Page 159 of Friends Don't Kiss

“Touch yourself,” he orders. “And moan for your man.”

One hand latching onto his ass, the other in my panties, I whimper.

“Ah. Atta girl.”

I glimpse up at him. His abs are corded, his eyelids hooded, and his mouth twitches as a salty bead hits my tongue. I lower my eyelids and suck him harder. “Are you sure?” he whisper-growls. “Fuck you’re so good.”

I nod and suck him harder.

“I’ll hold it til you come. I wanna come in your mouth when you’re falling apart for me.”

His words set me off. One more stroke on my clit, focusing my attention on his throbbing cock shoved down my throat, how he’s totally fucking my mouth with both his hands on my head, and I’m done. My mouth gapes when my cries of ecstasy take over. Despite my best efforts, I fall on my heels, my fingers in my panties, eyes on him now jerking off to me, going for my face. This is not what I had in mind, but it’s hot as hell. His whole body is taut for me, his eyelids hooded, as he aims for my open mouth, then my tits. “Fuck, Kiara.” He’s shaking too but keeps it together, emptying himself on me. As my orgasm fades, I lift off and take him in my mouth, sucking him dry.

“Oh,” he moans, then hisses. “Jesus, woman, you weren’t kidding.”

After we shower, I insist on making coffee and we cuddle in bed. “There’s something I wanna show you before you start your day,” Colton says. He reaches inside his nightstand and hands me a folded paper.

“An invoice for… a new transmission?”

He snaps the paper and turns it around. “Wrong side,” he grunts.

I frown and sit up. “What—what is this?” There are lines scribbled haphazardly. I can make out the wordreading.

“Proof. You wanted proof it wasn’t really Luke talking during the first phone call, but me through him. Emma found this when doing the books.”

I squint, focusing.

I’m ready to meet someone who’s not like anyone else. Someone real, honest, no bullshit. That’s what your profile said to me between the lines, and your voice between the words, and your answers to my questions.

There’s more, but I’m getting too emotional picturing Colton scribbling these words as a last lifeline to our romantic relationship. My heart swells as I fold the paper preciously. I’ll read it later. Eyes misty, I curl in Colton’s embrace.

“Are you down for going to the garage now?” he asks me. “There’s something I need to show you,” he says as he gets dressed.

“Yes! I want to see the barn again and start getting organized. Take measurements, make a list of priorities. An open house! I want to schedule an open house. It’s the best way to keep everyone motivated and on track. D’you have the list of everyone who worked on that? I need to send thank-you baskets, and coupons, and—”

“Sweets, relax.”

Relax? “But, Colton, this is huge! Huge! You have no idea how-how-howoverwhelmedand ecstatic I am.” While I’m talking non-stop, I slip into a pair of jeans and the cami and thermal Cassandra gave me. I pick up my shoes, then drop them to cradle Colton’s face and kiss him. “You know what you did for me, but you have no idea how—”

He chuckles. “Okay, sweets, I think I get it. But there’s something I need to show you inside the garage, and I want to go now before the workday starts. I need some privacy for that.”

“Oooh. You wanna do it in your truck?” I joke.

“Better’n that.” He takes my hand, then drives us to the garage.

We enter through the reception area, then Colton grabs a flashlight and guides me through the dark bays. “Watch it,” he says as we round a car with its hood open.

“Might wanna think about getting electricity in here,” I quip. My eyes are getting accustomed to the dark, the glint of metal tools and the smell of oil feeling oddly familiar. I like being in Colton’s workspace.

“Let there be light,” he says as we reach the third bay and he turns the overhead lights on. The most adorable pink van, barely bigger than the VW minibus, glimmers in the sudden light, so precious in its dark surroundings. Colton takes my hand and walks me to it, then turns on bright lights that make that little jewel shine even brighter.

Speaking of jewel… The side has a logo that makes me gasp.

It’s the cutest cartoonish representation of a wedding cake on legs, wearing heels, with the diamond of a wedding band sparkling at the top.

All around are cutesy cursive letters. The bottom says Sweetness Delivered. That’s enough to make me literally sway.

But it’s the two words at the top that make my blood thrum.

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