Page 69 of An Inconvenient Plan
“You’re mine. I’m yours. Easy.”
She sighed. Maybe he was right. Maybe his phrasing wasn’t romantic, but she’d felt it on a visceral level during sex, and wasn’t sex when they both let down their defenses the most? Stripped bare to each other. Could it be that all that fighting was just a defense against the vulnerable feeling of belonging to each other? It was hard to feel vulnerable.
He nuzzled into her neck, tugged her earlobe between his teeth, and whispered in her ear, “Admit it, woman. Say the words for me.”
She slid her hand to the nape of his neck, playing with his soft hair. “All this time I’ve had a plan for world domination—”
“Ha!”
“Well, of my little corner of the world, a hugely successful wedding planning business, money in the bank, and my own happy ending. I’ve worked so hard, you have no idea how hard—”
“I have some idea. I’ve seen you in action.”
She dropped her hand from him and rolled to her back, throwing an arm over her eyes. “And then I had a breakdown.” She inwardly cringed at the memory. “The next day, a prince falls into my lap, and I think maybe I should try less and things might work out better.”
Josh pulled her arm off her eyes and propped up on one elbow. “And I had a plan to make you mine, and then a goddamn prince shows up, trying to ruin everything. You see, the problem here isn’t my plan or your plan, the problem is the prince. Very inconvenient that guy showing up in the middle of our plans.”
“The prince isn’t our problem. We’re not a normal couple.”
He cradled her jaw, his thumb brushing her cheek. “Define normal.”
She blew out a breath. “You know, dating, actually liking each other…forget it.”
He slid his hand from her jaw, down her neck, to her shoulder, which he squeezed. “I like you okay.”
“Gee, thanks. And not so much fighting. More romantic stuff, love notes, gifts of adoration, sweet words—”
“You watch too many sappy movies and read way too many love books.”
She glared at him. “You said you wanted to give me a courtship. That’s what it is.”
“No, a courtship is when you spend time with the person because you like them and hold off on sex.”
“You didn’t hold off on sex.”
He smirked. “That’s because you couldn’t stop begging for it. I put you out of your misery.”
She jackknifed upright. “Josh! This is exactly the problem. We don’t see eye to eye on anything.”
“You like sex with me.”
She blushed, which was ridiculous, sitting here naked with him. “Yes.”
He sat up. “Me too. So we see eye to eye on that. And you like looking at me, touching me, talking to me, spending time with me.”
“Sometimes.”
He grinned. “Me too.”
They laughed.
She squeezed his arm. “I’m afraid we’re a pitiful excuse for a couple.”
“I’m sure of it. But we’re stuck with each other.”
She grimaced. “Stuck with each other? I don’t know. That doesn’t sound quite right. I feel a little weird about it actually.”
He started running his hands all over her. “You do feel a little weird.”
