Page 27 of The Truth of Us

“And you cannot sleep with other women while we’re together.” She added, something passing over her eyes.

I stared at her for a beat before grinning slowly. “I can’t go without sex for thirty days.”

Her brows lifted. “That sounds like a personal failing.”

I stepped closer deliberately, trailing my fingers lightly down her bare arm. Her breath shifted, and goosebumps followed my finger.

“We’re old news, Harper,” I murmured. “And I thought you told me I needed to sleep with someone more than once.”

Her pulse fluttered beneath my fingertips.

“This arrangement would technically achieve that.” I continued.

Her eyes held mine.

“No kissing,” she said quietly.

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because kissing is personal.”

Well, that was the most revealing thing she’d said all night.

“I would kiss my girlfriend,” I pointed out.

She thought about it for a moment before saying, “You may kiss me publicly.”

“Publicly only?”

Why did that bother me so much?

“Yes,” she said, stepping away from the island.

“That feels cruel somehow.”

She ignored that and continued saying, “No sleepovers.”

I sighed dramatically. “Harper.”

“No personal entanglements.” She added.

“You say that like we’re negotiating a hostage exchange.”

Why did any of this bother me? I was getting what I wanted. Right?

“Aren’t we?” she questioned. “And this remains professional; we don’t dig into the past or make this personal. The sex is just that, sex to keep your overactive libido in check and not for intimacy.” She finished.

I looked at her for a long moment. I wanted to fight every point she had just made, but I nodded.

“So,” I said finally. “Do we agree?”

“Yes.”

That came entirely too easily.

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re suspiciously calm about this.”

“You offered me a strategic public arrangement built around image management and emotional unavailability.” She tilted her head slightly, almost as if she were challenging me, before adding, “This is the most normal proposal I’ve received all year.”