I stayed close to Erin. She’d earned those slow kisses up her thighs and the murmurs of reassurance I barely realized I was saying. I was woozy. Over the moon. I refused to rush her. How could I when she lay sprawled on the bed, her chest rising on deep gulps of air? I carefully rearranged her panties and found her jeans on the floor. She was still smiling at the ceiling when I guided her feet into the denim, one leg at a time, to tug her jeans back up over her hips.
I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Good?”
She only managed a breathy “Cal…”
I chuckled. Almost speechless was the best compliment, I think. “Get rid of that idiot.” I patted her on the rump to shoo her off the bed. “And we’ll do it again.”
Erin slid off the mattress and bent over to peck a kiss on my cheek before she stumbled out of the room. With a flick of her hand, her jeans buttoned up. She didn’t bother smoothing her hair, but she turned to look at me over her shoulder. Her cheeks were flushed hot pink. Then, her smile disappeared, and her footsteps padded along the hardwood floors.
The front lock clicked open.
“What?” she said.
“Hey.” Jeremy’s voice sounded thicker without his usual condescending drawl. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I just wanted to talk to you… You know… About what happened at the cafe…”
While he bumbled his way through another pathetic apology, I got off the bed. I was harder than a rock. The taste of Erin was still sweet on my tongue. Had I ever been so turned on goingdown on a woman before? This was torture. I forced down a deep breath, unbuckled my belt, and adjusted myself enough not to embarrass her.
“Look, Jeremy, I’m not upset about dinner, okay?” Erin said. “I don’t want to do this right now. We can talk on the phone tomorrowifit’s about Matilda.”
The squeak of the door hinges closing was my cue to move. I wanted to get eyes on Jeremy to make sure he left.
“I’m so sorry.” He was still stumbling over words that were months too late. “I know I shouldn’t have come. I told myself to give you space to deal with how I acted. And then… when I heard you… Fuck, Erin. I know I lost it, but I can’t handle imagining that… The idea of you andhim… I know you’d never do that to me. You said you could never sleep with anyone else so I know you could never be doing that with”—Jeremy must have heard my footsteps coming because his dark eyes were waiting when I cleared the bedroom—“him.”
“You again, huh?” I said, leaning my shoulder against the doorway. “When are you driving your sorry ass back to the city?”
The devastation painted on Jeremy’s face was like he’d been ripped apart from the inside out, but that vulnerability disappeared as quickly as it came. If I’d blinked, I would’ve missed it. His face contorted, his features twisting into an ugly sneer.
“Well, aren’t you just a little two-faced fucking liar?” Jeremy spat at Erin. “You think you can make me jealous by fuckinghim?”
I wasn’t putting up with him talking to her like that. I was already striding across the room, but Erin turned slightly and shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to start a fight. I gritted my teeth but stopped where I was and folded my arms. I’d trust her. My feet planted to the hardwood…for now.
Jeremy scoffed a laugh. “She’s got you on a leash.”
I cocked my chin, waiting. Was that the best he had?
Erin’s hand gripped the door tighter. “I’m not trying to make you jealous,” she said. “I’ve moved on. I don’t think about you, and I don’t want you here.”
Jeremy’s eyes narrowed.
“You heard her,” I said. “Time to go.”
“Or what?” he said. “You’re going disobey the little woman and come over here and hit me?”
“And waste a night in the lock-up for punching your stupid face instead of spending it with my girl? Sorry, mate. Not interested.” This time, Erin didn’t stop me when I stepped in to block the space between her and Jeremy. “But itisabout time you got your ass off my land.”
Jeremy snorted. “Your land?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” I said. “Turn around and look to the horizon. That’smyland. And I don’t want your pointy-ass shoes touching one damn inch of it.”
“You really think she’s going to pick you?” He sneered.“You?”
I refused to let him see how much my heart sank. My greatest fear, and everyone kept voicing it. “Erin’s told you enough times she doesn’t want you here. Fuck off.”
“And if she wantedyou, she had years to tell you,” he said. “She doesn’t.”
“You done?”
“You’re nothing but a revenge fuck.”
