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“It’s been over six years since it’s happened. I didn’t even think about it.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “Honestly, it only happens when I go to bed impossibly turned on.”
Wait, what?
He turns to me. “You know I’m attracted to you. I have been since we met. Honestly, I’ve thought of you so many times throughout the years but had you in this untouchable place in my mind because of your marriage. Then you showed up at my house, you’re in my bed, you look the way you do, you smell the way you do, and then you told me that you’re divorced. I guess my libido got the best of me. I apologize. I’ll try to contain it.”
My head is a jumbled mess. Do I even want him to contain it? I feel the exact same way about him. The physical draw to him is overwhelming. There’s clearly something between us.
He takes my hand and kisses it. “I want to respect the boundaries you’ve set for our arrangement. You’re doing me a huge favor, and I appreciate it. But when our thirty days are up and we no longer have a business arrangement, will you consider dating me? For real?”
I rub his sexy, scruffy face with my fingers. “I think I’d like that too. But not until then. It doesn’t sit right with me if we start up before then.”
He nods as we both attempt to fall back asleep, both a little too restless and worked up to do so.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BECKETT
After tossing and turning for another hour, I finally fell back asleep. I wake up in the morning and Amanda isn’t in the bed. I have a moment of panic, thinking I scared her away and she left, but I look around and her stuff is still here. I inhale the scent on her pillow. It smells like cherries.
Phew. I look down at the bulge in my shorts and squeeze it to try and get some relief. I’m going to have a boner for thirty straight days. My right arm is about to get the workout of a lifetime.
After giving myself a moment of relief in the shower, I get dressed and go looking for her. I walk around for a bit until I hear voices coming from the new studio. I know that studio was severe overkill, but I want her to spend time here. I don’t want her to rush home to paint every day. I need her in my space.
I quietly peek into the room. My heart just about explodes at what I see. Amanda and Andie are bothpainting. Amanda is teaching her how to blend colors on the canvas and explaining how it gives things depth. Andie is hanging onto every word she says.
I have no idea how long I stand there watching. I think I could watch this forever.
At some point, I feel a hand on my back. I turn my head and see Mom looking at the same thing. She whispers, “Amanda is wonderful.”
I sigh. “I know.”
“How come she’s never been here before?”
I nod toward Andie.
“It’s clear how smitten you are. It seems like it was time. I’m happy I suggested it.”
Andie and Amanda both turn around. “Good morning, Daddy. Come see what I painted. Amanda is showing me how to paint the ocean. She said not to use all one blue color. Look how good it is.”
I walk over and kiss her head. “It’s beautiful. When you’re done, we can frame it and hang it near Amanda’s painting in your room.”
Her face lights up. “Really?”
I nod as I turn to Amanda. I feel like it would be normal to greet her in some way, so I kiss her head. “Good morning.”
She turns her head and inhales me. “Hmm, you smell good.”
Her eyes then widen in shock at her own words, but I simply smile at her. “And you smell like cherries, as always.” She smelled and tasted like cherries the first night we met. For nearly five years I haven’t been able to see, touch, or smell cherries without thinking of her. I now always keep them in the house. She must use some sort of cherry-scentedlotion because I was smelling it all night. It’s probably what caused mysleepfucking. I love her new term for it.
Mom interrupts my thoughts. “Andie, you know what I smell? Karen making waffles. Should we go help her put on the final touches?”
“After Daddy tells me his morning joke of the day.”
Amanda questions, “Joke of the day?”
Mom rolls her eyes. “Andie and Beckett have a tradition. He tells her a new joke every morning. It’s truly amazing how many corny dad jokes he has in that big head of his.”
I smile. “I’ve got a good one for you today, Andie. Very thematic. What’s blue and smells like red paint?”
