brushed my skin, he murmured, "I missed you."
My breath caught. "I missed you, too."
He pulled back to look at me. "You're so beautiful."
I felt beautiful. And happy — happier than I'd felt in, well, forever, actually. As I searched for the words to tell him so, he took one of my hardened nipples between his fingers and toyed with it just the way I liked.
With a soft moan, I went straight for his pants, fumbling first for the button and then for the zipper. When I pushed down his slacks and saw the massive bulge in his briefs, the warmth inside me only grew.
He was so immensely hard, and I was so slick and willing. We'd kicked off our shoes somewhere in all the fumbling, and I was pretty sure I knew what came next.
But I was wrong. Instead of hoisting me up onto the counter, he reached down to the floor beside us and picked up his discarded shirt.
I laughed. "If you put that on, I swear, I'm gonna lose it."
With a wicked grin, he informed me, "You're gonna lose it anyway, I promise you that." He lifted the shirt higher. "But the shirt's not for me. It's for you."
He reached around me and placed the shirt on the countertop directly behind where I stood.
"Ohhhh," I laughed. "Padding."
"You know it." And then, Brody reached for my panties and gave them a hard yank. As he did, I fumbled for his briefs, pushing them down toward the floor, first with my hands, and then with my foot.
Soon, we were both naked, right there in the brand-new kitchen.
Finally, he reached for my hips and lifted me effortlessly onto the shirt-covered countertop, kissing me as he did.
When his finger grazed my clit, I moaned into his mouth. With one hand, I reached between us, stroking his massive erection. I wanted him inside me, and I didn't want to wait.
I pulled back and breathed, "If you wait one more second, I think I'm gonna die."
"Oh yeah?" He smiled like this was a good thing. "We'll see." And with that, he slid a finger deliberately inside me, making me whimper with desperate need.
My eyelids fluttered as I breathed, "See?"
With honey in his voice, he asked, "Wanna know what I see?"
"What?"
"The girl I love." As he spoke, he circled my clit with his thumb, making me squirm with lust while his finger – and then two fingers – stroked my insides in a way that made my hips surge and my breathing grow ragged.
Everything he did, he did right. And this was no exception. By the time he finally entered me, I was already a quivering, trembling mess.
I swear to heaven, I climaxed on like his third thrust, shuddering against him as he drove into me harder and faster while I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on for dear life.
And what a ride it was.
I could feel the muscles in his back moving in time with every thrust, driving me to distraction as he gave me exactly what I wanted, what I needed, too.
By the time he climaxed against me, I felt like I was floating away to the most wonderful place – a dreamland, where anything was possible – where enemies became lovers, and lovers became something more.
As our breathing subsided, I leaned my head on his muscular shoulder and murmured, "Oh, boy. A girl could get used to this, you know?"
With that familiar smile in his voice, he said, "As long as the girl is you, count me in."
Chapter 77
Arden
We spent the next month traveling back and forth from Michigan to California. We were officially a couple – in private and in public.
And boy, did Waverly love that. She especially loved it when I was offered another consulting contract, this one for the house in California, which was undergoing a serious renovation.
Speaking of California, I learned from Brody that Waverly's trip to that state hadn't involved him at all. Rather, Waverly had gone to visit her uncle at the production company, where she'd demanded that I be fired. Or else.
Instead, she'd been demoted to general gopher, and Roy had been given the producer job in her place. The new assignments were set to begin with the very next house – a house that I would have a hand in restoring.
I expected grief from Brody's brothers, but for whatever reason – whether because Brody had run interference, or because anyone could see that we were crazy about each other – things