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Chapter Seventeen
On the drive back from the beach, Cora was lost in thought. Last night had been beautiful. And absolutely terrifying. After they made love in the hot tub last night, they went upstairs. They had showered and then ended up in bed. The way that he had touched her so reverently reminded her a lot of the way that they used to be together.
She had been helplessly, hopelessly in love with him. When they split up, she had been destroyed. She had lost not only her lover, but her best friend in the process. It had taken her a long time to recover from that.
She had known at the time that it was doomed. The distance, along with their crazy schedules, made it difficult to talk most of the time. Let alone visit each other. Even before they’d had the talk, she had known it was coming. Their conversations were becoming more infrequent. They’d begun fighting. Things had ended long before either of them had been willing to admit.
That’s why she was a firm believer in moving things along slowly this time. She knew he had feelings for her. She knew she had feelings for him. Maybe, like the breakup, the longer they ignored them the easier things would be.
Things were good between them. She was blissfully happy. Happier than she had been in a long, long time. Surely that was enough, right?
Jamie broke into her thoughts and said, “You’re doing some heavy thinking over there, baby. You okay?”
“I’m mostly zoning out,” Cora said. “This weekend was amazing. I’m kind of bummed we have to go back to reality now.”
“I know,” he said. “This was by far the best birthday present of all time. I’m sad it has to end. Makes me wanna drop about six million on a beachside cottage in Malibu.”
Cora snorted and said, “Yeah. Just write them a check.”
“I’ll include a note asking them not to cash it just yet,” he said, laughing. His tone was more serious when he added, “But seriously. Best gift ever. Don’t tell my mother I said that either.”
“So many secrets,” she said, shaking her head with a mock sigh.
“No,” he scoffed.
“You don’t know how badly I wanted to tell Taryn about the tattoo on your ass,” Cora said, as she pulled on to the freeway.
“I appreciate your restraint, Cora. I’d never hear the end of it, because she’d have to tell Evan.”
“She’d really hav
e no choice. It’s pretty funny.”
Cora thought back to the first time she’d gotten a clear look at it. They’d been in bed and he leaned over to get a condom. She’d burst out laughing. He had known exactly what she was laughing at, too.
He took one look at her face, rolled on the condom, and slid inside her. It was difficult to keep up the laughter when he filled her up so abruptly. He’d quickly turned her laughter into moans of pleasure.
Even as she focused on the road, she could hear Jamie’s rich laughter fill the car. “You’re thinking about the night you laughed at my tattoo, aren’t you, dirty girl?”
Cora flushed and said, “Maybe.”
The tension in the car broke, and for the rest of the drive the conversation flowed between them. By the time they pulled into his parking lot, the tension she had been feeling was long forgotten. As Jamie slid out of the car, she popped the trunk and then followed.
“You coming upstairs?” he asked.
“I can’t,” Cora said regretfully. “If I don’t do laundry tonight I’m going to have to go to work naked tomorrow.”
She watched his eyes light up and said, “My patients are children, Jamie.”
“But lunch would be so much more entertaining, Cora. Just think about it,” he teased.
“Perv,” she said, laughter evident in her voice.
“You like it,” Jamie countered, as he pulled her into his arms.
“True,” she added, grinning up at him.
“Cora,” he said. “Thank you for an amazing weekend.
