Page 86 of The Forbidden Trio

“I hate to say it, but I have to get home. I have two classes to teach this afternoon. I should probably get a train soon.”

“I’m driving you.”

“But I always take the—”

“I said I’ll drive you, cheeky girl. How long do you have?”

She glanced at the clock on the cable box. “It’s already past noon—I should go pretty soon.”

“How soon is soon?”

“An hour at the most?”

“Not enough time, and I won’t play with you after our conversation today, as much as my body wants to.”

“I’d be totally fine,” she protested.

“Nope. I won’t take any chances with you.”

“Spoilsport.”

“That’s another check mark on the ledger.”

“The ledger?”

“The ledger I’m keeping of your infractions. Have to be sure I dole out the proper punishments.”

“Max! Don’t say that to me now, not when I have to leave.”

He nuzzled her cheek. “You like that idea, baby?”

“Too much.”

“Never too much,” he said, pinching her bottom hard enough to make her squeak. “Alright, my bad girl. Go get dressed.”

The drive back to Greenwich went by too quickly for Max’s taste. The truth was, if he could have, he would have kept her in the city with him all night. All week. All damn year.

His night with Aster had been incredible, a fantasy come true. And to find out she wanted him as badly as he wanted her felt like nothing short of a miracle. Could they really make something of this?

He could barely believe he wanted to. Commitment had never worked out for him before. But no one else had ever been Aster.

He pulled up in front of her house, a pretty shingled cottage on the edge of one of the many large estates in Greenwich that suited her perfectly. She wasn’t the mansion type.

“It feels like a thousand years ago that we met for dinner,” he said.

“It does.”

He leaned over and kissed her cheek before getting out of the car and going around to hand her out. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. She was so damn beautiful he had to stand there and study her familiar face for a few moments: the high, curving cheekbones, the lush mouth with that sexy crease in the middle, her dark green eyes. She was like nothing he’d ever seen before.

“When can I have you again?” he asked.

“My studio is closed on Sundays. I could get back to the city Saturday night.”

He rubbed his cheek against hers, pausing to turn and nibble a little too hard on her earlobe, making her sigh.

“One night won’t be enough.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. I think I can take a few days off.”

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