“Really?” she asks.
“Really. How did you do all this in a day?”
“I’m good atsomethings.”
Hugging her, I lift her from her feet, and she wraps her legs around me, her dress falling from her thighs before I can grab them to support her weight. A pull in my stomach steals my focus for a moment. A flash of sex emerges from my subconscious, sending my blood to places she’s likely to feel if I don’t set her down. I place her on a stool, my hands unable to break their magnetic connection to her body.
She smiles up at me, eyes sparkling. It takes everything in me not to kiss her. “I, uh, was planning to cook you dinner, but I ordered some instead. Sushi,” I say. Her face lights up even more. Sadly, I have to ruin it. “I have to work a little more tonight.”
And now she pouts. “You’ve been at workall day.”
“I know. But if I wrap everything up tonight, we get to spend tomorrow together, completely uninterrupted.”
Her pout fades. “Fine. Feed me and I’ll shut up.”
Does she not know I’d rather crawl into bed with her right now? While I really do have to finish this work, I want as much time to enjoy what comes after I’m done. If anything does.
The awkward pause appears again, giving me too much time totake in her beauty, trace her lips with my eyes, and notice her smirk when she reads it all on my face. I swear she’s giving me permission to kiss her, but before I can, my phone vibrates with a text from the food delivery.
“Food’s here.”
She chuckles, shaking her head at something. Me, most likely. “Great.”
~
The hours fly by quicker than expected. When I finish, it’s after
2:00 a.m. and I’m wondering how I miscalculated my estimate so poorly.
Bri, lying in my bed. It’s a beautiful sight. Not just her. The idea of it all. The obsessive part of me has imagined crawling in bed with her, waking up beside her again—but never her waiting patiently for me to come in.
As late as it is, I got my second wind. The thoughts stir in my mind, fighting my attempt to keep them out of my pants. The pants that are about to come off.
Slipping under the sheets, I try my hardest not to disturb her. The moment I’m settled, she says, “I’m not asleep.” Her voice barely has the hoarse texture of fatigue.
“Why not?”
“I was waiting for you.” She rolls to her back, stretching her arms above her head. Her shirt is short, falling only to the base of her breasts, the material so thin, I can see the outline of her nipples.Fuck. “Come here.”
Okay. I scoot closer to her, staying on my pillow, then she takes me by the waist and tugs me closer. Against her, I suddenly have more energy than if I’d downed a triple shot of espresso.
“Well, hello there,” she says, looking down toward our hips. I don’t need to see the way she’s smirking to know she can feel howhard I’m throbbing against her stomach. I’m trying to play it cool, and my dick is telling on me.
I pull my hips away from hers. “Sorry. It’s nighttime.”
“Is there a night version of morning wood I’m unaware of?”
“Kind of?”
She chuckles and pulls my hips against hers again. I swallow back a whimper. “Want me to take care of it for you?”
Yes. “No, i-it’s—” Her fingers trace inside the band of my underwear, stealing the words from my parched mouth. I swallow the rest of my sentence.
“We can go to sleep, then,” she says. “If that’s what you want.”
I’d say I’m not sure what I want, but it’s pretty damn clear what my body does. The wall I usually have between arousal and my ability to share that with someone is as solid as air when it comes to Bri. She must read it on my face.
“We’ve had sex, Liem.”
