“I want you to be honest with me, Isadora. You were jealous at the ambulance. And you really went to town when I mentioned her body and sexual tension. Did you really want me to work with her?”
She grimaced, “No.”
“Exactly. You wouldn’t want me working closely with her, side by side, every single day if she wasn’t one hundred percent out of bounds. And trust me, she made it clear she was off-limits.”
“This isn’t fair. It makes me feel like an evil villainess in a bad Telenovela.”
“Don’t feel bad. I haven’t been in many relationships for comparison. Our crew sometimes watches Days of Our Lives on slow days, and they make me seem upstanding.”
“The baby-switching sperm stealing soap opera bar is low, because that is one of the worst apologies ever. There wasn’t even an apology in there.”
“But I gave you the ugly truth, warts and all. Even though I’m a jerk who’s not even close to perfect, can you think about making this work?”
“Mateo, you’re great in bed and a great firefighter, but—"
He kissed her to remind her how good he was in bed. She wavered, her arms stayed around his shoulders. “Will it be better if I mention I bought you a present?”
“It depends. Is it a fantastic present?” she moaned as he licked her neck. For good measure, he palmed her breasts, rubbing her nipples just the way he knew she found irresistible.
“I don’t know. I’ve never bought a present before for a girl who wasn’t my sister. Check the hallway.”
He released her to peek out in the hallway to see an almost life-sized teddy bear holding a bouquet of roses.
“Oh, my God. Where did you get this?" she laughed.
“FAO Schwarz. A guy from B-shift had a cousin coming in for Shabbat from New York and he brought it with him.” He pulled her back into his arms and grinned to feel her panting.
“You can’t just buy me something really expensive every time you screw up.”
He kissed her on the lips, watching her waver as hot desire swept over them both. “Good, cuz I can’t afford to buy this every time I screw up.”
Her brown eyes stared into his, letting him close that distance till their lips almost touched and her body fitted onto his. "We may not work. I’m divorced, and you have the relationship of intelligence of an eggplant."
“But I’m cute.”
“Bring Yogi in and let’s see where this goes.”
The bear ended up hanging out alone in the living room because five minutes later he was balls deep in Isadora, making her scream his name. He held off until she came twice and then lay with her on the bed, rubbing the scar on her butt.
It was odd. He felt satiated, good even, in a way he never had before with anyone else.
This must have been what Carl found from being married and staying faithful to one woman. Isadora was good for him, passionate, sexy, fiery, and accepted him for who he was - even if he was an asshole.
He could get used to his . . . and maybe even fall in love.
Or watch it crash and burn. What the hell did he know about love and marriage? Nothing lasted forever, but he sure as fuck wasn't going to walk away from this good thing.
Not this time.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her hair draped on his shoulder.
"Thinking."
"About what?"
Inexpert as he was in relationships, Mateo knew enough to answer correctly. "Thinking about you and how wonderful you are, of course."
Definitely the right answer because she climbed back on top of him and spent the next twenty minutes making him call her name.
