Her expression melted. She leaned in, brushing her lips against mine in a kiss that tasted like the sweetness of morning. “You’re welcome.”
Elise made a move to hop down from the counter but instead I wrapped an arm around her waist, effortlessly lifting her up from the sink and carrying her back to the bedroom before sitting her gently on the bed.
“What are your plans today?” I asked as I adjusted my cufflinks, nearly completely dressed for work.
She wrinkled her nose playfully. “Oh, you know… shake my ass for thousands of people on the internet.”
I groaned, both exasperated and completely turned on. “Elise.”
“Fine.” She smirked. “Pack for my trip home.”
“Better.” I kissed her again, slower this time, and pulled back just enough to rest my forehead against hers.
Her laugh was light, teasing, and far too addictive for this early in the morning. I kissed her once more, intending for it to be quick, but Elise had other plans. She tangled her fingers in my shirt, refusing to let me go, kissing me with the kind of insistence that made every rational thought scatter.
“Keep this up and I’ll never make it to the office,” I murmured against her lips.
“Maybe that’s the point,” she whispered, her smile curving against my mouth like she knew exactly how impossible she was to resist.
I lingered longer than I should have, memorizing the way she looked sprawled across the sheets, hair a mess from sleep and my hands, lips kiss-swollen, eyes hazy but bright. The kind of vision a man could build a religion around. And I was supposed to walk away from this for spreadsheets and people I didn’t give half a damn about?
Dragging myself upright, I forced my body to move toward the door, even though every instinct screamed to stay. Elise sat back on her heels watching me with that smug little smile like she knew I’d rather crawl back into bed. She wasn’t wrong.
“I’ll be good today,” she promised sweetly, though the sparkle in her eyes said otherwise.
I adjusted my cufflinks, smoothed down my tie, and gave her one last look. “I don't believe you.”
She laughed, and the sound chased me all the way to the elevator.
By the time I stepped into my car, I already hated how far away she was. My day hadn’t even started, and I was counting the hours until I could come home to her.
CHAPTER FORTY
ELISE
THERE WAS NOTHINGlike visiting home after being away for so long. Rosewater, Florida was a slice of me that I took with me into the big city of Los Angeles, though it was moments like these that made me feel as if I never left at all.
The last time I was here was seven months ago for my birthday slash Thanksgiving dinner where my family insisted on decorating my brother’s living room in Fall colors and pictures of a festive turkey despite me being adamant over the years that I hate meshing my birthday with the beloved holiday.
It all evened out I guess, since my friends threw me a Jordan Year surprise party for my twenty-third birthday when I returned and Nathan paid for a full day at the spa.
A tinge of sadness roped its way around my heart at the thought of Nathan and how he was miles away right now. Thanks to my stay in the hospital, I did miss my mother’s birthday party but with Nathan’s help, I was able to get an all new flight and I arranged with my family to have a late birthdaydinner for my mother, but that meant I was going to have to spend the next few days away from Nathan.
Something dark and delicious skirted down to my belly as I flashed back to last night.
“Did I tell you to stop?”
“Don’t look away. I want to see everything you’re feeling.”
An infant’s cry peeled through the air and I forced the X-rated images swarming around in my head to the furthest corner of my mind. The last thing I needed to be thinking about before seeing my parents was sex, partially because it was madly inappropriate and secondly, because I wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t jump back on a plane that would take me back to Nathan’s for another round.
Yes, it was that good.
God, if Nathan could hear my thoughts it would just inflate his already giant ego.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look adorable when you try not to blush?”
Surprise rippled through me down to my toes at the throaty voice behind me.
