“I’m sorry,” I reply. “I’ve been…busy.”
Quickly, I turn and head to the kitchen. She follows me in. I set the tray on the counter and start to do the dishes, but she grabs me by the shoulders and forces me to look at her.
“There’s something…different about you,” she says, eyeing me like a detective. Before I can even respond, her eyes go wide. “You had sex!”
“I…” My tongue freezes in my mouth, and I quickly turn back to the sink and start scrubbing the plates. But Reese isn’t having it. She grabs me again and tugs me over to the table. I plonk down in a chair and let my hair fall over my face.
“Spill,” she insists. “I want to knoweverything.”
Normally, I have no problem telling Reese everything. But this time, it actually takes me a minute to start sharing. But once she hears that I actually lost my virginity, her jaw drops.
“I knew you’d like him, but oh my God, girl!”
Giddy, I nod and bite my lower lip. “I know, he’s just so…” I squeeze the air in front of me, wishing I had his muscles there to grab on to. I moan and slump back in my chair, trying not to let myself be overwhelmed by thoughts of what we did this morning.
“He’s good for you.” Reese nods, looking like a proud parent. “Aren’t you glad I gave him your number now?”
“Glad? I owe youforever,” I laugh.
The day dragson after Reese leaves. I clean every room of the house to keep myself busy. It doesn’t really need it. Turns out Dawson keeps his place tidy. But I want to do it for him.
It makes me feel good. Domestic. Like a girlfriend. Which is something I’ve never been before. And I just can’t wait for himto come home to a clean kitchen, clean counters, and freshly mopped floors.
Oh, and to a half-naked me lying in his bed.
Or is itourbed now?
My body is buzzing when I hear him downstairs. I picture him kicking off his boots, looking at my handiwork and smiling. As I hear his footsteps coming up, I try to position myself in a sexy way.
But I just end up feeling stupid.
Thankfully, when he enters the room, his eyes light up, and he instantly comes over to me.
Brushing the sheet away, he runs his rough palm up my thigh and over my hip, causing goosebumps to break out all over me. “Miss me?” he asks, oozing confidence as he smiles down at me.
“Yes,” I murmur, pursing my lips for his kiss. It’s amazing such an enormous man can be so gentle.
His eyes flicker to the bedside table where I’ve left my purse, and a bolt of panic shoots through me.
Then, as he reaches for it, all hell breaks loose inside me.
“Dawson, wait. Don’t!”
But it’s too late. He’s already pulling Charles from my bag.
My stomach sinks. Guilt sweeps through me as he holds it out in front of me, one eyebrow raised. My private, discrete secret, discovered by the man I’m falling for. “Why, Evie?”
I don’t know what to say. “I…I’m just used to bringing him with me. I didn’t use him, though!”
I search his face for signs of disappointment, expecting them. But they don’t come. He twists the base, and Charles begins to hum. I blush and cover my face, but I look back when I hear him chuckle.
“So this is what you’ve been using instead of me?”
“Sadly,” I confess. He smiles, turns Charles off, and stuffs him in a drawer.
“You don’t need him anymore, Evie. You have me.”
My heart blossoms.
