Page 53 of A Little More

But she didn’t want to. Life kept moving, and hers was in Atlanta. For a short while, she could have it all.

“Deal. I’ll front the money for the kitchen—”

“No.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Yes. I’m not budging on this. I’ll front the money, and you can write me one large check at the end. I’ll itemize everything I spend and try to keep it under ten thousand, with any overages or surprises once the inspector gets to look behind the walls discussed before spending the money.”

“I don’t like the idea of you using your personal money, even for a short time.”

Lexi sat up, straddling him on the sofa. “I’m not budging.”

“You can sit there as long as you like. Might get a little uncomfortable after a while.” He winked and squeezed her thighs. “For both of us.”

She swatted his arm but didn’t miss his hands gliding up and down from her hips to her knees. She held out her hand to shake on it. “I’ll draw up a contract.”

He swung his legs to the side and stood, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist or end up dumped onto the floor. She’d never get used to being handled so easily. “We can kiss on it.”

Her breath caught, in part to make herself lighter and from the intimacy. He held her like she didn’t weigh more than ten pounds. His lips captured hers before she had a chance to tell him to put her down.

It was a fake protest.

She slid her hands along the side of his head, pinning him in place to kiss the hell out of him. She didn’t want him to ever let her go.

Her brain stalled. Rational thoughts scattered as quick as their clothes would if she didn’t get it together.

With his first step on the stairs, she broke the kiss.

She couldn’t. No way she would walk away from him without some intense emotions if they slept together.

“Nash, I can’t.”

Nash letLexi slip from his hands, her body sliding down against his until her toes reached the floor. He rested his forehead on hers, his eyes shut tight.

He knew it. He’d told himself each time he got the urge to push them both that direction, he shouldn’t. She’d made that clear from the beginning.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She cupped his face between her two hands, waiting until he opened his eyes. “It’s not every day I have to turn down the offer to be toted up the stairs like Scarlet O’Hara.”

“Pretty sure Scarlet wasn’t wrapped around Rhett’s waist.”

Lexi’s lips twisted to the side. “Her loss.”

His loss, too. Nash ran a hand over his head, taking a step away. “It’s strange, you know, that I can feel like I know you so well. I mean, I finally kissed you yesterday, but everything between us is more like we’ve been together longer than that.”

“We talk almost every day. I looked at the phone timer when we hung up on Tuesday. We’d talked for two hours.”

Why had he offered her this situation as temporary? Because he’d want more, eventually. That set a firm boundary. He already wanted her full time. The phone calls made it easier. Not enough. It’d never be enough with only a few moments or weekends together. He’d do better to walk away now.

She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s take our mind off of it.”

“My mind hasn’t been offitsince seventh grade, so good luck with that.”

“Do you have a tape measure?”

He narrowed his eyes, causing her to laugh.

“I want to take the measurements of your kitchen. Geez. Your mind is in the gutter right now.” But she laughed when he gave her a dirty look and wiggled his eyebrows. Keep it light. He’d have the rest of his life to mope about it.

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