Page 65 of The Fix

“Besides, I’m starved for human contact that isn’t Rex. I love the man, I do. But I need some girl time.”

I snort. “I haven’t had that since I was a teenager.”

“Honey,” Aria chides over the line. “We’re going to fix that the night you get back. You’re one of us now. Until then, answer my question.”

I can’t help the laugh that bursts past my lips. “Fine, just give me a moment.”

“The longer this call takes, the better. Take your time.”

I tap the mute button on my phone and stride across the room with my hand to my stomach. I answer the door with a flourish that Toby ignores.

Because the man barges in before I can even get the panel all the way back, his hands grasping my face, his lips crashing against mine.

His tongue dives between my lips, his feet moving us backward into the room.

“Toby, wait,” I manage to breathe out when we come up for air, his lips trailing down my jaw.

“Done waiting, Mama.” Toby nips at my neck, his breath hot against my skin, his hands migrating to my loose hair he fists and tugs on.

A mewl inches its way up my throat and it takes everything in me to hold it back. “Jeffers,” I say like a demand, my voice too thick, my breath too … breathy. “Stop.”

He listens.

In fact, Toby freezes.

Tongue against my neck and all.

I roll my eyes and plant my hands on his pecs, pressing just enough that he pulls back to look at me.

If I were a weaker woman, I’d dive headfirst into those amber pools staring at me with a pinched brow and concern etched into his features.

“Five-day hiatus.”

“Why?”

“I said so.”

He rolls his eyes, and I feel nerves battle the cramps going on in my lower belly.

I’ve had the man inside me, say filthy things to me, do filthy things to me. So, why can’t I just say that we’ve been here long enough that I’ve started menstruating?

It’s normal. It’s natural.

It’s … gross.

“I need a better reason than I said so.”

I can feel the heat taking over my face. Why is this so hard? “Fine.” I square my shoulders and step back from him, my hands planted on his pec to keep him at a distance.

“Anna, you back yet?”

My shoulders fall, the voice in my ear stealing all of my courage and reminding me I still have another completely different conversation to finish.

“I just can’t,” I tell Toby and reach up to press against the little sensor on my earpiece that unmutes the device. “Yeah, I’m back.”

I don’t look at him when I return to the bathroom, the woman in my ear chattering on about a girls’ night plan she came up with while she was waiting.

We should start creating distance—

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