Page 57 of Miss Fortune

“Roscoe another satisfied customer?”

“I never truly know until he leaves me the Yelp review, but he’s normally pretty generous with his stars.”

He tipped his head back with laughter, triggering my own. I’d never get tired of the rare sound coming from him. Then suddenly the mood shifted, and he pulled me into his arms. Hungry lips met mine.

“Daisy?”

“Mm.”

“I don’t want to be just friends.”

Neither did I. But while my body was totally on board with his words, my brain was already working overtime. “In that case, I’ll have to revoke your Daisy friendship bracelet.”

He pulled back, his lips tipping up into a grin. “I didn’t get a bracelet.”

“You didn’t? Huh. I’ll have a word with my director of membership.”

“You definitely should.”

All humor aside, I needed more. “So if you don’t want to be friends but are standing here in my apartment kissing me, what exactly did you want to talk about?”

“I don’t want a relationship.”

“You’ve made that abundantly clear. One star for the repetitive conversation. Do not recommend.”

He grinned. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure how to communicate things effectively.”

“Try saying what you mean but not starting the sentence with ‘I don’t want to have a relationship,’ or ‘we want different things long term.’” Because if he said either again, I was likely to scream.

“Okay. I don’t want to date or sleep with anyone else. It was stupid for me to suggest otherwise.”

“What do you want, then?”

“I want to be with you. But I don’t want to hurt you. It would kill me to do so.”

There was such a raw sincerity on his face I had to reach out and stroke his cheek. “I want to be with you too. Maybe instead of focusing on how we want different things, we could simply enjoy the remaining time I’ll be here in LA.” I didn’t know my plan for certain, but that was the beauty of having the freedom to choose.

He relaxed instantly. “So you’ll be my non-girlfriend, non-relationship friend who I date and have sex with exclusively?”

I grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Caleb

Her response caused me a palpable relief. “I can’t believe we wasted an entire week.”

Her hands attacked my clothing. “Mm, you don’t exactly seem like a tear-our-clothes-off-during-the-week kind of guy.”

She was right, I wasn’t. Instead I was regimented to the point of obsession. But I wasn’t about to ruin the moment by discussing my limitations.

Nope, instead I was walking her up against the wall, pausing only to get the condom out of my wallet, lose my shorts, and sheathe myself before hoisting her up so her legs were around my hips. I ground my erection against her center, loving the way she gasped at the contact. Daisy wearing skirts was my favorite thing in the world.

“Am I too heavy?” she murmured, biting my bottom lip before sucking it gently to ease the pinch of pain.

“Not at all. And you’re banned from ever asking that question again.” She was perfect.

She grinned, kissing me with enthusiasm. Her lips were a welcome addiction.