Never Have I Ever
Page 26
She trembles as if on cue, but it’s not acting—it’s real. Taking a step closer, I grab her hair and kiss her neck hard. She shivers. I slide my hand down her body, between her legs. “And if I touch you right here, would I find out that you hate me or that you want me?”
With a shuddering breath, she answers, “Want, need, love.”
The game is over, the roles shed.
We’re us again, wanting and needing.
And giving.
In several seconds, she’s flat on her back on the bed, clothes off.
I pepper kisses down her belly then back up, lavishing attention on her breasts. She pants and moans and gets me so damn turned on that I can’t wait much longer.
I spread her legs, and my face is between her thighs. She tastes like heaven, and I don’t know who’s more aroused, her or me.
This is where I want to be. Consuming her. Driving her wild. Giving her all the pleasure she deserves till she’s crying out in a glorious soundtrack of bliss.
As her noises ebb, I move to my back, grab her hips, and guide her onto me. She sinks down, gasping as she takes me in.
Pleasure jolts through my body, and I slide a hand up her stomach, savoring the soft feel of her skin. “Want to watch you. Want to watch you chase your pleasure again.”
“If you insist.”
“I absolutely do,” I say, thrusting up into her.
As her eyes squeeze shut, she lowers herself to my chest. She brings her mouth to my ear. “Fuck me and love me,” she whispers.
And I’ve never been more turned on. Threading my hands in her hair, I pull tighter, harder. I bring her over the edge again, joining her on the other side of bliss.
Once she comes down, I stroke her hair. “Do me a favor, will you?”
“Maybe. Depends what it is,” she teases.
“Remember our bet at the wedding last week?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t bet against us.”
A smile is my reward as she says, “Never will I ever bet against us.”
* * *
The next morning after we shower, I get dressed then ask what she’s up to today.
“I’m heading to the park to meet my sister and the baby.”
It seems so obvious. Why didn’t I think of it sooner? “Do you want to go together?”
She smiles, soft and pretty. “Together?”
I roll my eyes. “Woman, we’re together. You’re going to see your sister’s baby. I can meet my kids there. Let’s go together. Let’s be there together.”
The smile that spreads across her face is magnificent. “That sounds lovely.”
At the park, she holds the baby and chats with her sister as Lucy clambers up and down the climbing wall and Henry shows off all his new slide maneuvers. When Lucy scampers down for the five hundredth time, she bolts over to Piper and Paige. “Is it my turn?”
Paige hands her the baby, and Lucy coos and sings to her.
I observe them from a few feet away as Paige turns to Lucy. “Did we ever tell you our theory about the princesses?”
“I want to hear,” Lucy says. So do I.
Piper laughs. “Here is what we think about The Little Mermaid.”
After she shares her theory, Lucy nods thoughtfully. “She should have written him a letter. Letters can solve a lot of problems.”
Yes, they can.
* * *
A few weeks later, the scent of waffles fills my apartment and Lucy stands by my side, chopping the tops off fresh strawberries. “I decided it was time for me to start helping you. I want to learn to cook now. You’re a pretty good cook, aren’t you?”
I pat her head and return to making the waffles. “Lucy, I’m pretty awesome at everything.”
She leans her head against my arm for a moment. “You are. But I think you’re really good at these waffles, and I’m really hungry.”
“Then let’s finish them. After all, it will be Piper’s first time having my extraordinary Sunday morning waffles. She’s on her way.”
“And we want to make sure they’re amazing so she keeps coming back.”
“We definitely want to make sure she keeps coming back.”
Piper arrives shortly for our family breakfast date. At the counter, she takes a forkful and moans in culinary pleasure. “You’re right, Lucy. These are absolutely the best.”
When we’re done, Lucy stares at me with big pleading eyes. “Can we please go shopping now, Daddy? I’ve been waiting so long.”
Henry slumps onto the couch. “What am I supposed to do when you shop?”
“You’re going to come along and be a most excellent companion,” I tell him. “Besides, I just like it when you hang out with me.”
Henry smiles. “I like that too.”
He is indeed great company as I take the women on a very special shopping trip.
Epilogue
Piper
Once upon a time, there was a woman who wanted to go to Tuscany. But she wasn’t willing to stow away in a bride’s suitcase to reach her destination. For even though she was practical, she was first and foremost a romantic.
Luckily, a guy she loved told her he was taking her there for her birthday.
It’s my birthday and the plane that’ll take my man and me to Italy taxis on the runway. “Do you think the kids are okay?”
Zach laughs. “They’re fine. My sister knows how to take care of kids.”
“I know, but it’s their first time without you.”
“Without us,” he corrects.
Summer has rolled into fall, so with the kids in school, this is a good time to get away.
He runs a finger down my nose. “Stop worrying.”
“I’ll do my best, but I promise nothing.”
“So feisty.”
“Same could be said of you.”
An hour later, we’re zooming across the ocean at thirty-five thousand feet as the lights dim and attendants treat us like royalty, having just served sundaes.
“Can you just do me a favor and always buy me first-class tickets? ’Kay, thanks, bye.”
Laughing, he takes my hand. “I can promise you that, but I have to warn you, this might be your favorite flight of all.”
“Why’s that?”
He reaches into his pocket and takes out a velvet box. “Never have I ever fallen in love with a woman on an airplane. But I did earlier this summer on the way to London. That’s when I started to fall in love with you.”
My heart swells, thumping hard. “Same for me, with you.”
“Never have I ever thought the woman who called me a Marriage Grim Reaper would fall in love with me.”
I lean closer, unable to resist him. I press a kiss to his lips. “But I did, and I am.”
He flips open the box, and I’m nearly blinded by the ring’s beauty.
Just as I was when I picked it out.
“Never have I ever hoped so badly for your yes.”
I cup his cheek. “You have it. You’ve had it for months.”
The reality is this: I’m not surprised. We were pretty much promised to each other in Anguilla, both by each other and again by his daughter.
I shopped for the ring with Lucy and Zach a few weeks ago. She helped me pick it out. He had it sized.
The only thing I didn’t know was when.
And I couldn't be happier that when is right now.
He slides the ring on my finger, and I whisper, “Once upon a time, a wedding planner thought she despised the divorce attorney.”
“But somehow, opposites attracted and enemies became lovers. And so much more.”
“Sounds like a good story,” I say.
He kisses me. “That’s because it’s true.”
* * *
Early the next year, we marry.
When I say it’s a simple ceremony, I mean it. We take our vows in the Raphael Room at the Luxe Hotel—discount rate, thank you very much—and we dance all night with our closest friends and family.
With Paige and Lisa and baby Katherine.
With Charlie and Jessica and their infant son, Callum.
With Zach’s sister, Emmy, their mom, and my mom and her new boyfriend.
Our friends from college are here.
Adrien, my stylist and shrink, for all intents and purposes, is my “bridesman” and, naturally, he makes sure the rest of the ladies in the bridal party look fabulous. And I remind him how fabulous he’s going to look at his ceremony in a few months when he marries Carlos. I’m planning that one, and I can’t wait. The grooms are both gorgeous.
My friend Jason attends, snagging a minute to whisper a secret about how his best-man-for-hire business is changing, and I ooh and ahh and promise not to say a word till the time is right.
My good friend Kristen is here from Florida, with her husband, Cameron.
“Mini golf soon, girl? You owe me a game,” she says, hugging me.
“Always mini golf. I’ll beat you though.”
“I know. You always do.”
Sloane is here too, her belly huge since she’s ready to pop any day. Her hubby dotes on her the whole time, and Malone even sings a song for our first dance: “It Had to Be You.”
After we dance, Charlie taps a champagne glass and returns the favor Zach did him in Anguilla, making a speech with just enough roasting and ribbing. “I’m not as eloquent as this guy, so I’ll keep it simple and say this: I saw them coming together from fifty miles away, and I couldn't be happier to be making this toast.”
We all raise our champagne glasses, the kids’ cups filled with ginger ale, of course.
That’s the best part: that they’re here celebrating with us.
Our kids.
Yes, they feel like mine. And they are mine. They wanted me to adopt them, so we filed the paperwork.
But we don’t need paperwork.
We were already a family, and I have faith we always will be.
Another epilogue
Zach
Maybe you should believe what you hear about me.
I can be a pretty good guy. A great guy, even.
But I don't always let on. Because sometimes you need a shark on your side.
I can play that role and I still do. I play it for all my clients. I take on the part for my kids when they need me to. Every now and then, I do that job for my wife, though she rarely needs any backup.
But if she does, I’m not afraid to go to battle for her.
Because I have a heart. Only it’s not made of iron or ice. It’s forged from fire, and it’s sharpened by love.
Even though I might dismantle marriages for a living, I do it so those in the bad ones can have another chance.
There’s nothing better than a second chance when it comes to love.
I found mine, and I’m not letting it go.
Never will I ever.
The End
Curious about Jason’s romance? His story is told in INSTANT GRATIFICATION, available everywhere.
You can also find more books in the Always Satisfied series of standalone romances in New York including OVERNIGHT SERVICE, Haven’s love story with a hot, dirty-talking hero, available everywhere!
Top three reasons why sleeping with the enemy is a bad idea…
1. She’s my fiercest rival.
2. She’s also my firey ex.
3. We’re going up against each other in a stiff competition to win the hottest new client on the market.
And yet, I’d like to be up against the wall in a stiff competition to get her to call out my name.
Time to double down on my resistance to her tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners, sexy-as-sin attitude. The same attitude I find irresistible.
That’s a big problem, because in this race to nab the client, I run into Haven in the hotel, on the beach, in the guest quarters late at night.
Hate sex would be a terrible idea.
Except, it’s the complete opposite, and now we can’t keep our hands off each other.
Trouble is, I’m not so sure it’s hate I’m feeling anymore.
And that’s the biggest reason sleeping with the enemy you’re falling for is a bad idea — my job literally depends on never letting her into my heart.
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Acknowledgments
Big thanks to Lauren Clarke, Jen McCoy, Helen Williams, Kim Bias, Virginia, Lynn, Karen, Tiffany, Janice, Stephanie and more for their eyes. Love to Helen for the beautiful cover. Thank you to Kelley and Candi and KP. Massive smooches to Laurelin Paige for access to her brain and heart. As always, my readers make everything possible.
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