He lifts up, meeting my gaze, serious as I’ve ever seen him.
“It’s just you and me now,” he tells me.
I nod. “Just you and me.”
We both smirk.
“Pizza? Then go again?” he asks.
“Mmm,” I purr as he presses his lips against mine. “Perfect.”
“Yes.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “You are.”
Yep. If I hadn’t been before, I would be now—totally, completely, head over heels for Derek Pierce.
Chapter Forty-Six
AUDRA
Morning light slips in quietly.
Soft. Gold.
I wake on my side, his arm heavy around my waist, his chest warm at my back. My dress is draped over the chair across the room, his shirt on the floor where I remember pulling it free.
Evidence. I approve.
The memory lands slow and warm.
I shift. He tightens his hold without waking, his hand settling at my hip like it knows exactly where it belongs.
Rude of my body to agree so quickly.
I smile.
When he wakes, it’s gradual. A breath. A stretch. Then his eyes open and find me.
“Morning,” he says, voice rough.
“Morning.”
He kisses my shoulder first. Then my neck. Then my mouth—unhurried, familiar already. Like last night didn’t exhaust anything. It opened it.
His thumb traces the faint mark at my collarbone.
“Still okay,” he asks quietly.
“Yes,” I say. “Very.”
He exhales like that matters.
It does.
We stay there longer than necessary. No rush to prove anything. His hand moves along my back the same way it did later last night—steady, grounding.
Eventually, he slips out of bed and pulls on jeans. I watch him cross the room, pick up his shirt, shake his head once like he’s amused by it being there.
Same.
