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Future.His heart leaped.They had a future?
“We’ve both got hurts and fears to overcome,” Judith continued.“But we need to talk them through with each other.Promise me—that we’ll always do that.”
He looked at her, the glimmer of hope now fanning into a flame.“Do you—I mean, are you saying… that you’d like to be my girlfriend?”He pulled a face.“That sounds so freakin’ adolescent, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, but who cares,” she murmured, pressing her forehead against his.He closed his eyes and drank in the scent of her, the nearness of her; so crazy amazing when moments ago he’d thought he’d lost her forever.“Yes, Carts, I want to be your girlfriend,” she whispered.
He opened his eyes on a sigh.It felt like his whole body was releasing the tension, not only of the last hour, but of so many years.Shedding it like an old unwanted skin.When she pressed her lips against his cheek, then kissed his ear, shivers cascaded through him.And yeah, there was no denying it, the shiver had already morphed into a warm insistent hum in his groin.
He didn’t know what would happen if he kissed her.If his body would let him down, and he’d have to contend with a libido like a rodeo horse, but right now he didn’t care.He had to kiss her… and well, if things got tricky, he’d stop, relax and somehow, they’d work out a way to deal with it.
Together.
He lifted his hand, tipped her chin up and their gazes fused.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured and kissed her mouth as Joe Cocker, plus a full backing orchestra, launched into the opening lines of “Up Where We Belong”.
Judith staredat the stunning glass pendants above the desk of the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
She kept wanting to pinch herself.Because it was 11.30 at night and here they were, checking in to a river view suite, with her dressed in an outfit of Ugg boots and an old frayed cardi over her half-finished blouse, to hide the fact one arm was hanging on by a thread, and carrying a very small overnight bag.
She edged closer to Carts, who was confidently giving the receptionist his credit card, and stroked his arm.He swivelled and gave her the sexiest smile and her knees nearly buckled from under her.
They’d talked in his car.He’d told her about the awful turn of events with Avery.How he’d handled it and she’d told him how impressive that was.They’d also kissed quite a bit, until her lips felt bruised, and her belly throbbed, and she’d got a little more adventurous with her exploration.
A year of yoga had given him very toned abs, no doubting that.But when she’d let her fingers slide lower, he’d pulled back.
Her eyes sought his as his hand covered hers, stilling her movements.
“I feel like I keep doing something wrong,” she said.
“No—I—” His chest rose and fell sharply.“You do everything right… that’s the problem.”His head was bowed but she could see his features working.“Oh fuck, you need to know, I haven’t had sex with a woman for well over a year and… hell, how do I explain, I’m so turned on by you… that when you touch me… things start to move way too fast.”
The words of Dr Daphne Rubekind came into Judith’s mind.
Talk openly about your greatest fears.
“Is that why you only gave me pleasure the other night?Why you wouldn’t let me touch you?”He didn’t answer, but she persevered gently.“Why you left before I could return the favour?”
He nodded.“I’ve been trying some strategies to keep things in check.”A grimace.“Not sure that they’re working though.”
She looked at his face, tight and a little miserable in the half light from the street lamp outside.“Does it matter?”
“Sorry?”
“If—” It was kind of hard, talking candidly about their sex life before it had even really started, but if they were going to get past this impasse then they had to.“If you came quickly, like, what’s the big deal?”she said.“There will be plenty of other times.”
His jaw went slack as if he was trying to take this in.He frowned.
“I guess so.If you were okay with that?”She’d smiled from the bottom of her heart and he’d smiled back and she’d kissed him again and then he’d said, a note of alarm in his voice, “But not here!”
“I didn’t actually have the back seat of the car in mind.Besides, I don’t think we’d fit.”
They both laughed at that, before she asked, “Do you want to come back inside?”
He shook his head.“Maybe not after what just happened.Perhaps we could go somewhere else, at least for our first time.”
“Your place?”
