring it, with my knees planted on either side of his thighs. The fabric of the hammock was warm beneath my knees. My hands braced on his shoulders, and I began to move faster, watching him tilt his head back with his mouth open. All the noises of the neighborhood faded into the background—the loud birds, the distant mower, and those damn sprinklers. But all I could focus on was him.

“Fuck, Jill,” he said, tilting his head forward to lock eyes with mine as I rode him. I clenched around him at the desperation in his voice. He thrusted up into me, matching my rhythm with his jaw tight and his brow furrowed.

I was already teetering on the edge. My eyes fluttered shut as I leaned back slightly, letting him take over. And he knew exactly what to do to get me to the finish line. With a gasp, my entire body trembled as I dug my nails into his shoulders. And just seconds later, Graham let out a guttural groan, squeezing my thighs even harder as his hips twitched upward once more.

He buried his face against my neck, holding me there, both of us breathless. I felt the tension ease from his body as his hands loosened their grip on my legs. I kissed his sweaty lips, and thenhe pulled back so he could see my eyes. I still couldn’t get used to this, the way he stared at me like I was too good to be true.

And I loved reminding him I was the lucky one.

“Do you even know how cute you are?”

He let out a weak chuckle. “Yeah, I’m real cute with my post-coital gasping for air and sweatiness.”

“You’re always cute,” I said with a laugh.

Minutes later, we went upstairs to get cleaned up… again. We were nearly out the door when Graham remembered my panties were in the rosebushes. He retrieved them for me, putting them in his pocket.

“What’d you do that for?”

“Don’t know. Might need them later,” he said with a shrug, holding the front door open for me with a wink.

I just shook my head at him, smiling as I crossed the threshold. He yawned as he locked the door behind us. “Honey,” I said, “do you want to stay in tonight? You’ve had a long week.”

He’d spent the last few days covering a corrupt county clerk in a neighboring town, and the investigation had taken a lot out of him. His week had been full of early mornings, arguments with courthouse employees, and constant back-and-forth with his team in Indy. I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to get take-out instead. “No, but let’s bring dessert home and finishGinny & Georgia.”

I had to stop and laugh—Graham initially claimed to have zero interest in the show, but I caught him watching entire episodes over my shoulder from behind the couch. Eventually, he accepted that it was “our show” and wouldn’t let me watch it without him.

A car door closed in the street, and we both looked up at the same time to see Olivia stepping out of the passenger seat of Richie’s car. Graham turned to me with wide eyes, and I gave him a menacing grin before breaking into a run.

“I get him first!”

“Like hell you do.”

Because of my heels, I was stuck on the sidewalk while Graham jogged down the sloped lawn like it was nothing. So unfair. Without thinking twice, I kicked off my shoes and sprinted after him through the grass behind him. “Nice try, old man,” I muttered when I caught up.

“Oh my God, you guys are acting like he’s a celebrity,” Olivia muttered, shaking her head at Richie over the top of the car. He smiled in amusement, adjusting his sunglasses.

I reached the car door first. Graham put his hands on my waist from behind to yank me backwards, making me shriek with laughter. I loved this little game we played every single time Olivia and Richie came over with Theo.

We didn’t get to see them as often as we liked. Once Olivia had the baby, I think everyone realized schlepping all of their stuff back and forth between houses didn’t make a lot of sense. They spent the majority of their time at Andrea’s.

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