What was he doing to me?
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, smiling down at me with a satisfied grin. “I love kissing you.”
I smiled up at him, until my phone pinged with a reminder. Right. Work. We were at work.
“All right, mister.” I pushed past him, heading for the door. “Enough distracting me. Let’s go.”
He grinned, seemingly pleased by his ability to make me forget myself. Forget my rules, even momentarily.
“So,” he said after we’d buckled in and were driving across town. “Where are we headed?”
“You’ll see,” I said, not wanting to give anything away.
Hunter placed his hand on my thigh, his fingers inching up beneath my skirt.
“Don’t distract the driver,” I said, though really, I didn’t want him to stop.
When his hand neared the edge of my panties, he paused, caressing my skin with his thumb. He was mere inches from my center, and his touch made me ache for more. Made me ache for him.
“You’re coming over tonight, right?” he asked.
It was tempting, but I shook my head. “Can’t. I have to finish up some work. You know—I do have other clients.”
“Do it at my place. Besides, I have some work to catch up on too. And when we’re done, we can have some fun.”
I considered it a moment, considered the work I needed to get done. And I knew I’d just end up over at his place anyway. Besides, after the morning I’d had, I could use a little fun.
Maybe that was all we needed to get back on track, to remind ourselves of the rules. An evening of sex, sex, and more sex. Because that was who we were and what we did, right? So then why did I feel a twinge of disappointment?
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he asked as I pulled up to the large brick building.
I was amused that he sounded so surprised. Though I had to admit, I enjoyed keeping him on his toes.
“Yeah. Sure. Why not?” I asked. “It’s not like I’m spending the night.”
“But you could. Think of all the orgasms I could give you.” He waggled his eyebrows.
I laughed and shook my head. “Nice try. If you give a mouse a cookie…”
“Yeah, Sophia made me read that book to her too,” he said with a wry grin.
Even if I didn’t want kids of my own, the idea of Hunter reading to Sophia made a part of my heart explode. I could just imagine him, attempting to fold his large frame onto one of her little chairs. This big man in such a pink, girlie room.
I got out of the car before the conversation could veer even further into dangerous territory. I didn’t want to admit it, but every day, we were sounding more like a couple and less like friends with benefits. Which was why I needed to stand firm about not spending the night.
Because the more time we spent together, the more I struggled to remember that this was just sex. No feelings. And I wondered how long I’d been lying to myself about it.
Hunter seemed to be invading every aspect of my life. No matter what I said about no strings, it already felt like we were tied together by way of our mutual friendships and his family. In the past, thoughts like that would’ve scared me. But the more time I spent with Hunter, the more I accepted it. Accepted us, whatever we were.
“Wait.” He held a hand up to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun as he glanced at the building. Large windows lined the front of the industrial brick facade turned home and studio.
“What are we doing at Kate and Xander’s place?” he asked, and I tried to gauge his reaction.
“I thought we could incorporate some of your sister’s pieces into your home.”
He seemed surprised. But when he swept me into his arms, I was the one who was stunned.
