But it’s not done yet.
“Busy?”
Beck is slouched on the sofa at home, frowning at a tablet. “I missed a lot while I was away. It’s going to take some time to catch up. If everyone could just stop sending me emails for an hour or two, that’d be nice.”
“Hmm.”
He’s ditched the jacket, along with the bowtie. But on the plus side, he’s undone the top two buttons of his shirt, displaying the strong column of his neck and that dip at the base. The view is delectable. “There’s a hotel for sale in Boulder that I want to take a look at. It’ll need a lot of work, but it seems promising.”
“Not the Stephen King The Shining one, is it?”
He smiles. “Ha. No.”
“Still, that’s exciting.”
“Signed the papers with Ethan today to buy the Heritage,” he says, still staring at the screen.
“Yeah?”
“Dad liked snatching up real estate in general. It’s more stable than stock in most cases. Diversify or die. Got to make that money work for you.”
“Well, you can tell Catherine if she doesn’t agree to sell the Heritage I’ll wear white after Labor Day and use the wrong fork at the next soiree.”
“How shocking.” He looks up with a grin. And freezes. “Dearest.”
I walk over to the couch, perching beside him. The poor boy doesn’t seem to know where to look first. My chemise is pale blue satin with lace edging. Shoestring straps, skirt brushing the tops of my thighs, and my breasts barely contained, let alone covered. There’s even a matching thong. Not that he knows yet.
“Now, I can smell you on the pillow, so I know you are in fact sleeping in the same bed as me,” I say. “You’re just not around when I’m awake.”
“It seemed safest. Though you’re accommodatingly cuddly even fast asleep.”
“Is that so?”
He nods slowly. “We’ve spooned. Just because you weren’t conscious doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
“That’s a big step forward in our relationship.”
“I thought so.”
“It’s a shame I missed it.” And he really doesn’t need his tablet so I take it and place it on the coffee table. Makes it much easier to climb onto his lap. Facing him, of course. I’m not messing around here.
“Alice.”
I take his hands and place them on my thighs. “Yes?”
“Is this a declaration of war?”
“Hmm. I prefer to make love, not war.”
“This is not going slow.”
“To be fair, I never agreed to any of that. Waiting was all your idea and we’ve already established that it was a decision based on incomplete data.”
“That may be so. But it’s important to me,” he says. “Let’s take a moment here and discuss it further.”
“There’s no need. I already know and disagree with your reasons. But for the sake of getting along and mutual trust and respect, let’s set a limit to tonight’s activities.”
“All right.” Whatever his words, he’s growing hard beneath me. Makes it impossible for me not to rock against him. He’s thick and rigid and feels divine. Tingles radiate from my sex straight up my spine. He swears, low and heated. His hands grabbing at my hips. “Stop moving for a minute. I can’t think when you do that.”
“It feels so good, Beck.” But I pause, reluctantly.
“You wanted to talk about limits,” he says, face set. “I’m listening.”
“You’re a control freak, you know that?”
“Yes,” he says. “But’s it supposed to be a secret so don’t tell anyone.”
I wind my arms around his neck and rest my face on his shoulder. If he gets makeup on his shirt then bad fucking luck. I need a second to think. “You’re driving me crazy. I’m not usually a sex monster.”
“You’re beautiful when you pout,” he says, fingers trailing up and down my arms. “The prettiest pouting, barely dressed sex monster in the room.”
I take a breath and sit up. “All right, here’s the deal. There’s going to be making out, i.e. kissing along with over-the-clothes fondling. We’ve already done some of that so you should be comfortable with it.”
“I accept your terms.”
“And you already let me climb onto your lap so I assume that’s okay too?”
A nod from him. “You are more than welcome to stay where you are.”
“Good.”
“One question.” His gaze drops to my breasts once more. “Are you going to insist on wearing that while we’re kissing?”
“Yes. It feels nice and it’s pretty. I might sleep in it too.”
“Flannel jammies feel nice,” he says. “Or you could even wear long johns. Now there’s an idea. Not only are they extremely comfortable and quite practical, but some might