“No,” Manning says, his eyes looking at me, asking me all the questions. I can feel Becca get stiff beside me. “I don’t mean to be nosy. But when?”
“I guess it started at Candace’s party and it’s been slowly gaining speed,” I say and look over at Becca, and her face tells me that she is not okay with any of this. But she puts on her poker face, and I can tell when she does it. A shield comes down. If you know her eyes, you can tell.
“Enough about us,” she says, plastering a smile on her face. “How is everything going with you guys?”
Evelyn doesn’t notice her change, but Manning does, and I know that he’s going to let me off the hook for Evelyn’s sake, but he is going to have words for me later. “Things are actually calming down.” She looks over at Manning, and her smile gets even bigger. “It’s almost as if it’s yesterday’s news.”
“There is always a bigger story,” Becca says. “Big news today, cat litter news tomorrow.”
“I’ve never heard that saying,” I say from beside her, and she doesn’t turn to look at me.
“I was mostly worried for Jaxon,” Evelyn says and you can see tears coming to her eyes as she blinks them away. “I didn’t want him to feel any of the negative that was coming our way.”
“Well, at least one of us cared about that,” Manning says. “Murielle was more than okay spilling the beans to him that Evelyn and I were a couple.” He puts his hand on hers, she turns it over and their hands link. I look at them and I have the sudden need to hold Becca’s hand. I sit back watching how they act, and it scares me when I finally realize that this is how I feel about Becca. I mean we haven’t said the words out loud yet, but I love spending time with her. I love when we talk, and I love when we don’t talk and all we do is sit there in our own little world, but knowing we are just next to each other comforts me in a way I didn’t know existed.
The meal goes off with the subject staying light. Becca is still acting the part, and I hate it. When we get up to leave, I grab her hand, and I’m surprised she lets me, to be honest. We walk out, and she hugs Manning and then Evelyn, thanking them for a lovely dinner.
“Where are you parked?” She looks at me and asks, and I just point at the SUV.
She walks with me. “Becca.” I say her name, and she turns around.
“No,” she says, looking around again to make sure that no one is looking our way. “We are not doing this in the middle of a fucking public parking lot where people can hear us, or better yet take a picture of us.” She opens the SUV door and gets in. I walk around the SUV and get into it, making my way to her place since it’s closer.
The doorman comes to the door, opening it for her. I get out, grabbing my bag and walk in with her. She can be mad all she wants. I’m not leaving here tonight. Her eyes go to the bag, and she doesn’t say anything either.
She walks ahead of me to her bedroom once we get into her place. I place the bag on the bed and then turn to her, but she doesn’t wait another second. “What the fuck was that?” she asks, pointing at the door.
“What was what?” I pretend not to know what she’s talking about, but I know exactly what she means.
“Don’t do that.” She folds her arms. “You kissed me.”
“I’ve kissed you many times before,” I point out, taking off my jacket, assuming she isn’t going to kick me out on my ass. I toss the jacket on the chair in the corner.
“You kissed me in the middle of a public restaurant with eyes on us,” she says, and I wait for her to finish. “You kissed me in front of Manning.”
“Okay.” I take off my cuff links, walking over to the bedside table and placing them on there.
“Nico,” she says my name. “We haven’t even discussed what this is.” She points at me and then to her. “This whole thing.” Her hand goes in a circle. “Whatever this is.”
“I thought we spoke about it,” I say, and she glares at me. “I told you I like you.”
“Well, I like Manning,” she says, and it’s time for me to glare. “You don’t see me kissing his lips.”
“That’s not funny.” I put my hands on my hips.
“I’m not trying to be funny.” She mimics my stance.
“What do you think this is?” I ask, and she tilts her head.
“I have no idea what it is,” she answers right away. “I was not putting a label on it. I thought we were friends with perks.”
I glare at her, and she doesn’t finish her sentence. “Do you have any other friends with—”
“I suggest you think about that question before you say it out loud,” she warns. “What is this?”
“It’s a man and a woman who enjoy spending their time together,” I say, and it sounds stupid even to my ears. She rolls her eyes. “Okay, fine.”
“You kissed me in front of a lot of people,” she says softly. “You kissed me in front of Manning. It’s my work, and I have a reputation.”
“I know,” I say softly, and I go to her. “But I’m not sorry about it.”
“That doesn’t answer my question, Nico,” she says. “You didn’t even talk to me about it.”
“That’s because it happened so fast. I didn’t expect it to. I walked into the restaurant, knowing I was going to see you. What I wasn’t expecting is how it would feel seeing you after two days. Then I walked in,” I say, “I saw you, and I missed you. I didn’t think about anything but kissing you.” I put my hands on her hips. “But you’re right. I should have spoken to you about it. We should have had the conversation.”
She steps out of my reach. “You are right. We should have a discussion about this.”
“Perfect.” I put my hands in my pockets. “Why don’t you start?”
“What are we going to tell people?” she asks, and I just look at her.
“I don’t usually have to answer to anyone.” She tilts her head to the side. “I don’t.”
“That makes two of us. But that you kissed me in a room full of people, so the rules have changed.” Fuck, if I didn’t think she was hot before, the no-nonsense Becca makes me even harder.
“So we are dating,” I finally say.
“Exclusively?” she asks, and I glare at her. “It’s a valid question. We haven’t had a talk about our past.”
“Considering it is in the past, I don’t see why we even have to discuss that part,” I say. “Are you saying you haven’t been exclusive up to now?” She glares at me, and the thought of her with someone else makes my blood boil.
“I’m not even going to justify answering that. So we got that part checked off. Let’s discuss the dating part.” I wait for her to start. “Phone calls.”
“At least one a day,” I say, and she raises her eyebrow. “I like talking to you before bed,” I admit to her.
“So do I,” she says softly. “So at least once a day.”
“I know we both work like crazy.” I’m the one who talks next. “But I think making time for each other has to be a must.”
“I agree,” she says. “Lies. I won’t put up with them.” I nod. “We are both grown ass adults. If we have to lie to each other, it defeats the purpose of us even dating. If at any time it’s not working for one of us, tell the other.”
“Sleepovers.” I get to the good stuff.
“What about them?” she asks, smirking.
“I want them,” I say. “If I’m home and you’re home, I want us to be together.”
“I can do that,” she says, and I just look at her. “Fine.” She throws up her hands. “I want us to be together also.”
“So I think we’ve covered everything,” I say.
“I have to tell my brothers,” she says. “It’s only fair.”
“I’ll tell Lizzie.” I look down. “She kind of already knows, but I’ll confirm it.”
“The press?” she asks. “Not that it’s any of their business, but if they get whiff of this?”
“So how about we tell our inner circle first and see how it goes, and then wh
en we are both ready, we can make it official publicly?” She nods her head. “But I’m not going to not kiss you if we are in public. I refuse to do that. If I want to kiss you, I’m going to kiss you. I’m not a fucking teenager who has to hide from their parents.”
“Well, then I think we got it all settled,” she says, coming to me. “I also believe we just had our first fight.” I look at her, confused when she puts her hands around my neck. “And from what I’ve heard, make-up sex is better than regular sex.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Sex with you is out of this world to begin with.”
“Smooth.” She kisses my lips. “Very smooth.” I pick her up, and she wraps her legs around my waist.
“I’d like to add something to the agenda,” I say, walking toward her bed. “Skirts. I like you in skirts.”
“What, why?” she asks me.
“Easy access, baby,” I say, my head going to the side, and my mouth opening to hers. I rip off her pants, and she was right. Make-up sex trumps all the sex I’ve ever had in my life.
Chapter 23
Becca
Me: I need to speak to both of you tomorrow. Let me know when is good for you guys.
I put down the phone and look up when I hear Nico walking back into the room. “Who are you on the phone with?” he asks, and I look at him, my mouth watering as I take him in. He is wearing a white towel around his waist, and it falls just a bit low, showing you his V. Another white towel is in his hand as he dries the water from his hair.
“I was telling my other guys that I’m exclusive now.” I wink at him. He stops wiping his hair and glares at me. “Too soon?” I ask, and he drops the towel from his hand.
“Why are you dressed?” he asks, his eyes roaming over my tank top and panties.
“Naked,” he says one word. “Always naked in bed.”
“Is this part of the agreement?” I ask and just look at him. When he came into the restaurant, I was shocked but excited to see him, then my happiness in seeing him went out the window when he kissed me. I was shocked that he would just put it out there, and then I was angry that he did it without taking into account how I felt. The minute it happened, I heard Manning gasp out loud and knew he would have questions.
“I just added it,” he says, dropping the towel around his waist. “So naked.”
My eyes go to his cock that is slowly waking up for a round two, or actually round three if you count the shower. “What are we going to tell everyone who asks about when this started?”
“The truth,” he says, getting into the bed under the covers. He comes over to me and wraps his arms around my waist. “Now why do you still have clothes on?” His hand goes to my breast as he pulls down the strap and takes one nipple in his mouth.
“I can’t concentrate when your mouth is on me,” I say, my eyes looking down while he pushes the other side down and the straps snap. “You just ruined my tank top.”
“Hmm …” he moans, biting down on my nipple. “That’s your fault.”
“Really?” I say, and he takes his time showing me why it’s best for me to go to bed naked.
* * *
“I can get used to this,” I say when he comes into the room, holding a cup of coffee for me.
“Well, I aim to please,” he says, sitting in the chair and looking up at the television. “She is a firecracker in bed, and she watches sports news in the morning,” he says, bringing the cup to his lips. “You’re right, you are a great catch.”
I shake my head and continue my run while he watches the television. “One of these days, I’m going to fuck you on your treadmill,” he says once I stop running and I’m drinking water. I suddenly choke and start coughing. “If you think your ass looks good in a dress, you should see that bounce when you run.”
“Good to know you approve,” I say, trying to catch my breath. He groans, his hand covering his cock.
“Actually, if you bend over right now.” He gets up, coming to me. “I can see if your ass can bounce like that when I slam into you.”
My mouth hangs open. “I’m sweaty.” I look down at myself. “And not just the little sweat from sex,” I say. He leans into me, and I duck out of the way. “No.” I shake my head. “We can see if my ass bounces tonight.”
“We can try in the shower,” he says, slapping my ass as we walk back to my bedroom. He walks over to the bedside table and takes out two condoms.
“Um, why the two?” I ask, and he winks at me.
“One for the shower,” he says, holding up his finger. “And one for when I bend you over when you do your makeup.” It’s a good thing I am holding on to said counter or my knees would go weak.
“We need to get our timing more in sync,” I say, coming out of my walk-in closet and seeing him put on his button-down shirt. His hair still wet from the shower that he just got out of.
“What does that mean?” he asks as he tucks his shirt in.
“It means that I usually leave home at eight thirty, and it’s nine fifteen. So if we are going to do two rounds in the morning, we need to get our timing right.”
He smirks at me. “Negative.”
“We should discuss it,” I say, and he looks me up and down. I’m wearing a white tight skirt with black trim and a slit on the right side.
“When you get that look.” I point at him. “There is no discussion. It’s more of a pounce.”
He laughs. “I’m not going to go faster.” He sits on the bed, putting on his shoes.
“What if we do it once instead of twice?” I sit next to him, slipping on my black patent heels.
“Negative,” he says, leaning to me and kissing my neck.
“So no discussion then.” I walk to grab my purse, turning, and I’m surprised he’s right behind me.
“Your ass looks good in that skirt,” he says, and I laugh at him, pushing him away.
“My ass always looks good to you,” I say, and his phone rings. “Now go to work.”
“Give me a kiss,” he says, smirking, and I lean my head back as his tongue slides into my mouth. His kisses leave me breathless, and right before I’m about to take him back to bed, his phone rings again. “Have a nice day.”
“I will,” I say and turn to walk out of my bedroom. “Call me later.” He walks out of my bedroom now. “What are you doing?”
“Thinking of all the ways I’m going to use that ass tonight.” He smirks and puts the phone to his ear, not giving me a chance to answer him.
I walk into the office thirty minutes later with a coffee in my hand. “Good morning, Erika.”
She looks up from her computer. “Good morning.” She smiles at me. “You have a package.”
I look in my office, seeing the huge bouquet of red roses sitting in the middle of my desk. I walk in and grab the white card, taking it out.
Roses are red.
Red is the color of sex.
That is all I got.
N
I throw my head back and laugh, grabbing my phone and calling him. He answers after two rings. “Well, this is a nice surprise.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, surprised.
“Did you notice that you’ve never called me?” he points out, and I sit down.
“I have, too.”
“Not really since we got together,” he says, and I hear a car door close.
“I’m going to have to check and get back to you about that,” I say, and he laughs. “But the reason I was calling is to thank you for the flowers.”
“You’re welcome.” He connects to the Bluetooth.
“I didn’t know you were a poet,” I joke with him, leaning back in my chair. “You learn something new every day.” I look over and see Francis standing there. “I have to run. I’ll talk to you later.” I disconnect and put the phone down. “It’s rude to eavesdrop.”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was being polite and not interrupting you.” He comes into my office. “Are those from who I think they are from?” I don’t have
time to answer his question because Trevor comes into the office.
“Glad you could join us.” He looks at me, and my eyebrows pinch together.
“Are you talking to me?” I ask, confused by his comment.
He nods his head. “You just got in, and it’s almost noon.” I roll my eyes.
“It’s just past ten.” I point at him. “The office opens at nine.”
“Which still makes you late.” He shrugs and sits down in the chair beside Francis. “Now what is this meeting about?”
I get up and walk over to the door, closing it, turning just in time to see Trevor and Francis share a look. “I texted you guys,” I say, and I don’t know why I’m suddenly nervous. Well, I kind of know why I’m nervous because I really like Nico, and if my brothers say anything bad about him, I might have to kick them in the balls. “Because I wanted to give you a heads-up.”
“You’re pregnant,” Francis says first, and I glare at him.
“Very funny.” I look at both of them. “I’m dating Nico Harrison.”
“What do you mean by you’re dating Nico?” Francis asks.
“You need to clarify that just a touch more,” Trevor says,
“It’s pretty fucking self-explanatory,” I say. “I’m dating him.”
They just look at me. “We are in a relationship.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Francis is the first to say anything. “Is this an exclusive thing, or do you guys go out, hook-up, and then maybe hook-up again?”
“Have you ever looked up the meaning of a relationship before?” Trevor looks over at him. “How long has this been going on?”
“We came out publicly yesterday,” I say. “We’ve been together a while.”
“Does that mean the press got a hold of the story, and you want us to say no comment?” Trevor just looks at me.
“No,” I say. “I’m saying we had dinner yesterday, and he kissed me in front of people. I didn’t want you guys to hear it from anyone but me.”
“You know that this is a horrible, horrible idea,” Trevor says. I glare at him, and he knows, so he just holds up his hand. “I’m not saying he’s a bad guy. I’m just saying that I don’t think this is your best idea.”
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