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Goddamnit. He was going to have to talk to Ernie. The sooner the better. He had to come clean, admit he was in love with Constance, and tell Ernie nothing he said or did was going to keep him away. And if Ernie never spoke to him again, then that was the price he had to pay. He hoped it didn’t come to that because he couldn’t imagine his life without Ernie any more than he could imagine it without Constance. They’d been fast friends for too long.

With a heavy sigh, he opened the door, and there she was, curled on her side on the bed, legs bare and exposed almost all the way up to…

Stop. Just stop. You’ve done enough damage for one day.

But he couldn’t help staring. He knew he was going to remember and cherish this image for a very long time. Memories of today would have to sustain him through… How long did he have to court her before he could ask for her hand? Six months was the usual, but he couldn’t possibly wait that long. Could he get away with two months? One month? No, one month would make it look like he’d knocked her up. Even two months was inviting gossip. Three months? God. How was he going to last three whole months?

Unable to resist her sleepy, sated smile, he eased himself onto the bed and folded her in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. She felt so right there. He never wanted to move.

“Jack?” She toyed with the buttons at the top of his union suit.

“Yes?”

“Why did you pull away earlier? What were you going to do that you swore you wouldn’t?”

Good God. He was going to have to explain the birds and the bees to her. Well, better that she knew so that they didn’t make the same mistake again. “Well, I almost slid my…my…” He couldn’t say “cock” in front of Constance, could he?

“Your peter?”

Her euphemism made him chuckle. “Yes, my peter, inside your…” Sweet, sweet pussy.

“Honeypot?”

Even worse. His cheeks were flaming. “Mmmhmm. And if I’d come while my peter was in your honeypot⁠—”

“‘Come’?” She really didn’t know anything, did she?

“Had an orgasm and spilled my…erm…seed.”

“Oh.”

“If I spilled my seed inside you, it could have made a baby.” That was agonizing, but at least now she knew what they couldn’t do.

She was quiet for a long moment, and her fingers stilled on his chest. “I wanted you to in that moment.”

He swallowed hard. “I could tell, sweetheart. But we can’t. We have to wait.”

“I know.” She snuggled closer and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for being so considerate. It didn’t look easy.”

It wasn’t, and if they found themselves alone again, he didn’t trust himself to pull back from the brink.

“Constance,” he said, pulling away and turning to face her, “we can’t be together like this again. Not until…” They were married, but it was too soon to propose. And when he did, he intended to do it properly, with a ring and her family’s permission, preferably somewhere a lot more romantic than this shoebox of a room.

“Until?” Her doe-eyed gaze nearly made him crumble and say all the things that he shouldn’t yet.

“Until we’re ready.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “I’ll do my best to be patient.”

“You’re not who I’m worried about.” Unable to resist, he kissed her. It was playing with fire, but if he had to be a good boy for months on end, he couldn’t resist indulging one last time. She tasted like strawberries, just like he’d dreamed.

Their legs tangled, and her hands roamed his back as they drank each other in. He never wanted it to end, but when his cock twitched, despite his shattering release earlier, he had to pull away. “We should go. I have to get you home. We both have work tomorrow.”

She sighed. “All right. Give me a minute to put myself in order.”

Slipping off the bed, she gathered her things and disappeared into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she reappeared fully dressed, with every hair back in place. The only signs that anything had happened were the slight rumple in her skirt and her kiss-stung lips.

He took her hand and led her back to the car, locking up behind him. Opening the car door, he helped her up, then went to crank the engine. As they started the long drive home, she sidled up to him, and he put his arm around her. They didn’t need to talk. After all, they’d said plenty at the apartment, so they drove home in companionable silence. When he arrived on their street, he passed up a parking space in front of his house and parked around the corner instead.