She frowned, and wrinkles formed on her forehead. They looked out of place on her. Her smooth skin wasn’t meant to be frowning so much.
“It’s just…I don’t want to get into it, but I have a story similar to yours. Someone turned out to not be who I thought they were.”
“Oh.” She rubbed her lips together as those damn wrinkles deepened. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I cracked my neck from side to side. “I’ve moved on from it, really, but it still stings.”
She leaned closer to me and ran her small hand on my forearm, then up to my chest and over my heart. She had to feel how it raced when she touched me, but she didn’t say anything. She continued frowning and eyeing me with that glint in her brown eyes. “I’m glad we’re friends then. We’d never do that to each other.”
Fuck.Fuck.
My jaw was going to crush into dust at the rate I ground my teeth, and I tapped the menu with my pointer finger, needing to navigate away from this situation. “Food, Doc. Pick your food.”
The wrinkles disappeared, and she asked a million questions about every dish. After fifteen minutes, I finally ordered beef broccoli and sweet-and-sour chicken. Two classics. Delicious classics. It’d be a good thirty minutes before it arrived, and the game didn’t start until then. It felt hotter than normal, and I fanned myself with my shirt.
“Hey,” she said softly, drawing my attention to her. “I can tell you’re uncomfortable, so I won’t pry, but I’m a really good listener. Your secrets are safe with me.”
“You could tell your plants.”
“True, but since I control their food, they wouldn’t ever betray me.” She grinned, her eyes crinkling on the sides, and she moved to stand between my thighs. She barely came up to my shoulders even with me sitting on a stool, and she cupped my beard. “One thing I learned from that ordeal was that we can really only control whatwecan control. Not that wise, but it doesn’t make it less true. I couldn’t help that someone I thought a friend played me. I couldn’t control her parent’s choices. But I could control my feelings and what I did after. I made sure that emotions and money never intertwine again.”
My throat was sandpaper. Rough, hard sandpaper. She ran those delicate fingers through my beard and scruff, supporting me, when she had no idea I had to do the same thing. Keep it separate. But then it hit me. “That’s why you’re so adamant about Anthony.”
“Arealmarriage makes me break out in hives.” She laughed. “A contract? An agreement? That means no one gets hurt.”
Bleak understanding weighed me down. Her reasoning wasn’t as crazy as I thought. If she couldcontrolwho she married to get what she wanted…but…wait. “Wouldn’t you be using him for money though? Not his, but to getyours?”
A sliver of bitter resentment passed through me.
“I would be upfront though.” She twisted her lips into a scowl. “It’s the manipulating that bothers me. He won’t be surprised or anything.”
“Hm.” My mind reeled at all the similarities with Samantha, but also all the things she spoke about that I was doing. Lying. Keeping secrets. The sadness about my ex-fiancé paired with the guilt caused a horrible pressure in my body that grew by the second. I needed to change the subject. Move on. Deal with it. “Tell me more about Carla,” I demanded, a bitter edge to my voice. “Please.”
She arched one brow and let go of my beard and stepped back. “Ready to change the subject?”
“Am I that obvious?” I forced a tight laugh and guided us to the couch. She didn’t sit on the opposite side like I assumed. No, she sat right next to me and put her legs over mine, giving me access to her thighs. I caressed her legs over her dress a few times before sliding my hand under the edge to tease the skin right above her knee.
She sighed and leaned her head on the back of the couch, her lips curving into a lazy smile. That curve of her mouth was addicting, and if I focused on her joy, her laugh, her body, I’d forget about all the negativity brewing in my mind.
Plus, her skin was so damn smooth.
“She pretty much said I can have free rein with all socials and online presence. This is a dream of a job, really. She has a logo and a font she likes, but the rest is up to me. I’m thinking of starting small, using greens and whites and browns. Not like Starbucks, but a darker shade of green.” She stared off at a distance when she spoke, her words stringing together and almost sounding lyrical.
I sat up straighter, brimming with pride. Iknewshe’d be great for this. “What else?”
She met my gaze, and excitement burst from her eyes. “She’s paying me a decent amount for it and recommending me to a friend if this goes well. I’m tracking usage and numbers and all clicks for a month. Then, we’ll meet to go over any changes and adjustments.”
“Hey, Nora,” I said, needing to kiss her. Her joy and comfort when talking about it pulled me toward her in a wonderful way. I leaned in, and she bit the side of her lip as I neared.
“Yes, Fritz?” she asked, a little breathless.
“It kinda, maybe sounds like you might nothateit here.” I brushed my lips over hers once. Twice. “You soundhappy.”
She didn’t respond, which was okay. Instead, she kissed me back, hard. She grazed her hands all over my body, but I made no moves to progress this. I just wanted her mouth on mine and to feel even an ounce of the joy she had.
She squirmed beneath me and let out the tiniest moan as our teeth and tongues clashed together. Everything about her should’ve put me off, but instead, it created an intoxicating pull to her. The sounds she made, the way she smelled, the softness of her hair and curves of her body. I reached up and trailed my pointer finger over the shell of her ear, feeling all four of the earrings there, and grinned against her mouth.
“Why are you smiling like a goon?” she asked, looking up at me with wet, swollen lips.
