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“I’ll be counting the days.”
“Me, too.”
He sighed regretfully. “Good night, Jules.”
Yep. I tried to remember that slow was good. Slow was necessary. Oh, who was I kidding?
After our kiss—slow seemed like an impossible speed to maintain for long.
* * *
Turnsout the best time I ever had on New Year’s Eve didn’t involve getting dressed up, going out, or even staying up until midnight. Instead it was the night I spent with Mark. He’d reserved a hotel suite a few miles away from my mom’s house and invited Tristan and me over for a Disney movie marathon. Mark thought of everything from champagne for us adults to sparkling apple cider for Tristan. We ordered up room service and made it through three movies before Tristan fell asleep.
After we’d put him in the bedroom, I snuggled close to Mark on the couch while he found the New Year’s countdown on TV. Unable to help myself, I let my hands wander along his strong arms, stroking and feeling his skin. I inhaled the scent of him, shifting so I could get up on my knees beside him. As I kissed him behind his ear, I ran my other hand through his silky hair. I’d missed him.
“Jules. You’re making this hard.”
“Mm. Guess that means I’m doing it right, then.” There was something really appealing about being the one to initiate sex for once. Something empowering.
But he wasn’t having it. Instead, he flicked off the television and stood up abruptly. “Um. How about I’ll take the couch, and you can share the bed with Tristan?”
He stood there with his hands in his pockets while I fought the insecurity over being rejected. “Sure. Happy New Year.”
I got up, intent on making a beeline for the bedroom, but Mark snagged my waist, pulling me into him.
“Wait.” He breathed into my neck as if struggling with restraint. “This is more than sex. I want you to know that.”
“I’ve always known that.” He wasn’t exactly the type to sleep around.
“I want the next time I make love to you to be perfect. I don’t want to rush or worry about waking up Tristan or me having to catch a plane first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. I guess I get that.” Waiting would make it worth it right? Except that I wanted him now. Then again, the idea of having him all night without trying to be quiet and waking up with him in the morning sounded good, too.
“What are your plans for the next couple of weekends?”
“I have a lot happening with the house and stuff.” I was moving, planned a garage sale, and closing on the house.
“I should be able to make it down again in two or three more weeks.”
It wasn’t like I could expect him to travel to see me every weekend, especially when he’d just done the last two. “That sounds good. Or maybe I could come up if my mom can watch Tristan.” Although I was unsure when it would work for her.
Suddenly it felt as though progress was at a standstill.
* * *
“I needto figure out how to seduce Mark.”
I dumped these words on Sasha the Monday after New Year’s. There was slow, but then there was completely stopped. That’s where I felt Mark and I were at the moment. And since I didn’t want to wait weeks to be intimate with him, I was thinking of getting my mom to babysit and fly up there for a night if I needed to. Clearly, I’d developed a one-track mind.
From across her desk, Sasha eyed me with an arched brow over her coffee mug. “As much as this may sound weird, you may be better off talking to Brian about this kind of stuff.”
I laughed out loud. “Uh, we’re close, but you’re right, that would be weird. Seriously, you exude—” I waved at her. “—sexual confidence in spades. I need, like, an ounce.”
She lifted a brow. “First off, it’s not me who originally did the seducing in my relationship; it was your boss. I have no game in the bedroom. Well, I guess I do now, but back then—”
I put my hands over my ears in exaggerated form. “TMI.”
She laughed. “You started this conversation. Plus, I thought you and Mark were taking it slow.”
