Page 85 of Tough Love

I reach out, placing my palm on his collarbone as I shift myself so I can see his face better. “You are,” I repeat with more conviction in my words. “And you know why?”

He shrugs.

“Because you see me forme.I’m not a rumour, a news story, or a broken toy. I’m me, and that’s all I could ever ask for.”

A beat passes where we stare at one another in silence. An understanding forms, a mutual respect of the paths we’ve both taken to get where we are. Nobody’s perfect, and to expect otherwise is nothing but shallow and selfish.

I roll myself on top of him, holding his gaze as his breaths deepen. He skims his hands to my hips, and then my arse, holding me against him.

“No more secrets, okay?” I lean down and place a chaste kiss to his lips. “If you get tangled up in your head like that again, talk to me about it.”

“Okay.” He tilts his head, leaning up to kiss my neck. “I’ll try.”

My eyes drift closed, and I lean to the side a little to give him better access as he nips and sucks gently on the dip between my neck and shoulder. He moves suddenly, startling me as he wriggles us both along the cushions so he’s sitting up a little more, me straddling his lap. He has a better range of movement this way, and I’m sure as hell not complaining.

“We should take this somewhere else,” I whisper.

“What are you trying to say?” he teases, hands wandering around my sides until he places his right over my breast and gently squeezes.

I groan, low in the back of my throat, and roll my eyes back. “I’m saying”—you sexy damn arsehole—“that if we’re going to keep on with this we should go somewhere more private, like my bedroom.”

“You’re promising some pretty serious things, there,” he says with a smirk, splaying both palms flat on my ribs so that he effectively boosts my tits.

“I’m a serious kind of girl.”

His thumb brushes one of my nipples through the fabric of my shirt. “I see that.”

Any further argument vanishes as he leans in and gently takes the raised bud between his teeth, tugging. My hands knit in his hair, my fingers channelling through the soft length, massaging his scalp as I’m rewarded with the same attention on my other side.

“Come on, Evan.”

“Aww,” he playfully whines, releasing me from his clutches.

I climb off with a smile and have turned for my room when a sharp crack rings out across the living area, my arse stinging in its wake.

“Hey!”

“It was just … there.” He holds his hand out, as though sizing up my butt for a grope.

God, I love him. He always knows how to have me laughing, even when it seems like the most inappropriate time. The reason for him to be here hasn’t crossed my mind since before dinner. Threat from Tristan or not, I’m just glad for the company.

Nobody compares.

Holding my hand out toward him, I wiggle my fingers, doing my best to look sultry and seductive as I peek out from under my lashes.

It works. His lips curl up on one side, those intense eyes darkening as he pushes himself off the sofa and takes my hand, yanking me into his front.

“You ready for this?”

“Do I look hesitant?”

He smiles.Didn’t think so.

I close my eyes, humming as he runs his nose up the side of my neck, finishing with my earlobe pinched between his lips. “Before we start….”

I groan, opening my eyes to find him watching me with thinly veiled amusement. “What?”

“Can I ask you something I’ve been dying to know since I made that bullshit excuse to come over and see you with Kath’s things?”

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