Page 22 of The Question of Us
“Yeah?” He kissed up my throat.
“Yeah.” I turned to look over my shoulder and we shared an awkward kiss. “When you’re young, it’s all about how long you can last and how many times, all that macho competitive shit. But getting older makes you realise thatthisis what it’s really all about. Intimacy. Tenderness. Shared time.Thisis what I’ve missed about not having a boyfriend. These moments. The sex is just icing on the cake. Without the cake, it’s just an empty sugar rush. Not saying that doesn’t have its place, but it’s not for building a life on.”
Nick kissed my ear. “I couldn’t agree more. After the accident, I rarely thought about the fact I couldn’t have sex with Davis. What I craved were his hugs and kisses. I missed curling around him at night and telling him about my boring day. I missed grocery shopping and fighting about whose turn it was to do the laundry.”
I chuckled and cupped his cheek with one hand. “Well, that’s an easy one. Yours. It willalwaysbe your turn to do the laundry. I hate it.”
He arched a brow. “I guess I can do that. But aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves a bit?”
“It’s never too early to lay the ground rules.”
He groaned. “Back to the rules, I see. Can I get a copy of those please?”
“No.” I grinned. “They’re . . . fluid.”
He simply looked at me.
“Anyhoo,” I continued. “What did you mean, you guess you can do the laundry? That’s lacking a certain amount of confidence. Can I trust you to do it right?”
He snorted. “Does this involve more of those rules of yours?”
My cheeks flamed. “Maybe. Answer the question.”
He shut me up with a kiss. “You’re cute when you’re sassy.”
I elbowed him in the stomach, making him grunt. “I am not sassy.”
“You are too.” He made monster sounds as he gobbled along my jaw, and I squirmed.
“Quit that.” I shrugged him off but couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
He pumped some body wash into his hands and began lathering me up. I groaned and leaned into his touch. “Let me allay your concerns regarding the whole laundry issue,” he said as he worked. “Of the two of us, who cares more about fashion and clothes versus whose wardrobe looks like a laundry hamper?”
I glared over my shoulder. “Icare about clothes.”
He ran a line of soap down my nose. “Liar.”
“I do. A little,” I amended before giving a weighty sigh. “Okay, fair point. So, here’s the deal. If and when the time comes that we move in together, you do the laundry and I’ll take the supermarket. I wouldn’t trust you to do a grocery shop if my life depended on it.”
“Hey—” He started to protest but I clamped my hand over his mouth.
“I’ve seen your fridge,” I reminded him and he smiled against my palm. “Exactly. So, when you’re staying here, you do the laundry and I’ll do the groceries. Deal?” I removed my hand and he leaned in and kissed me.
“Deal. But why just your place?”
I scooted around and he began soaping my chest. “Because I don’t think either of us are ready foryourbed quite yet. Yours and Davis’s bed.”
Nick stilled, his expression sheepish. “Yeah, I think maybe you’re right. Although, I have to tell you, after that littleperformance, there was no way in hell I was thinking of anyone but you. That’s a good start, right?”
I couldn’t hide my delight as I pumped some body wash into my hands to soap Nick in return. “Yeah, baby. It’s a great start.”
He stilled, then tipped my chin up. “Baby? That’s the second time you’ve called me that today.”
I stiffened but held his gaze. “Yeah,baby. You got a problem with that?”
He grinned and leaned in and kissed me. “Nope. No problem, whatsoever.”
CHAPTER SIX
