Page 59 of Fumble

Faith: Good. I’m at your front door.

Me: I wish.

The doorbell rings. It has to be a coincidence. There’s no way she could’ve tracked me down here. This is Coop’s hideout.

Me: You won’t believe this, but someone literally just arrived at my door.

Faith: Yeah. Me. It’s raining. Can you open the door? ;)

Fuck me. I jump from my chair like a kid on Christmas morning. Coop is hot on my heels, yelling at me not to open the door. It could be a journalist. I ignore him. My pulse is racing as I turn the key and twist the handle.

It’s her.

And another woman, who I’ve never seen before, and I don’t fucking care. She’s here.

I don’t even invite her inside, my good hand moving instinctively to her face, pulling her lips to mine with a hunger so wild I can’t breathe. Dropping her bags, she wraps her arms around my waist, pressing the length of her body to mine. My senses come alive.

“You’re here.” My lips move to her neck as a voice in the background fades into the distance.

“Hi, I’m Zoey. You must be Cooper. Mind if I come in and leave this feral pair to snack on each other’s faces?”

The summer breeze and light rain falls around us, but all I care about is the warmth of her lips, the twist and tangle of her tongue, and the way her breasts press tightly against me. I’m greedy for her, every last inch.

“You didn’t call.” She pushes me back, slapping my side. “We had sex, and then you didn’t call. And you’re hurt, and you didn’t call me. What the hell?” All valid points, but I need her mouth on me. I pull her back in.

“You’re here now, and if you can’t tell by the hard-on I’m sporting, I’m really fucking happy to see you.”

“Because you can’t spank the monkey alone?” She’s playful, but I know she put herself out there by coming here.

“Get out of my mind, woman!” I get a pitiful shove for that one, but I couldn’t resist.

“You’re an ass.” She rolls her eyes, attempting to stop the smile that’s fighting to break free.

“I’m an ass. I am a colossal ass, and I’m not happy you’re here to spank my monkey, although I am not going to say no if you offer. I missed you. You. Everything about you. Your smart mouth, your stumbling grace, the way you laugh.”

“I gave you a week. And then you made me come out here chasing you like some lame, lovesick teenager.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“Can I come inside? Jesus. You have the manners of an ogre. Leave me hanging for a week and then keep me waiting out here. I’m starting to look desperate.” Her hair is damp with rain, her cheeks flushed as her gaze drops to her shoes.

I brush my fingers down her cheek, lifting her chin, forcing her to look at me, pressing my lips to hers in a chaste kiss, telling her everything I can’t say out loud.

“Come in. I need you to keep me safe from Zoey.”

“Her bark is worse than her bite.”

“Really?”

“No. She’ll fuck you up. Best stay close to me.” She laces her fingers with mine.

“Can do.”

* * *

Coop is alreadyin full-on charm mode with Zoey. Maybe he’ll help her warm up to me. So far, she’s stared me down over her glass of pinot. I busied myself getting their bags to one of the guest rooms, knowing that there’s no way in hell that Faith will be anywhere except in my bed tonight. Her best friend might think she needs to be rescued from my clutches, but I’ll go toe to toe with her any day of the week.

Everything takes twice as long with one hand, but seeing the way Faith looks at the pins in my right hand hurts more than any physical pain. We need to talk. I know that, but if we talk about my hand, we need to discuss Malcolm, and I don’t trust myself to stay calm. She needs me to keep my cool when she’s ready to talk about it, and, for me, I am not sure I’m ready to face the real reason she came to my suite that night.

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