Living with Her Fake Fiancé (The Loft Book 3)

by Noelle Adams

  He gazed at her in the mostly dark room, his heart making a familiar clench of affection and a dopey smile spreading out on his face.

  These past two months had been the happiest he could remember in his life, and it was all because of Chloe. Because she loved him. Because she wanted him to love her.

  He was letting his thoughts wander when she mumbled without opening her eyes, “I feel you staring at me.”

  He chuckled. “I wasn’t staring.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  “How do you know?”

  She opened her eyes and grinned at him. “I can feel you. Hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s creepy to stare at someone while they sleep?”

  “Then you should be less beautiful because I can’t help but stare.”

  She giggled and rolled over so she was on top of him. She kissed him, slow and deep, evidently unconcerned about morning breath.

  Brent responded to her immediately, sliding his tongue against hers and stroking his way down her body until he was holding on to her full, soft ass. He could never get enough of touching her, never get tired of her dips and curves and squeezable spots.

  He’d been half-hard when he woke up, and he hardened all the way against her belly. They kept kissing, and he kept caressing her until she was squirming on top of him, proof that she was aroused too. Then they fumbled with their pajamas until she was able to move into position above him and he edged himself into the hot, tight clasp of her body.

  He groaned in pleasure as he pulled her mouth back down to meet his. They kissed as they rocked together, and Brent’s mind was a blurry haze of pleasure and joy and need and understanding and growing urgency.

  He knew how to name the deep haze filling his head and his heart.

  Love.

  They moved together for a long time, kissing and working their bodies against each other. Eventually Brent felt Chloe growing tenser above him, and she finally pulled her mouth away from his.

  Her face was twisted, and she made soft sobbing sounds as she shook above him. “Oh shit. Oh fuck. Oh Brent. I need... I need...”

  She’d pulled up enough that he could fit his hand between their bellies. He felt around until he’d found her clit, and he rubbed it in a hard massage as she let out a loud cry and arched her back. Then she was coming around him, and it snapped the last threads of his control. He bucked up into her greedily, grunting and gasping as the pleasure swelled up and exploded in hard spurts inside her.

  He pulled her down into a hug when they’d ridden out the last of their spasms, and they lay tangled together for a long time. He softened inside her, his semen spilling out and making both of them wet.

  They’d stopped using condoms shortly after they’d become a real couple, and Brent couldn’t help but admit that sex was even better without them.

  He stroked her hair, her back, and her bottom as she pressed little kisses against his neck and shoulder.

  “That was really good,” she murmured at last.

  “Yeah.”

  “I knew you’d end up being a king in the bedroom,” she said, a smile in her voice.

  He huffed with laughter. “If you say so.”

  “I do say so. I’ve never had such good sex in my life. A lot of it is because I love you, but that’s not all it is. You’re really, really good, Brent. You’ve got to know that.”

  He suspected he was doing okay in the sex department since Chloe was vocally appreciative—sometimes very loudly and wildly. They had sex almost every day—sometimes more than once a day. Chloe seemed to believe that was a lot of sex, even for a fairly new couple, but Brent couldn’t imagine letting a day go by without being close to her this way, without experiencing the way she made him feel and without making sure he made her feel just as good.

  Maybe it was because he had a lot of lost time to make up for, but he was going to continue to have sex with Chloe as often as she would allow.

  When he realized she was waiting for a response to her comment, he said, “I do my best. But I wouldn’t be anything without you.”

  That earned him another deep kiss.

  His body had softened deliciously, and his mind was slowing, relaxing the way it always did after an orgasm. His eyes were starting to close.

  But he’d been thinking, and he wanted to talk to Chloe about it before he fell back to sleep. “About the apartment...”

  He felt her body tense just slightly. Not like she was nervous. Just like she was listening. “Yeah?”

  Steve and Michelle had found a house they wanted to buy last week, and they were closing on it next month, which meant Brent and Chloe had to figure something out about their living situation.

  “We can stay here if you want. I can afford covering the other third of the rent. I promise I can.”

  “I know you can, but it feels like a such a waste when we could get something smaller and cheaper.”

  “It’s not a waste if you love it here. I know what this apartment means to you. I want you to be happy.”

  “I am happy. I’m so happy. I don’t remember ever being happier than I’ve been with you. And I do love this apartment, but I think I’ll be happier and worry less if we don’t spend more money than we need to right now.”

  He liked how she was using “we” when she talked about their budgets, as if she understood that they were together in this and what was in his bank account was hers too. “Okay,” he said. “But let’s not break the lease. We can stay here for four more months until the lease is over, and then we can find a new place together.”

  “That sounds good.” She rubbed her cheek against his beard. “Perfect. By then I’ll be almost done with the MFA and have my proposal put together to start looking for a different job.”

  “Yes. The timing should work just right.”

  “So it’s settled then?”

  “Yes.” He tightened his arm around her briefly. “It’s settled.”

  He felt her relaxing against him, and a deep, sated pleasure washed over his body and mind.

  It was a lazy Saturday morning. Chloe loved him and wanted to share her life with him. She was snuggled beside him right now.

  He was so happy.

  He fell asleep less than a minute later.

  Epilogue

  FOUR MONTHS LATER, Chloe fell into bed exhausted.

  Every muscle in her body ached, and her limbs felt so heavy she could barely lift them off the mattress to reposition herself more comfortably.

  Moving—even just across town to a different, smaller apartment—might have been a distinct brand of torture devised by a malicious entity who took pleasure in others’ suffering. She and Brent had found a one-bedroom apartment a couple of miles away. It was still conveniently located to campus, and the rent was much lower than their big loft apartment. Over the past few days, they’d moved all their belongings into their new place. All that was left was the bed they were sleeping on tonight and the clothes they’d put on tomorrow.

  Chloe was excited about the new phase in her life, but she was also kind of sad about moving out of this apartment.

  It had been special to her. To all of them. Saying goodbye to it wasn’t easy.

  She lay in a limp sprawl and stared up at the familiar ceiling.

  Brent found her there a few minutes later. He’d had the energy to take a shower before bed, so he smelled clean as he turned off the overhead lights and climbed under the covers beside her.

  He didn’t say anything, but she could feel him looking at her in the dark. After a minute, he found her hand under the covers and twined his fingers with hers. His hand was big and warm and comforting—just like the rest of him.

  She made a weird little whimper as emotion rose in her throat.

  “I’m okay,” she said when he pulled her into a hug. “I’m excited about our new apartment.”

  “I know you are.”

  “I’m just going to miss this place.”

  “I know that too.”

  “It’s b
een... important to me.”

  He nuzzled her hair gently. “Me too. I might not have the same history here as you, but I fell in love with you here. This apartment will always be special to me because of that.”

  “It’s too expensive though. I know it is. We’re making the right decision.” She smiled, just a little wobbly. “I’d rather invest in our future than waste money on a huge place we don’t need.”

  “Yeah. I think that’s right. But it doesn’t mean it’s not sad to move.”

  “I know.” She sniffed a little, but she was already feeling better. She rubbed herself against Brent’s large, firm body, taking pleasure in how strong he was, how safe he made her feel. “And we’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up. Tomorrow will be our first night in our new place. Then next weekend is Steve and Michelle’s wedding. And then the week after that I turn in my final project for my MFA. I can’t believe I’m almost done.”

  “You can start looking for a job.”

  “I know. I will. But I’m fine with my current job, and I don’t mind waiting until you finish your PhD and get a job so I’ll know where I’ll end up mov—” She broke off abruptly, suddenly realizing what she was saying. She was too tired and hadn’t guarded her words.

  But it did seem rather presumptuous to assume that wherever Brent was moving, she’d be moving too. They’d never actually talked about forever—although both of them had been behaving as though they’d stay together for the rest of their lives.

  Brent chuckled softly. “You sure as hell better come with me when I get a job. If you don’t, then I’ll bag groceries so I can stay here with you.”

  She giggled and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “Okay. Good. I don’t think you’ll have to resort to bagging groceries. It’ll be a lot easier for me to find a job than you, so we can go where your job is. I’m coming with you.”

  Brent let out a long, thick exhale. “Good. That’s settled then. I waited for you for a really long time. I’m not going to let you go now that I have you.”

  Chloe was smiling in the dark room. He had waited a long time. And maybe it didn’t speak well of her, but she couldn’t help but like the idea that he’d never been with any other woman the way he was with her. No other woman had ever touched his body intimately, felt his hands between her legs, made love to him.

  Only her.

  She was planning to keep it that way.

  Maybe Brent was following the course of her thoughts, or maybe it was just his normal eagerness in the bedroom, but his hands were doing more now than giving her comforting caresses.

  One of them was sliding over her bottom, tucking between her legs.

  She cleared her throat. “Uh, Brent, you know how exhausted I am right now, right?”

  His hand stopped moving. “Yeah.”

  “You moved much heavier stuff than I did. Are you really not tired too?”

  “To tell you the truth, every part of my body hurts.”

  She gave a huff of amusement. “And you still want to have sex?”

  “Of course I do.” He found her face in the dark and kissed her softly. “I can’t imagine a single day passing when I don’t want to have sex with you.”

  Maybe from someone else the words would have been an exaggeration, but Chloe knew it was the literal truth from Brent. He did want to have sex every day. Still. Even after they’d been together for months. There had been days when they hadn’t had sex, but those were days when Chloe wasn’t feeling good or too stressed out or too sad (like when Mima died a couple of months ago) to focus on bedroom activities or when one or the other of them was sick. But they had sex most days—more sex than Chloe had ever had in her life—and Brent showed no signs of slowing down yet.

  “I really don’t know if I have the energy tonight,” she admitted reluctantly, rubbing her hand against his chest.

  “Okay.” He never pushed. Never guilted her. He was still the sweetest man she’d ever known.

  Her hand had moved down his body without thinking, and she discovered that he was halfway hard in his boxers.

  “Brent!”

  “Sorry. Can’t help it. When I get into bed, my body thinks it’s going to have some fun with you. But it’s not a big deal. If it doesn’t go away, I can take care of it myself.” His voice was dry, but she knew he meant it.

  She was so filled with deep affection her hand moved on its own, tucking beneath his waistband and wrapping around his thick shaft.

  “Uh, Chloe? Now you’re really giving my body the wrong idea.” He was hardening all the way beneath her hand.

  She giggled and stretched up to press a soft, wet kiss against his throat. “Maybe it’s not the wrong idea.” Then she rubbed her cheek against his beard, found his lips, and kissed him there.

  He kissed her back. Deeply. Urgently. He pulled her body over his as he did so she was lying on top of him. “So you really feel up to it?” he asked between kisses.

  “I don’t know. I might feel up for something.” She knew what she wanted to do. And it was perfect because it wouldn’t take long. She could have a little fun and still be asleep in no time.

  She kissed him again and then moved down his body, pulling down his underwear as she did.

  She heard his breath hitch and felt his body tighten as she lowered her mouth to his groin.

  “Chloe,” he gasped as she wrapped one hand around the base of his erection.

  She teased the tip of him with her tongue.

  “Fuck. Chloe.” His hips were moving restlessly beneath her. “Please. Fuck, please.”

  He was just as open and uninhibited now as he’d been at the beginning of their relationship, and it still thrilled her just as much. She took him in her mouth and sucked hard, building up a vigorous rhythm she knew he loved.

  He’d grabbed her head with both hands and was making little pumps up into her mouth. He was making loud, urgent grunts as he worked up toward climax. Sometimes the sounds formed words. “Yes. Chloe. Love you. Yes. Fuck. Please. Love you. Please.”

  It took almost no time for him to come into her mouth with several hard spurts of release. He shouted out his pleasure as his body shook and jerked.

  She coughed a little as she let him slip from her mouth at last, having sucked him through all the contractions. She was smiling as she climbed back up his body, and he wrapped both arms around her.

  “Thank you,” he kept mumbling as his body softened palpably. “I love you so much. Thank you for that.”

  “You’re welcome.” Her body had relaxed too. Her emotions had gotten going, but she wasn’t particularly aroused. She was very satisfied with the night’s activities, and now she was ready to go to sleep.

  Brent still had trouble staying awake after sex, although he did make an effort when she wanted to talk. His voice was thick and sleepy. “Can do you now.”

  She giggled. “If I wanted you to do me, I’d have had you do me first.”

  He gave a huff of amusement and pressed a groggy kiss into her hair. “Love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  His eyes were closed as he mumbled, “You still have that engagement ring, right?”

  She blinked, her heart leaping in her chest. “Yes. I still have it.”

  “Good. Just checking.” He fell asleep almost immediately, one of his arms still around her.

  She smiled to herself in the dark.

  It took her longer than Brent to go to sleep. It almost always did. But she enjoyed the feel of his body beside her—the obvious way she’d satisfied him so deeply—and she reveled in how nakedly he loved her.

  She’d never known any man could love her that way. But Brent did.

  She knew for sure that he did and that he always would.

  One day soon, he was going to put that engagement ring on her finger, and it was going to be real.

  So she was happy when she finally fell asleep.

  THE NEXT MORNING, JILL, Lucas, Steve, and Michelle came over to say goodbye to their apartm
ent.

  It was completely empty—the huge, vacant spaces feeling strange and foreign without the familiarity of their furnishings. They walked through each room, talking about everything that had happened to them since Jill, Michelle, and Chloe had first moved in.

  Jill and Michelle both had tears on their cheeks as they reached the front door, so Chloe didn’t feel embarrassed about sniffling and hiding her face in Brent’s shirt.

  “It seems crazy to cry about a place,” Michelle said. She was holding tightly to Steve’s hand and wiping her eyes with her other.

  “It’s not just a place,” Jill said at last. “It’s part of our lives. History. Friendship. Experience. It’s a real goodbye.”

  Brent cleared his throat. “Maybe it can be that for someone else now.”

  Chloe nodded and smiled at her friends through her tears. “That makes me happy. Someone else’s story will happen here, and I bet it will be a good one. Now let’s go downstairs to Tea for Two and order every pastry Carol has made today.”

  Lucas opened the door, and one by one they all walked out, leaving the apartment as empty as it had been when they got there.

  Chloe closed the door behind them with a soft click of the latch.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the last book of The Loft series. If you haven’t yet read them, the earlier two books are Living with Her One-Night Stand about Jill and Lucas and Living with Her Ex-Boyfriend about Michelle and Steve. The Tea for Two series is an earlier connected series.

  Vince (The Suit) is the hero of In Want of a Wife, the first book of a new series called Pemberley House. Each book is inspired by a Jane Austen novel, so Vince is inspired by Mr. Darcy. You can find an excerpt from In Want of a Wife on the following pages.

  If you want to keep up with my new releases and sales, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter.

  If you want book discussion and insider information on my books, you can join my Reader Group on Facebook. Just ask to join and I’ll approve you.

  If you want a complete list of my books, including series and tropes, you can go to my Printable Book List.