She twisted around in the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll make sure to bring them next time,” she said, placing a quick kiss on his lips.
“I like that you’re already thinking of next time,” he said.
“Well, I still have two weeks left in Gauthier. I figure we can do this as often as possible. Now that I know what I’ve been missing, I’m sorry I held out for so long.”
Matt sobered. “Are you really down to just two weeks?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. “I know. It’s gone much quicker than I thought it would.”
“When do classes start up again?”
“The last week of August, but the faculty has to be there the week before.”
“That’s nearly six weeks away. You could stay in Gauthier for another month and still have time to get things ready for your next semester.”
Just the thought of extending her stay sent a flutter of pure elation through her stomach, but Tamryn swiftly suppressed it.
She shook her head. “I can’t stay here another month. Never mind the fact that I would go broke if I had to pay for four more weeks at Belle Maison—”
“Stay here,” he interrupted her.
“What?”
“Stay here. We could get your things tomorrow. Phil and Jamal have a waiting list of people wanting to stay at Belle Maison, and if they can’t rent out your room, I’ll pay for the remaining two weeks you have there.”
“Matthew,” she said.
“What? It’s not as if everybody in town hasn’t been betting on when we’re going to get together anyway. Why not stay here with me?”
“I can’t.”
“Tell me why not,” he persisted. “Give me one good reason why you can’t stay here. And it has to be agoodreason.”
“So, ‘because’ won’t work?” she asked with a grin.
“No. ‘Because’ is not a good enough reason.”
She shrugged her bare shoulders. “I can’t think of one right now. I just… I don’t know. You’re the one who’s in the middle of a political campaign,” she pointed out, poking his solid pectoral muscle. “You’re the one who should be concerned about rumors.”
“I’m a grown man. Who I have staying in my house with me has nothing to do with my ability to serve the good citizens of District Twelve.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of her fingers. “And if that’s the best excuse you can come up with, I say we head to Belle Maison right now and get your things.”
“I can’t,” she said with a laugh. “Not because I don’t want to, but because I have too much work to do. And after what we just did, you’re now at least ten times the distraction you were before tonight.”
“I like being a distraction,” he whispered before he dipped his head and captured her lips in a slow, sweet kiss.
Tamryn closed her eyes and soaked in the intoxicating feeling of his mouth against hers, loving the patient care he employed as his tongue gently plunged in and out. It would be so easy to take him up on his offer. To spend the next two weeks—the nextsixweeks—nestled against him in this massive, historic home. Heaven on Earth couldn’t begin to describe it.
But she couldn’t. Not when she was as far as ever from meeting the goal she’d set out to accomplish when she arrived in Gauthier. With a reluctance like none she’d ever experienced before, Tamryn managed to pull away from his drugging kiss.
“God, you’re good at that,” she said. “And that’s the main reason why I will be returning to Belle Maison. I would never get any work done if I stayed here with you.”
Matt let out a groan. “Work, work, work. You’re worse than an attorney,” he said with a playful wink.
Tamryn burst out laughing. She placed a swift kiss on his mouth before twisting around and, once again, settled her back against his chest.
“Remind me again why you’re making this big push to get your research done by the end of the summer? Didn’t you say that you’ve been researching your grandmother’s past for years?”
“Yes. And that’s part of the problem. I’ve been researching it for far too long. It’s time I stop lollygagging and get it done.”
