Page 86 of All The Ways to Miss You

“Steph told you?” I shake her lightly and laugh because I’ve been busted.

“Does it matter? It’s the first time I knew I loved you.” She pauses to glance at the ceiling. “Okay, maybe it was more like the moment you made me apple pancakes. Regardless, I knew you were a good thing when I saw you. But remember, we’re still only friends.”

This is our joke. We’re just friends.

“That’s okay. I’m not looking for a girlfriend.” I’m looking for my everything. My fingers sink into the flesh of her hips.

Cait leans into me. I lift my chin, my lips seeking the softness of hers. When they connect, she squeezes me tighter between her thighs. My hips rise and I press into her spot, wanting her to feel what she does to me.

“So, tell me about these scandalous sex tapes you’re releasing to the press,” I whisper between kisses. My hands sneak beneath her top and slide across her back. The movement activates her grinding hips, making her moan.

“We should make some naughty ones right now.”

thirty-nine

Five years ago

“You haven’t moved from that spot all morning?” I shut the front door and lift my messenger bag over my shoulder before dropping it on the couch.

I don’t like working on Saturdays, but I had to tour a residential builder from California around the city. If things work out, Grayson & Wade will be partnering with them to develop a micro-apartment building on the old Printer’s Row parcel. I’ll be taking our business to the next level by developing our first project.

“Sadly, it wasn’t because I was editing my thesis,” Cait says from her seat at the dining room table. Stacks of books surround her computer. In the darkened room, the screen illuminates her focused and achingly beautiful face.

When I stand behind her chair, she tips her head back, giving me an upside-down kiss. I love the way our faces connect like a puzzle, chins touching noses as our lips meet. I place my hands on her shoulders and rub.

“How was work?” She relaxes under my massage.

“Still not done. Just here for a quick stop.” I don’t want to talk about work when I only have a few minutes with her. I lean closer and check out her screen. “What’s this?”

“I’m obsessed with this house. I’ve been staring at it for hours. Look how cute it is.” She clicks through a series of images on a real estate website.

“Really? That house?” I laugh. It’s old and scary.

“Come on. It’s so cute. Looks at these photos.”

My hands fall away when she jumps up from the table, laptop balanced on her forearm, as if the closer I am to the photos, the better the house will look. She scrolls through using the track pad and stops to point out details.

“It needs work but has great bones, an enclosed porch, backyard, three bedrooms, two baths, and there are even peonies in the garden,” she says.

“What the hell is a peony?”

“All you need to know is I love it and we’re buying it.” She sets her computer on the kitchen island and turns to me. When her face glows like this, she knows full well I’ll give in. I would do anything for her, and that’s how it’s been since the moment we met. I’m content to be her whipped man, though I can’t let her know that.

“Is that so?” I slide my arms around her and squeeze her ass.

“I get what I want.” She lifts a mischievous brow.

“In that case, we better go check it out.”

“Really?” Cait jumps into my arms, her legs circling my waist.

Unprepared for her overzealous response, I stumble forward and set her butt on the edge of the table. Locking me between her thighs, she tugs my shirt to bring me closer until our lips connect. She tastes delicious, tangy and sweet.

My dick commandeers my brain when she deepens our kiss, and I lay her back while shoving her books off the table with a wide sweeping arm. They crash onto the floor, papers fluttering. With a cleared space, I can do what I want with her, and what I want to do is everything.

My kisses travel the angle of her jaw, the slope of her neck, and then drop to her stomach, where I press a circle of kisses. My hands are on their own mission, roaming under her shirt, over her breasts, and traveling into her dampening panties. She sighs and tenses before I even make it to her spot. She’s damn sexy, even in sweatpants.

My cell phone rings in my pocket, and I groan.