Page 50 of Forever Finds Us
What I wanted—what I needed was entirely too bold to say out loud.
In the past, if I had been confident enough to tell a man what I wanted from him, very soon after, I had to figure out how to pick myself up and dust the dirt off my ass without inconveniencing anyone, without causing a commotion. Roxi Riri Fitts didn’t deserve a commotion. Her anxieties and insecurities were a burden. She was the middle sister. That tall daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fitts. The one without a husband or kids. Her heartache didn’t merit a commotion, not like her sisters’.
I whispered, “I want to be the only woman you touch. The only woman you kiss.” Looking him straight in the eye, I spoke loud and clearly. “You only fuck me.”
“Done.” His hands left my body needy and cold, and he backed into my living room with the bottle of whiskey, taunting me to follow as he unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his jeans, and turned his hat backward, the CEO of Lee Construction fighting for dominance against the farm-raised country boy he used to be.
I followed him slowly, knowing full well the power my naked skin had over him. The only articles of clothing he hadn’t yanked off my body were my ripped shirt and my stretchy black pair of bikini-cut underwear.
“You know what I think?” Something inside me wanted to defy him, to argue and push him to some limit I could feel but couldn’t see, and oddly, my near nakedness gave me courage.
He shook his head, his eyes tracking my path toward him like a tornado chaser ready to face the big, bad storm. “I’m waitin’ with bated breath to hear exactly what you think, Roxanne.”
“I think the fact that this is a secret is the only thing makin’ you want me. If we came out, told everyone our secret, you wouldn’t feel the same.”
“And I think you’re feelin’ unsure, and your insecurities are makin’ bullshit come out your mouth.”
Stopping in the middle of my living room as he lowered to sit on my couch, my mouth popped open, and I gaped like a fish out of water. I had no response to that.
He was right.
“So what’s gonna make you sure?” he asked as he reached forward and took my hand, then pulled me so I stood between his legs, looking down at him.
Grabbing the bottle from his hand, I gulped down a shot and swallowed, trying not to let him know how much it burned my throat. The liquid sloshed against the sides of the bottle as I lowered it and let it hang from two fingers next to my thigh. “Take me out.”
“Out where?”
“Where everyone can see us. I want you to not be professional. I want you to claim me.”
He considered me for a moment. I was asking him to define us. “You sure you’re ready for that? For my sister to see us?”
Arching an eyebrow, I dared him. “Yes.”
He stole the whiskey from my hand and took his own shot. “Alright then.”
“And your girlfriend too. I want her to hear the gossip. She’s still in town, right?” I asked the question, but I could already guess the answer because if Brand were my ex and I thought he was unattached, I wouldn’t leave town without at least trying my hand at getting him back.
“Ex,” he growled, his eyes still tracking me above him. “We’ll go out tomorrow night. Agreed?”
I nodded.
“Good,” he said. “Now that’s settled, where’s the package?”
He swigged another mouthful, but he seemed to be having a hard time looking away from my bare chest and my breasts peeking out from behind the ripped fabric of my T-shirt. He pulled at it gently, tugging it off my body, and let the wet, ruined cotton drop to the carpet.
I looked between his legs, at the erection straining to break out of his pants.
“Not that package, Roxanne. The one I had shipped to your house.”
“Oh.” My face heated, and I giggled like an embarrassed teenager. “It’s in my bedroom.”
“Did you open it?”
“No. You told me not to.”
“Good girl,” he breathed, shifting his hips on the couch cushion, the movement the only physical sign he’d liked my answer. He let go of my hand. “Go get it and come back to me. I’ll wait.” He leaned back, relaxing on my couch with his hand slung over the back, the whiskey still dangling from his grip, and he crossed his ankle over his knee, like he didn’t have a care in the world. But as he waited for me to do what I’d been told, a little glint sparked in his eyes. “Be quick about it. Don’t make me wait too long.”
Crossing my arms over my breasts, I cocked a hip.
