Page 124 of Perfect Satisfaction

My lips part to plead but I don’t have to.

He gives me something I thought I’d never have again.

“My Moore.” His voice breaks on the words as he slams his hips in a final time, driving me into the force of our insanity until we come out entwined in each other.

CHAPTERSIXTY-FOUR

I need some advice.

Hallmark has cards for everything, right?

What section do you shop in when you want to get your person a “we’re together, but not really certain what to call each other, but I’m thinking about you” card?

—Moore You Want

I’m frantically texting with my brotherswhen Arek comes out of the bathroom. “If you tell me you have to get on a conference call now, I may take your phone and drop it off the balcony.”

“Just some residual actions from the bomb you dropped today,” I inform him. I’m not lying. I want to tell Arek exactly who Brendan and JB are to me. Brendan’s thinking about it, JB’s still adamantly opposed.

The last text I received was,He’s a bloody reporter. What is going through your mind?

I typed back,It’s more about what’s in my heart. Find yours.

But there’s one thing I don’t need my brother’s permission for. Arek crawls back into bed and hauls me against him. I could weep because the position is exactly how we used to cuddle after making love—sex, I correct myself. But, as much as I can, I need to clear the air since my husband laid his soul on the line earlier. Drawing my fingers across his pectorals, I whisper, “I never slept with Joshua Basset. Never kissed him. Nothing.”

His hand, which had been roaming up my back as it curled me against him, stills. “Would you care to repeat that?”

But I don’t have to, based on the incredulous expression on his face as he shifts to loom over me. “Sula?” Confusion and pain mar his beloved face.

I shake my head. “I took vows, Arek. To me, love meant more than just words. It meant following through with actions.”

His large body trembles. “Will you forgive me for every snide comment I’ve made to you?”

I slide my leg up the outside of his thigh. “Well, that’s going to take an awful lot of convincing. You did insult me in print as well.”

He smooths a hand over the globe of my breast. “I was an ass.”

I enunciate each word. “Yes, you were.”

His head lifts and I meet his jade eyes head-on. “But I want you more than I want anything else in this world, Sula.”

I tug him forward as I whisper, “Yes, I know.”

We don’t talk again for a long while.

“How did he hold your loyalty all these years if you weren’t...?”

“Screwing him?” I complete his unasked question with a wry twist of my lips.

Arek doesn’t bother lying. “Yes.”

I give him the truth without telling him the specifics. “Exactly two men have never broken their word to me once given. Since I’m certain you’ll see me text them, it’s Joshua—JB—and another B.”

“I’ve never lied to you.”

I don’t bother replying, but my expression must reveal my thoughts. He draws his hand away. “Right, we’ll set some truths straight here soon enough. Where did you meet them. I don’t remember you mentioning them when we were together.”

“It feels like I’ve known them my whole life,” I say truthfully.