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The voice in her head sounded a whole lot like his. She nodded absently at the doorman and led the way into her building. Fear had controlled every choice she’d made since she’d found out Jeff had been sleeping around on her. Fear that she’d never get out had prompted her to end things in a rather remarkable fight. Fear of failure had thrust her into a career that she might love but which she’d chosen for its earning potential. Fear of being hurt again kept her from giving dating more than a token effort.
What if she just...jumped?
Lucy unlocked her door and turned to him. “Come in?”
“Sure.”
His presence filled her apartment, giving it a life that it seemed to miss when it was just her and Garfunkel there. The feline in question meandered up as if he just happened to be in the room at the same time they were. She bent to pick him up and turned to face Gideon. “What if we do a trial run?”
“Trial run.” Neither his tone nor his body language gave even the slightest indication of what was going on in that beautiful head of his.
“Yes, a trial run.” She warmed to the idea as she spoke. “I have a few months before I’ll be down to the wire on this marriage business. A week or two shouldn’t make much difference.”
His eyebrows rose. “What do you think you’ll know in two weeks that you don’t know now?”
He had a point, but she wasn’t about to admit it. Making any kind of decision right that second felt like too much too soon. She’d know in a week or two. She’d be sure—or as sure as Lucy ever was these days about things outside of the office. “What do you say?”
“Yes.” He carefully extracted Garfunkel from her arms and set the cat free. Then he set his hands on her hips and pulled her slowly toward him until they stood bare inches apart. “I say yes, Lucy. If you need two weeks to figure this out one way or another, that’s what you’ll have.”
Her throat tightened. “You’re too good to me.”
“You’ve got that backward.” He sifted his fingers through her hair, tilting her head back so she lifted her face to him. “I’m taking you to bed now.”
She blinked at the change in subject. But was it really a change at all? Anything left to say would just be rehashing what they’d already gone over. Left to her own devices, she’d drive them both crazy with her doubts. Better to let their obvious physical connection take over and push her worries to the back seat than to sabotage things before they had a chance to get started.
Gideon didn’t wait for a response before sweeping her into his arms and striding back to her room. He carefully kicked the door shut, his gaze on the floor. “Woke up this morning to the damn cat watching me.”
“He does that.” She dragged her fingers through his hair and kissed his neck. “In his defense, you look absolutely marvelous while you sleep.”
“You watched me while I slept?” He set her on the bed and backed up enough to pull her boots off, quickly followed by her leggings. “That’s very creepy of you.”
“You’re in my apartment—that means I’m not creepy.” She pulled her shirt off and tossed it away. “If I was standing on the fire escape outside your window and doing it, that would be creepy.”
“A fair point.” He nudged her onto her back and stripped slowly.
Lucy propped herself on her elbows. “Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy you in flannel?”
“It might have come up once or twice.” He dropped the shirt onto the floor and started on his jeans. “Careful there, or you might look up one day and realize I’ve grown a beard and started wearing thick-rimmed black glasses.”
She laughed. “You don’t even need glasses.”
“My point stands.” He hooked the back of her thighs and slid her farther onto the bed. She expected him to follow her to the mattress, but Gideon stepped back. He pointed at her. “Don’t move.”
“Okay...” She froze when he went to her nightstand and unerringly opened the bottom drawer. When he straightened, he had her pink vibrator in his hand. She shivered. “Oh.”
He examined it. “This isn’t a design I’m familiar with.”
“You—”
He chuckled. “Give me some credit. I can figure out how it works.” He thumbed it on, his grin widening. “Brilliant.” He joined her on the bed and took up a position next to her with his head propped on his hand. “Spread your legs.”
“This feels...” When he didn’t immediately jump in, she had to search for something to fill the space. “Naughty.” It wasn’t quite the right word, but it fit.
“More or less than bending over that table and offering your ass to me?”
