Page 35 of After All

And he needed to get out of this house.

Sexy nurse costumes and bending over without panties were a problem. But not, interestingly enough, as big of a problem as her making sandwiches and wearing normal clothes and doing normal things in his house as if she was perfectly comfortable here and ready to stay for the long haul. She’d been here for—he glanced at the clock—for less than six hours. She hadn’t even put in the equivalent of a full workday. And she’d already gotten an orgasm. Not that he minded giving that to her. At all. In fact…

Scott made himself focus. He had no problem touching her. Giving her pleasure. Enjoying the body that had been making him ache for far too long. But the next two weeks were about trying a real relationship. Sexandthe other stuff. So far, she’d made him a sandwich and put on a pair of leggings. Normal, but that shouldn’t be enough to break down his walls. He wanted more and he needed to be strong.

And he needed to get out of the house tonight before he just saidto hell with itand gave in to every one of her wishes.

“I, uh, am going to head to Kyle’s for the game.” He pushed himself up off the couch.

The couch—where neither of them were going to be sleeping, according to their agreement.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” she said. “You did mention that.”

“Yeah, he’s going to grill some burgers and we’ll just hang out.” Scott had no idea if Kyle would grill him a burger, but his friend would come pick him up and let him hang out at his place for a few hours. Scott might have to beg, and he’d certainly have to put up with some shit, but Kyle would do it.

“Great,” Peyton said, but she’d turned back to her leggings and shirt display.

“I mean, if that’s cool with you?” he felt compelled to say.

She glanced over. “Of course. Once you’re fed and medicated and you’re in between dressing changes and showers, I don’t really need to be here, right? It’s not like we’re just going to sit around and watch TV or something.”

Right. That would be toonormal. “I guess. What are you going to do tonight?”

“I’ll stop by home and take care of some stuff. And then I’ll head into the bakery. I told Adrianne I could get some stuff started for tomorrow.”

He frowned. “You go into the bakery at night?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes. I’m kind of a night owl.” She said it with an eye roll that said Scott, of all people, should know that. “And so it works for me to go in late and get things prepped for the morning. That way she doesn’t have to get in so early.”

Adrianne was a wife and mom of three—two boys and a girl, all very close in age—whose husband, Mason, often traveled to Washington, D.C., and even internationally with his company, IAS. Scott had no doubt that Adrianne could use all the help and extra hours at home that she could get. And it didn’t surprise him at all that Peyton saw that and pitched in. She might be Trouble with a capital T, but she had a big heart and saw people and what they needed. Even if she would hate knowing that he’d noticed.

“Okay.” Scott hadn’t known that Peyton went in late at the bakery sometimes. Not that he should have known that. But it felt weird that he didn’t. “You’ll come back over later?”

She gave him one of her mischievous grins. “Can’t cuddle up with you from clear across town.”

She didn’t live “clear across town” from him, but that wasn’t the point. She was coming back tonight. That was really all he needed to know.

“Okay, then I’ll see you later.” He started for the kitchen.

“Wait! What are you doing?” She was around in front of him before he’d taken more than three steps.

“Going to the kitchen.”

“Why?”

“For water.”

“I’ll get it for you.”

“Peyton, I’m—” But she was already around the corner. A few seconds later she was handing him a glass of water. “Uh, thanks.”

What he really needed was to get into another room so he could text Kyle and tell him the plans for the evening. He already knew he’d be springing for some beer. And any groceries Kyle didn’t already have.

“Take it easy tonight, okay?” she asked, looking up at him.

“I will.”

“If you start to get tired or sore or anything, just call me.”

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