Iwas about to embark on a million eternities masquerading as three months. The tension between was so ignitable that I wasn’t sure the entire fire department could have put out the blaze if I dared to strike the match with more than a kiss. I wanted her—bad. It wasn’t the kind of desire that would only last one night either, it was the kind of desire that made me want to wrap my arms around her and never let her go. But that was foolish—that was true madness. I had done little more than exchange a few letters and go on one date. I shouldn’t have been thinking about anything except the next date, yet I was thinking about the rest of my damn life.
This is ridiculous. I need to calm the fuck down…
I parked my truck and went inside. I was actually kind of relieved that Bridget wasn’t up. She would want to know about the date, and I just wasn’t in the mood to share. If I talked about it, I would end up regretting my decision to say goodnight when I did. There was no real reason to let her drive way—she wanted it as bad as I did. But there was a major complication—one I didn’t expect. Chloe was a virgin.
She’s never trusted anyone enough to let them get past all of her hesitations, yet she’s ready to throw them all away after one date with me. I should feel honored—but I’m feeling something I haven’t felt in years—fear.
Sex was going to complicate things, especially if Chloe had never been with anyone before. No matter how amazing our date was, there was no way I could take things that far without spending more time with her. I knew that I liked her—but would I love her? Would we run into the same problems couples ran into down the road—a week, a month, a year later? She was putting all of the trust in me and I believed in fighting for what I wanted, but I also didn’t want to pull her across the threshold of my life where she could be hurt. I could never do that to her, because she had felt the sting of betrayal before.
I’ll control my urges and I’ll probably have to control hers too. Imagine that—me telling a woman that I don’t want her to take off her panties.
I couldn’t get Chloe out of my head, so I decided to send her a message. I stared at the blank screen next to her name—where a picture should have been. Her face was burned into my memories, but I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing her smile there next to her name. I flipped over to the website forWhat the Heart Wantsand tried to figure out how to take the picture from the profile link Grace sent me, but I couldn’t figure it out. I remembered Abby showing me how to hold my finger on a picture and save it, but that didn’t work, so I just decided to ask Chloe for one.
Of course, she wants one of me. Fuck.
I flipped through the camera roll on my phone, trying to find something that was usable. I wasn’t really the kind of person that took a selfie. I didn’t even have a social media account. There were a couple of old ones, one of which had been used by Abby when she made my account. There definitely wasn’t anything new, not that I had changed much except for a little more salt-and-pepper in my beard. The phone lit up with a message from Chloe, but I still hadn’t found one of me that I wanted to share.
Holy fuck!
I blinked in surprise when I flipped to Chloe’s message. She sent me a picture alright, but it wasn’t one of her smile. It was a picture of her sitting on the edge of a bed with the phone at an angle over her head—and while I could only see her face and upper torso, it looked like she was naked. The only thing hiding her breasts was the angle and her arm. Her cleavage was certainly on full display. Just looking at the picture made my cock get hard in my pants.
Cain: Wow…
Chloe: Your turn.
Okay. Two can play that game if she wants to tease me.
I stripped down into my boxers and climbed into bed. I didn’t know if she liked tattoos or not, but she was about to see every inch of ink that covered my chest and arms. I angled the phone, took a photo—and nearly blinded myself with the flash. That wasn’t going to work. The picture barely got half my face, but it captured my headboard perfectly. I hit the button that would flip the camera to the one on the front and framed myself in the shot before taking a second photo. I checked it a couple of times to make sure it was good, and then sent it to Chloe.
Chloe: Wow yourself! I knew you had some tattoos!
Cain: Yeah, just a few.
Chloe: Hot!
Cain: Can I get a picture that I can use for your contact now? I really don’t think you want that flashing up on my screen every time you call.
Chloe: True. Okay, will I get one in return?
Cain: Yep.
Chloe sent me a second photo that was safe enough for me to set as her picture, and it captured her smile perfectly. I definitely wasn’t going to get the image of her curves out of my head, even if her arm was covering her breasts, but the one of her beautiful smile was one that I could stare at all day long. I was just about to put my phone down when it lit up again. I clicked her text message and saw another picture—a little more risqué than the first. Her arm was still across her breasts, but the fingers on her right hand were parted ever so slightly—enough for me to see the pink on the top of her nipple.
Cain: You really, really don’t know what you’re doing to me. Three months!
Chloe: I’ve never been able to send anyone naughty pictures before. I kind of like it.
Cain: Don’t girls usually end up regretting these kinds of pictures? Doesn’t everything end up on the Internet?
Chloe: I trust you.
Cain: Okay, fine…
I took another picture of myself, but I slid the blanket down enough to give her a slight view of my hip, making sure that six-pack was perfectly framed. It felt weird sending a dirty picture to a woman, but she started it. If she was going to turn me on, then I had no problem doing the same to her. Three months was going to be a really long time—that was for damn sure. I hesitated for a moment, but then I went ahead and sent the picture.
Chloe: A little more and I could see what I’m getting in three months.
Cain: Not happening. I thought girls hated guys that sent them pictures of their dick.
