“How do I rank?”
“Second only to Gladys,” he returned, laughing at my indignant expression. “She didn’t have any teeth!” We both let our giggles fade into smiles, staring into each other’s eyes again.
“I’m serious, though. I don’t know if you believe me. That sounds like something all guys say, but it’s true.” With a brush of his fingertips down my cheek, he added, “I think you’re special. So even though this is just—”
“A few days.” I finished his phrase.
“A few days,” he repeated, “I don’t want you to think you’re a notch in my bedpost or something.”
“I believe you.” Despite all my experience telling me not to.
He kissed me, unhurried, and arousal pooled in my belly. “How was the bath?”
“I knew the jets could do a number on me, but I took a chance and waited for you.” I stroked the nape of his neck, drawing circles on his skin.
“Mm, waited for me to take a bath with you or to do a number on you?”
“Both?” I rested my head against his chest.
His hand slipped down the back of my hair, combing through my tresses. “Whatever you want.”
“Honestly, this is nice, right here.” I had no intention of telling him why I longed for this sense of protection and being surrounded. Jake was everything I needed in a distraction. “How was the groom’s last night as a bachelor?”
“Revealing,” he said. “Thomas told us all about why he loves her, the rich tapestry that is Madison, more and more after each drink.”
“That’s not so shocking, is it?”
“I guess it shouldn’t be. Thomas usually keeps his cards to his chest, but he was just . . . out there, open. Drunk off his ass, but still, madly in love with his twenty-one-year-old bride.”
“That’s sweet,” I murmured.
“Made me wonder if I’ll ever feel that way about someone.” Jake’s voice turned a little sad, and I bit my lip to stop myself from pressing further. His voice had a tinge of something different, something between bitterness and sadness.
I deflected, trying to put his change in tone out of my mind. “What time do you have to do wedding stuff tomorrow?”
“Meeting at nine to get a straight-razor shave at a barbershop, then we start up at ten thirty with three hours of photos.”
“Wait, three hours? That’s ridiculous, like diagnosably unhinged bridezilla behavior.”
“Tell me about it. Then a ceremony at the church and the reception in a ballroom downstairs. The rehearsal tonight was chaos, so we’ll see.”
“Sounds like you’ll have a busy day.”
“I’m honestly more interested in my busy night.” Jake’s palms slid down my body, then inched back up my ribs, pushing the shirt over my head.
“Plans?” My words caught in my throat as he pressed his lips to one of my nipples, rolling his tongue in languid circles.
“Big plans,” he murmured against my breastbone, the vibrations leaving my next breath a shaky inhale.
“I like plans.” I sighed, my head falling back against the pillow as his hands caressed and stroked, telling me all the things he wanted to do.
* * *
Hours later, his body heat enveloped me. I didn’t move a muscle, and I wasn’t sure I could. “Hey, Jake?” I wanted to tell him I wasn’t ready for our few days together to end, that the last week was unlike anything I’d experienced in my life, and I was afraid I’d never be this content again. But that also meant risking my career and everything I’d worked so hard to reclaim. It means risking more than that.
“Mm?” His sleep-heavy warm breaths puffed over the top of my ear.
I wanted to tell him we could screw the rules and see where this led, but that would mean trusting him and giving him the power to hurt me, or to control me, and I’d sworn I’d never do that again. I was already putting myself in a precarious situation if anyone from work found out.
But he’s not Davis.
And no one has to know.
“Nothing.”
He kissed my neck, his body relaxing against me, and my eyes drooped. I fell asleep with his hard, warm chest against my back.
* * *
I had every intention of slipping out of bed and taking an Uber home after a quick pleasure-induced catnap. But when I woke again, the room was filled with a dim light, and I was alone in the bed. My eyes snapped open as I tried to get my bearings in an unfamiliar environment.