Page 58 of Perfect Imperfections

He threw his head back and laughed. He couldn’t help it. This woman made him smile from his very soul. “Fair enough, but please, whatever you do, don’t point that out to Charlotte. That’s one of her favorite movies.”

“I’d never do that.” Her face pinched in disbelief. “Besides, I didn’t say it wasn’t a good movie. Just biologically inaccurate.”

“You are one of a kind, Ellie Clark.” He kissed the tip of her nose, too afraid to touch those tempting lips again. Charlotte was—hopefully—asleep by now, but he needed to get home. “I’ll call you tomorrow?”

She nodded, a satiated smile on her face. He took immense satisfaction knowing he was the one who put it there. Slipping out from under the covers, he walked around the room, gathering his clothes. A small squeak sounded from the bed, and he turned to see Ellie’s hand covering her eyes, but if he wasn’t mistaken, he could see a bit of dark brown iris peeking out from between her fingers.

“Problem?”

“You’re naked!”

He glanced down at himself, then back up to her with puzzlement. “Um, yeah. I have been for the past few hours. Did you not remember ripping my clothes off me the moment we stepped foot inside?”

Her hand flew down to the bed, one dark eyebrow arched. “I did not rip your clothes off.”

Grinning, he winked. “A goal for next time.”

A beautiful pink blush crawled up her cheeks.

“We’ll see.” She let out a small giggle. “I’m not used to naked men parading about my bedroom.”

And why did that give him a rush of pleasure? He wasn’t an innocent virgin—obviously, he had a kid—and he knew Ellie wasn’t either. When people were safe about it, sex could be a very healthy and important aspect of life. So why did it please him to know he was one of the lucky few to grace Ellie’s bed?

“Does it bother you? My being naked?”

The sweet pink tongue that had tormented him less than an hour ago came out to slide along her bottom lip. The sight made his body harden and his cock stiffen. Damn appendage. He did not have time for round two. Round three, technically.

“No. I must admit, the view is spectacular.”

“Sweetheart, you’ve got to stop looking at me like that.” Or he might be tempted to call his brother and ask him to watch Charlotte until morning.

“Then put some clothes on, though I can’t guarantee that’ll stop me since I now know what you look like underneath them.”

He laughed as he slipped on his boxers and jeans. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so charmed by someone. His shirt had been flung across the room, the dark grey material hanging precariously on the corner edge of her dresser. He grabbed it, shoving it over his head as he noticed there was a small tear at the back of the neck. A huge grin split his lips. See? He hadn’t been the only eager party on the path to naked town.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he shoved his feet into his socks and shoes. Now came the hard part. Actually leaving. Damn, he didn’t want to. This was strange. He’d never had trouble leaving after sex before. Over the years, he’d been too focused on Charlotte and his job to do much dating. The intimate times he’d had had been few and far between, casual hookups where everyone involved knew the score. But every time he’d had no issue getting up after and leaving a woman’s bed. But those beds hadn’t been Ellie’s.

Dark brown eyes, so deep he could drown in them—a delicious death by chocolate—stared up at him.

“You better go,” she said with a hint of a smile on her face.

“I’m going.”

“Really? Because from here, it looks like you’re debating whether to take your clothes off again and test out the stability of my bed frame.”

Minx. She was teasing him, testing him. And damned if he didn’t want to do exactly that.

“Sullivan.” Her face softened. “You have to leave.”

He did. And he couldn’t believe it was Ellie who had the mental fortitude to push him out the door. She was the reason he wanted to stay, and she was the one pushing him to leave, knowing he had to go. A unique situation, to be sure.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he promised, leaning over to place a soft kiss on her lips, remembering to keep it brief in case he forgot himself and pinned her down to worship her amazing body for the third time tonight.

She walked him to the door, and he waited until he heard the click of her lock. He stood listening as the lock clicked twice more.

“Goodnight, Sullivan,” her soft voice filtered through the door, making him realize she knew he was still standing there.

“Night, Ellie.”

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