He felt himself smiling. “Anything, Ms. Rose. Anything at all. I’m your man.”
Then he left, the taste of her lingering on his mouth, the musk of her still coating his skin. He smiled all the way home, even when Deacon handed hima smelly baby, swore, then darted out of the house.
Addy staredin shock at the closed door, still not sure how she’d had sex with her robotic neighbor. Best-sex-of-her-life sex with a cold, controlled man who rarely smiled. One minute she’d tried kissing him off, the next she’d been kissed breathless. Then screwed until she couldn’t think.
I let him come inside me.Warningbells, shrieks of disaster, lamentations of stupidity. She swore up and down and raced into the shower, scrubbing herself clean of everything but an unnerving need to see him again.
Good Lord, he’d been the most demanding lover. He’d taken her against her wall like a conquering raider, owning a pleasure slave who wanted nothing more than to—
“Wake up, Adeline! This is not one ofyour books!”
When even yelling at herself failed to keep her mind off reminders of Noel’s powerful pleasure, she forced herself to go to bed, not waking until the next morning.
The day passed in a blur. Her children were thankfully well-behaved and fun to work with until the bell rang at three-thirty. She watched them leave before cleaning up her room. Then she drove to a nearbycoffee shop.
Addy ordered her favorite, a hazelnut latte, and sipped slowly, tucking into her jacket to preserve the heat.
“Hello? Earth to Addy.” Solene waved a hand in her face then sat at the picnic bench in front of the shop, sipping from her own covered drink. “Best cocoa in town.” She raised her cup to Addy’s, and they toasted the crisp fall air.
Solene watched her overthe cup, saying nothing, a question in her eyes.
Addy couldn’t stand it. “I had sex last night.”
Solene didn’t blink.
“With a man. With Noel.”
Solene’s lips curled. “Good to know. I take it he knocked your socks off?”
Addy hid behind her hands while her friend laughed.
“Hey, sometimes we single ladies need human connection. No biggie, Addy, just—”
“We went at it like animals, and we forgot to use protection. So stupid,” Addy added in a low hiss.
Solene blinked. “Seriously? You could be the poster child for Trojan, Ms. Responsible Adult. He was that good?”
“He was amazing,” she whined. “And right after I’d called him a robot.”
“Oh, this I have to hear.”
Solene was the perfect venting partner. She listened,agreed with Addy, and offered compassion and understanding.
So why did Addy want to cry?
“I know I’m not going to get pregnant.” She kept trying to convince herself. “I’m regular as clockwork, and the timing was wrong for a baby. As scary as the aftermath was, I want to be with him again. And not just for sex. He has all these depths I’m just coming to understand.” And she’d calledhim a robot. “But I don’t even know if we’ll see each other again after that.”
Typical man, Noel had gone and ruined everything. Just when she’d figured to cut him out of her life and move on, he’d devastated her mind and body.
“Now that could get awkward, especially since you live right next door.”
Addy narrowed her eyes. “Are you laughing at me?”
Solene chuckled.“Only partly. You finally went for it and grabbed that tiger by his big?—little?—tail.”
“Huh?”
“More than six inches?”
