Page 92 of Craving Cooper

“We should go down,” she says, like she’s read my mind.

“Not before we get dressed and you do something with your hair.”

“My hair? Why? What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing. It just doesn’t look as tidy as it did.”

She raises her hand, feeling behind her head where most of the braiding has come loose. “I’m a mess,” she says.

“Maybe. But you’re my mess.”

She sucks in a breath, staring into my eyes as she nods her head. “I am, although it’s gonna take me a few minutes to make myself presentable again.”

I stand, helping her to her feet, and although I expect her to head for the door, and go upstairs, she picks up her clothes and makes for the bathroom. My heart flips over in my chest. She’s making herself at home here… or it feels that way. And nothing could make me happier, other than being able to stay up here and enjoy a little more time with her.

“I’ll see you downstairs,” I call, pulling on my pants. “I’d better get down there in case Greta comes back and there’s no-one to let her in.”

Mallory suddenly appears at the bathroom door. She’s still completely naked, and even though I’m already pulling my top on over my head, and I know we don’t have time to do anything more right now, I can’t help wishing… and thinking about this evening, and all the things we can do then, when we have more time.

“Oh. You’re not waiting?” she says, surprising me. “I—I’ll go upstairs then, shall I?”

“What on earth for?”

“Because this is your apartment, Cooper. It’s your space.”

I step across to her, pulling her close, my hands on her bare ass as I bend my head to kiss her. “Not anymore, babe.”

“You mean, you’re okay with me being here when you’re not?”

“Absolutely.”

“But I thought you said…”

I know what she’s talking about, and she’s not wrong. To have someone in my space before now would have felt wrong. With Mallory, it feels completely natural.

“That was then, baby.” I lean in and kiss her forehead. “Just don’t be too long and close the door behind you when you’re done.”

She smiles and leans up, kissing me this time. It’s a kiss that I know will have to last me all afternoon, so I make the most of it, holding her close to me, and using up all my willpower to eventually pull away and let her go.

“I’ll be right behind you,” she says, as she ducks back into the bathroom.

“Good.”

It feels like it would be the most natural thing in the world to call out, ‘I love you’ as I depart, but we haven’t said it face-to-face yet. Saying it to an empty room doesn’t seem quite right. Even to me.

Standing here thinking about that won’t get me anywhere, though, so I head downstairs and go into the reception area to unlock the door roughly a minute before Greta comes in. Has it really been an hour? I guess it must have been and my heart beats a little faster, knowing how close we came to getting caught – again – although I wouldn’t want to go back and change a single thing. Everything with Mallory is just perfect, and I can’t help smiling as I make my way around her desk and pick up the phone to see who called.

“Is everything okay?” Greta asks as she walks past.

“Yeah. I just missed a call, that’s all.”

“You missed it?”

“Yeah.”

“Where were you?”

“Um… busy.”

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