Page 116 of All In Good Time

She gasped, and threw her head back, panting into the air. The car, which had once been freezing cold, now fogged over as the air became hot and humid.

“Shit.” He muttered in a gasping breath.

She loved that. She wanted to hear him say more, say everything and anything. She wanted to make him moan and whine and gasp.

She picked up the pace, twisting herself into him and reveling in all the sounds that fell from his lips. She couldn’t avert her gaze, as his eyes squinted shut and he groaned.

Faster and faster and faster. His grip grew tighter, and his panting became louder.

She, herself, was losing control, seeing him so easily falling to pieces before her eyes.

And then his grip tightened, and his hands pulled her hips straight off him.

The space she’d tried hard to get rid of was between them once again.

She winced at the loss of friction, and he leaned forward so it was more difficult for her to get her spot back on his lap.

“Please, baby. Stop.” His voice was high, almost pained.

Becca froze, and immediately pushed all her weight away from him. She backed so far away that her spine bumped into the steering wheel.

Worry draped over her as she took in his wince. “What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

He shook his head and exhaled a deep breath, as a dopey smile settled on his face. “No.God no.You’re perfect.” His fingers on her hips rubbed gentle circles into the skin where her shirt had risen up. “But we can’t do this. Not like this. Not here.”

Becca’s hands pulled away from his chest, and she rose up even higher, until there was more space between them. It was difficult, because all she wanted to do was touch him.

Their breathing slowed to a more natural pace.

He let go of her hips, and rose to brush the curtaining hair out of her face and behind her ears. His eyes flicked between hers, searching her expression. “As much as I want it—and Ifuckingdo—you deserve something so much better than this.”

The pooling between her legs didn’t disappear right away, and one small glance downward would tell her the same about Derek, but as much as she wanted to object, she didn’t. “Okay.” She nodded and leaned forward. If Derek didn’t want it like this, then neither did she. “Okay.” She pressed one last lingering kiss to his lips, and then pulled away for good. The hot air between them was corrupted as she clumsily crawled back over the seats and adjusted back into her seat.

Derek’s hand grabbed hers the moment she settled in, and Becca returned his easy grin with a smile of her own.

“Let’s get you home, sweetheart.”

* * *

Never in a million years did Derek think he could be this happy.

Even the discomfort of his constrained arousal was comfortable when he was so high on the cloud nine in his head. All he needed to do was repeat her words in his mind and anything was bearable.

He didn’t even notice he’d made it all the way home on the slippery, snow-covered roads after dropping Becca off, and he hummed a song as he walked up the steps toward his house.

He was dreaming. That was it. He had to be dreaming.

She loved him.

Was that even possible? For someone as incredible as her to love someone like him?

Real life was never that lucky.

But then again, real life had brought her to him in the first place, and that was the luckiest he’d ever been—even after a year, he still had a hard time believing that.

He was so caught up in his giddy smile, wistful sighs, and disbelieving chuckles that he didn’t notice the living room lights were on in the house.

He didn’t notice Jennifer kneeling on the floor next to the coffee table until he heard his name.

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