Page 47 of About That Rule

CHAPTER18

IT WAS AFTERlunch when Samantha and Nate finally left the hotel bed. Or, more accurately, after they got out of the shower and put clothes on. As it turned out, if they were naked, one of them was touching the other until they couldn’t take it anymore.

Then sex.

Hot, sweaty sex.

Samantha blushed at the memory of the past twenty-four hours. Somewhere in her mind, she’s known if she’d had sex with Nate, it would have been the best she’d ever had. In reality, it was so much more than that. He’d ruined her for anyone else, it was that intense between them.

Nate grinned. “I have no regrets about requesting late checkout for both of our rooms since it means I get two more hours with you.”

His comment popped the happiness bubble she was frolicking in. Everything with her and Nate was on some sort of timeline. Four more weeks of their sham marriage. Three more days until he went back to New York. Two more hours in the hotel. There was an exit strategy wherever she turned, and it hit her hard. She didn’t want a timeline. In her fantasy world, she wanted to have Nate. Period. Not with some predetermined expiration date.

Maybe sex had crossed the line.

How was she going to go back to normal with him now?

“Talk to me,” he coaxed her.

This was where she needed to rely on her humor.

“Well, I’d hate to disappoint you for the late check-out charge,” she told him with a smile she was sure he could tell was fake.

He sat down on the bed and patted the space next to him. “You know I don’t care about that. One minute, you’re all smiles, and the next, it’s as if someone stole your puppy. What’s wrong?”

“I wouldn’t say wrong, per se.”

He took a deep breath. “Then what, per se, is it?”

She sat down in the vacant space next to him, giving them some space on the king bed. “I don’t regret last night.”

“That’s a good start.”

As he said the words, the bitter tone to them sank through. She was mucking up this conversation, but she wasn’t sure how she could save herself and their friendship after what had happened.

“Hey,” she said gently, “last night—”

“And this morning,” he reminded her.

“Let’s just say all the orgasms were great. But there’s also the scene we caused, and the questions that will be asked, and most important, our friendship.” She paused tentatively, afraid of the answer to the next question. “What are we supposed to do now?”

This was where she was able to give him multiple options. The most ideal was to give this relationship a chance. The least favorable was to pretend last night had never happened. She and Nate had always been two peas in a pod, known for casual relationships and good times, not marriage and forever commitments. Something in her had shifted, and it wasn’t just because of the mind-blowing sex. The past two months, changing her lifestyle to illustrate to the judge they’d tried, had only proven to her how much she was actually ready for the next step in her life. After being in a quasi-relationship with Nate, it made her realize how much of it wasn’t actually fake. How she was ready for more, and not with just anyone, but with him.

His silence was making her heart race.

What was he thinking?

He scratched the side of his head before looking at her. “Sammy, you have always been my best friend. If you’re worried last night is going to ruin our friendship, you’re wrong. I would never let anything come between us.”

“Not even your—”

He let out a soft chuckle. “No, not even my dick could come between us, as much as he would like it.”

His words were assuring, helping in calming her down. He was right. Nothing could come between their friendship. Apparently, not his dick or even her heart.

“I don’t know what to do. Everything is changing, yet everything’s the same,” she whispered.

He cupped her face. “How about we not blur the lines right now? When our marriage is over, let’s see if we still want to rip each other’s clothes off or if this desire is because we’re in the moment of playing husband and wife.”