Erica"Paint." He moved away and turned down the paint aisle. "I know we're not really back to where we were, but I'm going back to Dallas next weekend. I'd love for you to come with me. Bethany and Damon are planning their wedding, and Bethany mentioned a few times how well you did on my father's wedding with the decorations. You think you might be-""Of course I'll help." I pulled out my phone and flipped to my calendar. "I need to be in Dallas next Saturday anyway for a meeting with your father and your brother.""Excellent." He stopped in front of the paints and bounced on his toes. His energy was contagious, and I found myself feeling lighter, happy. "You still doing yoga with Lanie on Sunday nights?""Yeah. Why?" I smiled as I leaned against the cart. No way was he wanting to come to my yoga class. He almost died the last time we were there. I lamented over not getting to see him suffer for the days that followed."I want to come with you." He handed me a few tubes of paint and
MattTaking her home the night before was like stabbing myself in the chest. It was my fault that she wasn't staying, and not that I blamed her one bit, but it didn't deaden the pain of watching her walk into her apartment alone. She didn't even look back. I spent Saturday working on the portrait just to keep myself from slipping into depression or eating everything in the house, which wasn't much. I was grateful for Sunday showing up fast. It gave me a chance to at least see her."And today is a new day." I mumbled in my car as I sat in the parking lot of the yoga place. I pulled down the mirror above my head and lifted my eyebrow playfully before smiling. I could do this. I could win her back, and I would."You coming?" A knock at my window caused me to stiffen.Lanie. Erica's best friend.I got out and smiled. "I am. Did she tell you that I was up for an afternoon of torture and couldn't imagine letting anyone else share it with me besides you?"She laughed and ran her fingers thro
Matt"Are you sure you're okay, Matt?" Lanie stood beside my car, her arm wrapped around Erica's narrow shoulders."Yeah. I'm good." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Last time I try to impress a woman by turning myself into a human pretzel. I'm way too big to do that kind of stuff.""I think you did great." Erica shrugged, a smile playing on the side of her mouth."Lies. All lies." I glanced around the parking lot. "Is your rental car here?""No. I got an Uber. You want to give me a ride home?" She turned and hugged Lanie as I nodded my response. Of course I wanted to take her home. I wanted to spend the night with her, which she was more than aware of."You guys be careful and have fun, okay?" Lanie glanced over at me."Absolutely, and I'll be on the lookout for a guy you might be interested in." I wagged my eyebrows. I didn't know anyone, but I'd meet people. I always did."Awesome. Make sure he's hot, rich as hell and has a huge-""Okay. That's good." Erica walked around to the
Erica"You want a salad?" I leaned into the living room an hour later to find Matt cuddled up on the couch with Zek. How I had gone from not being sure that I was going to let him back into my life to agreeing (non-verbally) to let him stay the night was a mystery to me."I'd love one. You want my help?" He glanced up and smiled.He so belonged right there on my couch, in the middle of my living room. Much like he belonged in the center of my world. Scary enough, if I wasn't careful, that world would quickly come to rotate around him. That was never a good place to be, especially not with a 'runner' on my hands."No. You stay there. I'll get it." I worked to chop up a few things and made both of us big chef salads before setting the table and calling him over.He moved up behind me and ran his hands over my shoulders and down my arms. "You still haven't accepted my apology.""I'm trying to work through all of that." I stifled a moan as he leaned down and pressed his mouth to the side
EricaI pressed my face to the bed and cried out as pleasure raced through my center, stealing my breath. "So good.""Yeah, you are." He flicked his tongue over my clit before sucking it in his mouth. The painful press of his fingers gripping my ass was more than enough to throw me clear over the edge of ecstasy. "I can taste you. You're getting close.""Harder," I mumbled and closed my eyes, diving into what he must look like kneeling behind me, his arms wrapped around my legs, his hands clamped down on my flesh as he worshiped me with his mouth.My orgasm slammed into me full force, and I arched my back and cried out before pressing back on him and rocking my hips hard."That's it." He rolled his thumb around the entrance of my body, dipping it in as I continued to cry out over and over. "Come for me again.""No. I need a-""You need to listen." He pressed his finger into my body, jack-hammering it as I writhed with pleasure. "Come again."I worked myself against him until the world
MattI understood why she wanted me to leave, but that didn't make the pain any less. I got home around four that morning and dropped down on the new couch I'd splurged on. Pleasure still pumped through my veins, and would for hours to come because of her.She was by far the finest, most put-together woman I'd ever known. And thanks to that, the worry over me falling short cropped up. I set my alarm and forced it away before slipping into a deep sleep that had me almost ignoring the incessant buzzing around me."What?" I jerked up, covered in sweat. Fear raced across my mind. "Just a dream."I got up and lifted my hands toward the ceiling, stretching and trying to still my beating heart before walking toward the shower. I had to be in the office at nine for my first day as part of the advertising think-tank at M&B. Whatever the hell that meant.A groan left me as I flipped on the light to the bathroom and started the shower. Everything hurt. Fucking yoga. Not only had I contorted myse
Matt"You have a minute?" My girl was ruling the room, and everything about the power dripping off of her left me hard and achy.Professional. Stay professional. "Absolutely." I walked to the door as she moved out into the hall. I paused and glanced back toward Lewis. "I'll get that tour when I get back if you're still up for it.""Absolutely, man. Take your time."I walked out into the hall and almost plowed into Erica. I reached out and grabbed the back of her shoulders, not quite sure why she'd stopped."Hey." I pressed myself to her back and ran my hands down her arm."Sorry. I almost lost a thought from a meeting I had earlier. I need to write it down." And like that, she was jogging down the hall toward her office.I laughed under my breath and followed her into her spacious corner office. "It's nice in here. Who you gotta sleep with to get one of these big beauties?"She glanced up from scribbling something down on a post-it note. "Ha. Ha.""What? This is great." I walked to t
EricaIt had been one hell of a week trying to work through some of the things on my long-list of to-dos at work, help Matt with the painting, and avoid both him and Mitch on the relationship front. I had no doubt that Matt and I would end up together, but I wanted to be more cautious about it after knowing how insecure he was.The man in the bedroom was a little bit different from the one that had everyone laughing at the office and swooning in the boardroom, but not much. When he wasn't paying attention to how people reacted, he was simply himself, and more like his father and Damon than he probably realized.I sat in my office on Friday morning and flipped through my personal journal. I had so many decisions to make, but I wanted to ensure that they were grounded in truth. The truth was that I loved Matt, and had for two years. The truth was that he left my heart soaring, my body on fire and my mind spinning.And the truth was simply that I was scared. We were so close to becoming