Page 38 of Breathless With Her

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I pulledup to Erin’s house and turned off the engine, wondering if I was doing the right thing. I wasn’t good about making decisions when it came to her.

Hell, she was hurting, and yet I just kept showing up. I kept being here. But she didn’t want serious. Did I? I didn’t know. But it was kind of weird going into this, knowing that it wasn’t going anywhere.

Why was I so worried about my feelings in a relationship anyway? It wasn’t as if I actually knew if I truly wanted to be serious or not. Just because Dimitri had been married once, had bitten off more than he could chew with his first wife yet now had the actual love of his life with the second, didn’t mean I needed to get married.

Hell, Caleb and Amelia could each find their other halves before I did. And that would be just fine. Yeah, it would be nice to have someone to come home to. Nice to actually have something steady. But it wasn’t going to be with Erin. She’d made that clear. And I had to be okay with that.

Because she wasn’t anywhere near ready for a relationship. I didn’t want to be her rebound. Even though Iwasher rebound. In every sense of the word.

We were even using the phrase:friends with benefits. Fuck buddies. That was fine. But I wouldn’t be the rebound who wanted more. I couldn’t let that be me.

I would just have fun. Make sure she knew that she could have fun, too. Go along for the ride.

Dimitri could be happy in his marriage. Amelia could finally tell Tobey that she loved him or whatever. And maybe Caleb would even find someone.

I snorted. Okay, maybe not Caleb. He was a little rougher, a little more dark and dangerous.

That made me crack up. Thinking of my brother as anything but my baby brother? Yeah, not so much.

I got out of the truck, patted my baby, and went to Erin’s front door. She opened it as if she had been waiting for me. I didn’t know how I felt about that. Because I kind ofwantedher to be waiting for me. I wanted her to be looking out the window and watching for me.

But I had to back the fuck up right there with those thoughts. Because she wasn’t mine. She couldn’t be mine.

I needed to remember that.

“You look great,” she said, grinning. I looked down at what I wore. I’d pulled on some jeans I’d only worn once that were a little tight around my thighs and butt. But, apparently, they looked good. I’d also pulled on a black T-shirt, one that fit my arms but showed off the ink on both of my sleeves. I didn’t show off my ink too often. Even when it was fucking hot outside. I tried not to look too dangerous when I was dealing with the mail. After all, I had to be the friendly mailman. I couldn’t look like some degenerate criminal.

Not that people with tattoos or piercings were degenerate criminals. But I couldn’t help what people thought. I had a big beard that was still within the dress code of my job. But I didn’t look like a typical mailman. Whatever that meant. And that was fine by me. I liked my ink, and I knew I would likely add more. I went down to a little shop in Denver called Montgomery Ink, and an equally big, bearded dude named Austin took care of me there. His sister, Maya, had done a few tattoos on my back, as well, but Austin usually handled my projects. Although now that I thought about it, I should probably go down south to Colorado Springs where my big brother was. Dimitri had married into the Montgomerys, a twist of fate that I hadn’t really figured on happening. But considering that there were like a thousand Montgomerys in the world, someone was bound to marry into the family. But Dimitri’s wife’s sister and brother owned another tattoo shop called Montgomery Ink Too down in Colorado Springs. Apparently, they were connected or something. Maybe Austin would let me go down there and see what my new family could do.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind because all I really wanted to do was look at the woman in front of me. She had on tight jeans that looked as if they were painted on with these black and wood-looking wedges, her little red toenails peeking out of the front. With that, she had on a black tank that dipped into a deep V and showed off her magnificent cleavage. And it looked like one of those halter things that I figured would show off some of her back.

It made me want to lick her skin. It made me want to strip off each piece of clothing and maybe just fuck her wearing those shoes and nothing else.

Yeah, that would be good.

I cleared my throat. “You look good, too.”

She blushed and looked down at her hands before playing with her purse. “You were silent for so long, I was afraid I wore something wrong.”

She tucked a piece of her blond hair behind her ear, and I noticed that she wore these dangling earrings that seemed to have a hoop within a hoop. I didn’t really understand how it worked, but they looked nice. I reached out and flicked one. “Nice.”

She laughed. “They looked good in the store. I went to this little boutique called Eden off the 16th Street Mall.”

I grinned wide. “I know the owner. She’s married to my tattoo artist.”

“Small world.” I’ve always wanted to go in there and get a tattoo for myself.”

I licked my lips and ran my gaze over her bare skin. Or at least what she was showing me. I wanted more. Damn it. I had to push that thought out of my head. I just wanted to fuck her. That was it. Fucking and friends. That was all I needed.

“Well, I’ll take you whenever you want to go. They have a long waiting list, but I’m kind of family now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, get in the truck and I’ll explain.”

I walked her over, loving the way she let me put my hands around her hips to help her hop in. Sure, she could have done it on her own. But I liked helping. Any excuse to get my hands on her, right?

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