Page 68 of Finding Romance
“She,” I correct, grimacing as she touches the back of my shoulder.
“Hold on,” she says as she carefully pulls off her dress. My mouth falls open as I take in her sexy matching underwear. It’s white and lacey and barely hides her flesh.
She takes the skirt and spreads it apart, revealing two layers of material. She presses the inside layer against my shoulder and I hiss.
“Don’t be a baby,” she says.
“It stings,” I mutter through clenched teeth.
“Oh, shit, the necklace,” she curses and drops to her knees to pick it up just as the elevator doors open and four firemen and Troy look inside.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
Piper squeaks and presses her dress against her nearly naked body.
“Sorry,” a fireman says as they all look anywhere but at us.
Piper pulls her dress back over her head and stands. Her face is more red than a bottle of ketchup.
“I got a cut,” I explain. “She was using her dress to stop the bleeding.”
They all look back and I turn and point to my shoulder.
Troy looks up. “Is that Licorice? Did she scratch you or did the panel fall on you?”
“Meow!”
Sighing, I point to the cat and then the floor. “She’s apparently been keeping all her toys up there,” I explain as I pick up my shirt and put it back on.
“We found my aunt’s necklace,” Piper adds as she points to the necklace she’s now wearing.
“Oh, that’s great. Uh, if you can help lift her, we can get her out of here,” a fireman says as he motions to Piper. I don’t like the idea of him touching her, but we do need to leave. So I hoist her up and they pull her out. A minute later, they help me and tend to my cat scratches.
After Piper and I give them an awkward “thank you,” we head out on what is left of our date. When we reach the sidewalk, Piper looks up at me. “I think after that, I’m officially prepared for any type of future date. Also, I can never look Troy in the eyes again.”
I start laughing, and eventually, she joins me. “Come on, illustrator, I think we can still make the museum portion of this date. We can grab food at Joe’s Tavern after.” And as we walk to the museum, hand in hand, I’m overcome with sadness that this perfect woman will be leaving in less than twenty-four hours.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Piper
It’s Kasen’s finger running lazily up and down my back that wakes me. For as un-practiced as I was with sex before these last five weeks, I now feel comfortable and confident about it. Last night, we spent nearly zero time sleeping and most of the time touching, kissing, and checking everything off a list I shared with him. While we ate at Joe’s Tavern, he asked me what else I wanted to practice. I was embarrassed to share my list with him. Heck, I’m sort of embarrassed I have a list. But ever since I discovered romance books as a teenager, I’ve sort of kept a list of things I wanted to try someday. There were only a few of them left on the list, but Kasen spent all night making sure I experienced each and every one of them. He had told me that I needed to come up with a new list after we checked off the last one. But coming up with a new list means it won’t be with him and that made me sad.
His finger stops as I blink. The sun is up but I can tell it’s still early by the angle of the sun streaming through the blinds.
“Don’t stop,” I murmur as I snuggle against him, trying to memorize the feel of his body.
But he does. I start to look up at him, but he rolls me over, so I’m underneath him. He wedges himself between my legs and slowly sinks inside me.
I release a long breath as I spread my legs to make room for him. His gaze stays locked on mine as he begins to move at a languid pace. I wrap my legs around his waist and he leans down and kisses me.
Everything about this seems so real. This moment doesn’t seem like practice at all. It feels as if we’re really together and he’s making love to me. I try not to come because I don’t want this to end. I don’t want him to stop looking at me like I’m the sun in his world.
“Hey,” he says softly and wipes a stray tear away from the side of my face.
“I’m going to miss you,” I admit.
He closes his eyes as if in pain. “I’ll miss you too, illustrator,” he finally says as he slowly opens his eyes. He pushes deeper inside me, and I thrust up to meet him. He uses one hand to reach between us, gently circling my clit until I can’t hold back any longer. My eyes squeeze shut involuntarily as my release takes over just as Kasen grunts an expletive and pushes inside me deeply one last time. He stays there and I can feel him pulse as my muscles undulate around him.
