takes two steps, and she bumps into my chest. Brief shock fills her face, and then her tongue swipes her lips. I can feel her heartbeat flying underneath my fingers.
“I want you.”
It’s not what I meant to say. At least, not right away. Turns out my brain doesn’t work when I’m speaking to her, too.
Her pupils blow up as she turns in my grasp, not quite resisting. “Gage, last night can’t happen again.”
It will happen again. “No sex? Well, this is going to be a lame marriage.”
Wrong thing to say.
She wrenches her arm out of my grip, nostrils flaring. “For the life of me, I don’t understand why you need to keep making jokes about this!”
“I’m trying to make you laugh. You’re way too gorgeous to be frowning all the time.”
Pink patches rise in her cheeks. “That’s the most sexist thing I’ve ever heard.”
“That’s not sexist. This is: Your place is in the kitchen. I expect dinner and a blowjob when I come home from work, in that order.”
She brushes past me, her shoulder bumping into mine, but not before I catch a glimpse of a smile.
I call out to her. “Why are you grinning? That’s not a joke!”
Without looking back, she raises her right hand and flips me the bird.
Six
Olivia
The blow dryer’s howl rebounds off the tiles. Heat pouring onto my head spreads to my cheeks, already rosy from the shower. An errant strand hovers in front of my face, which looks faintly annoyed in the mirror.
I can’t get Gage Carter out of my thoughts. Even the rinse this morning was a reminder of the fuck fest we had. How could I forget how he flipped my dress over my back and went to town with my hands against the glass? I’m ashamed to admit that I touched myself thinking about it.
My dirty thoughts come to an end as the scream of the blow dryer dies and the lights suddenly flicker out.
What the hell?
I fiddle with the controls on the dryer, plugging it in and out. Even the light switches won’t respond. And the food I was heating in the microwave just sits there. This whole place is out of power.
You know what that means.
Swearing loudly, I tighten the bath towel around me as I pull on a pair of slippers. I open the door, wincing at the bite of the morning chill, and stop in front of his place.
He’s going to try to get laid. Don’t let him.
Maybe I should just deal with the lack of electricity. My hand hovers over the handle. Then I hear a creak of footsteps and my heart jumps into my throat as the door yanks open.
The faintly bored expression on his handsome face shifts into one of catlike amusement as he takes me in.
“Well, well, well. I prayed and God answered with a naked woman at my door.”
I flatten my arms against my sides, fighting the tendrils of heat wrapping around my body. The way he looks at me right now has got to be a criminal charge.
“Actually, God didn’t send me. My power is out.”
That’s all I need you for.
To my surprise, he doesn’t challenge me. Instead he walks past me, close enough for me to smell the shaving cream he used on his face. A memory of him bare-chested, lying on the mattress, slams into my head with so much force that I forget to breathe.
Gage saunters to the in-law unit, opening the door for me. It’s dark inside because all the blinds are shut.
The bed’s right there.
He follows my line of sight, and a devilish smirk staggers over his face. Then I realize I’ve made a big mistake.
He looks at me and makes a tutting sound. “You didn’t have to lure me here to fuck me, wifey. All you have to do is walk over to my house and grab my cock. It belongs to you now.”
I stab his chest with a pointed finger. “That is not why I called you here!”
He cocks his head. “Isn’t it?”
“No!” I lean over, fiddling with the light switch on the wall. “See? The power is out!”
That maddening grin just won’t go away. He grabs his chin, pretending to think hard as he walks from the kitchenette to the small closet. He yanks it open, and I look over his shoulder to see a circuit board. He reaches over, flipping one of them, and the light instantly flares on.
Folding his arms across his chest, he faces me. Laughing. “Is this what you wanted