“There was never another, Gabe. I wanted no one else, and the two dates I went on were blind dates, and I hated them because they weren’t you.”
I kissed her forehead, hating how jealous I was that another man had held her attention for even a few hours but content that she’d never gone beyond that. I’d tormented myself with thoughts of her with another man too many times over the years, almost tempted to give up on my obsessive need to wait until I could find her again. But the thought of touching anyone else, of having their body replace hers, was never tempting enough to give that hope up, and so I’d remained faithful to her all those years.
“I love you, luna mia,” I whispered as I brought her head to my chest.
“I love you, Gabe.”
I held her until the steady rise and fall of her chest lulled me to sleep, which was disrupted the next morning when small fingers lifted my eyelids. I jerked back, blinking my eyes open to see Reid standing over us.
“Were you having another sleepover?” he asked. “Why are your clothes off?”
“Oh God.” Tori groaned. “I’m not ready for this conversation yet.” Grogginess muffled her words.
“It’s a game your mommy and I were playing.”
“Can I play?”
“No!” we said in unison.
“I tell you what, buddy,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “That room you were in. That’s going to be yours soon.”
“It is?” His hazel eyes were large.
“Yup. Why don’t you go up and think about how you want to decorate it while your mommy and I find our clothes?”
He was off, running too quickly to say more.
“Good diversion,” Tori said, peeking up at me, ebony strands falling over her eyes.
“Years of practice in boardrooms.” I kissed her nose just as Reid came running back into the room.
Tori groaned and pulled the sheet up higher. The armful of clothes Reid held dropped on the floor next to us.
“Here you go.” He ran off again, and I couldn’t hold my laughter in. It shook my entire body and Tori’s with it.
“This is not funny,” she said, smacking my chest.
I snatched her hand, saying, “It’s hysterical.”
“We need to be more careful,” she hissed. “No more of this.”
I yanked her over, so that she was on top of me. Bad move because it only made me more aware of how much I wanted to take her again. “There will be plenty more of this, and we will mark every room in this house.”
My hand threaded into her hair, forcing her mouth to mine before she could respond. She moaned as my hand slid down her body.
“Gabe,” she murmured. “We can’t. Not here.”
“Then let’s find someplace else because I want you.”
I maneuvered her from me and stood, lifting her up. She squeaked and wrapped her legs around me, keeping the sheet around us. As I walked us through the house, passing through the kitchen and considering the pantry, I remembered the office.
“We’ll save the pantry for next time.”
“You’re impossible,” she said between kisses. “And insatiable.”
“Only for you.” I kicked the office door closed and dropped her on the desk.
“But Reid,” she argued as I draped my mouth down her neck.
