up there.” Leaning forward, I kissed him. Closing my eyes, my heart in my throat, I whispered against his lips, “It was the best sex of my life, Jack.”
“Good.”
I drew back and looked into his eyes, which were hiding in the dark shadows of my room. “That’s it? You better say something more.”
His eyebrows rose. “You want to hear that you’re my best too?”
“Yes, and more. Please.”
Then he laughed, and if the sounds he made when he was coming were the sexiest I’d ever heard, the sound of him laughing in bed with me was the sweetest. He sobered quickly, but it didn’t stop me from hearing the smile and amusement in his voice. “You’re the best I’ve ever had too, Rose.”
I waited. So did he.
“More,” I said. “And make it more believable.”
One eyebrow quirked up then his hand sneaked behind me and he pulled me to himself until we were skin to skin again. His semi-hard cock pressed against my stomach and he looked into my eyes, no hint of a smile left on his face.
I was already breathless, dammit!
“You’re the only woman I want to go to sleep holding on to and wake up next to, Rose Hawthorne. I will never leave you. I will never forget you.”
Heat rushed across my skin, my heartbeat loud in my ears. I cleared my throat. “Not too bad. I guess it’s a good thing you’re not that bad in bed.”
I will never leave you.
That statement—it stole the breath from my lungs. The obvious claim would’ve easily scared a different woman, but I soaked in every raw word and let them fill me. I’d never belonged to anyone, not like that, not like what Jack was offering me.
“Sex?” I quipped. “Again? You know, just so we can see if the first time was a fluke?”
His answer was whispered against my lips with a smile as his eyes held my vulnerable stare. “Yes, baby. Again.”
The next day, I looked exactly like someone who had gotten herself some. It was smiles galore in the coffee shop and I was walking on clouds. Owen didn’t mind making sure I knew what he thought of me when I kept smiling to myself right across from him on the other side of the kitchen island.
When I saw Jack’s face flash on my phone’s screen right before we were about to open, my morning reached a high.
“Hi.”
“My Rose.” There was that hint of a smile I loved seeing on his lips in his voice when he spoke. “How are you feeling?”
“Perfect,” I whispered, moving to a corner as I looked out at the busy, busy New York streets. We had had sex again, Jack and I, once more after the first time, and then again in the morning, which brought our total up to three. It wasn’t a bad number when you thought about it, and knowing the first time hadn’t been a fluke was just the icing on the cake. I had all kinds of bruises to show for it, but I especially loved the ones on my hipbones and the sides of my stomach. When I closed my eyes, I could still feel his fingers digging into my skin. “How are you feeling?”
His answer was soft and gentle, so opposite of him. “Perfect.”
I looked down at my shoes and grinned. “We have good sex.”
“That we do.”
“Did you want to say something?”
“I can’t just call my wife because I want to?”
“You can, and you should, too. Whenever she crosses your mind, you should call her or text her. I think she likes talking to you.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I definitely think so.”
“Tell me more. What else does she like?”
I looked over my shoulder to make sure Sally was still busy stacking the sandwiches and couldn’t hear me. “She likes when you whisper into her ear.” My own voice had dropped into a rough whisper as my body shuddered just thinking about the night before and that morning.
I listened to Jack clear his throat and mutter something to someone who was apparently in his office with him. I waited until he came back to me.
“Sorry. I had a junior associate with me. I’m alone now.”
I nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting ready for a meeting.”
“And we’re about to open.”
“I see.”
“I think I missed you,” I admitted in a low voice. It had been only hours since I’d stolen one last kiss when he joined Raymond and me on our little morning commute. He’d said