me.”
He stood tall, gazing down at me. “Norah.”
“Paddy.”
“I’ll tell you what I’m thinking now.” He filled his hands with a butt cheek each. The butt being mine. Then he squeezed. “How do you feel about doing it doggy style?”
“Are you suggesting it because you don’t want to have to look me in the face and talk to me?”
“No. I’m suggesting it because I like your ass. A lot.”
“That’s sweet. Get on the bed.” I set my hands against his bare chest and pushed until he gave in and flopped back onto the mattress. Such a beautiful sight. I crawled on after him, sitting astride his hips. One of my personal favorite places to be. “We never discussed the inevitable likelihood of this, at times, being a long-distance relationship. Of course, we never even discussed us having a future before today.”
“Things are moving fast,” he said, and he didn’t appear happy about it.
“Yes, they are.”
With his hands fastened to my thighs, he sighed. “Guess I just figured we’d be together. Whatever that involved. But I understand that you don’t want to be my shadow.”
“To the contrary, I would love to be your shadow. I can think of nothing better than following you around all day.”
“But you’re not going to.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not. And I’ll miss you like crazy. But even though I’d rather cling to you like a limpet, I believe we need to be fully functioning adults independent of each other for this to work.”
“That’s very mature of you,” he said with a frown.
“Is that really all you’re going to say?”
“What do you want me to say?”
Males. Seriously. Maybe I hadn’t consumed enough alcohol for this conversation after all. “I want you to be brave and open up to me a little.”
Next his hands grabbed the hem of my shirt, working it up and over my head, before starting in on my bra. And he grumbled all the while. “How is this even relevant when I don’t have any jobs lined up?”
“But you will. You’re still getting offers, aren’t you?”
“Nothing I want to do.”
“Yet.”
“Yet,” he agreed.
“It’ll happen, Paddy,” I said. “The right script will come along and you’ll be in New Zealand or Czechoslovakia or who knows where for half a year. This is something we ought to be prepared for.”
“Relationships are hard,” he said crankily.
“This is true.”
“Come here.”
I snuggled down against his chest with his arms wrapped around me. Nothing like a hug to make everything better. In his arms, I was safe. Bigger and braver and capable of anything. Like I could take on the whole damn world, or at least one small corner of it, that’s how he made me feel.
“Okay. Here’s the truth, then. I fucking hate the thought of being away from you.” His fingers tightened their hold. “But acting is my job, the only thing I ever wanted to do. And you deserve to have something like that for yourself.”
“Yeah.”
“Lots of long-distance relationships in this industry, but I’ve got to say, not many of them work out.”
My turn to sigh. “No. I haven’t seen a lot of them work out either.”
We were both silent for a minute.
“Why do you still have panties on?” he asked.
“Focus, Paddy. We’re talking about us.”
“I am focusing. I just think you’d be more comfortable sprawled all over me bare-ass naked.”
I laughed.
“You’re my kitty cat.”
“I am not your kitty cat.”
“Some days I wonder if we’ll ever settle on a pet name for you,” he said. “You’re being so difficult about it.”
“I’m the worst, it’s true.”
“Yeah, well . . .” He sighed. “I’d rather your worst than anyone else’s best.”
My heart stuttered. “That was a pretty great thing to say.”
“I got something right?”
“You get a lot of things right. Give yourself some credit. You’re better at this relationship stuff than you think.”
His lips curved up in a gentle smile.
“In fact, you’re a good man who deserves good things,” I said, sitting up. “Scoot up the bed a little.”
With a curious glance, he did as told. Not stopping until his head hit the pillows and the hard-on I’d been ignoring sat about level with my face. Half-naked hugs definitely did things to him. The crown poked out from atop his pajama pants, swollen and proud. Skin like velvet stretched over the thickness. I slipped my hand beneath the material and wrapped my fingers around him in a firm grip. “I do like your dick.”
“I am very glad to hear that.”
“The rest of you isn’t bad either.” I bent down, taking his