Page 158 of The Hookup Situation
“You were made for me,” I pant, leaning over her back, pressing my mouth to her ear. “Every inch of you.”
Her response is a sobbed moan, her body tightening, fluttering around me. And then she shatters, screaming my name, coming so hard that her legs quake. The sound, the feel of her pulsing around me, wrecks me.
I pound into her a few more times before I lose it, spilling deepinside her with a guttural groan. My vision blurs, my body convulses, and all I can do is hold her hair, her hips, like she’s the only thing keeping me tied to this reality.
When it’s over, we collapse forward. My chest to her back, sweat dripping down my temples. I press a kiss to her shoulder, still buried inside her, unwilling to break away.
“That was amazing,” she whispers, still unable to catch her breath. “Exactly what I needed.”
“You’re amazing,” I say, kissing her neck.
I realize that I have everything I’ve ever needed with her. I want more of this. I want her laugh, her fire, the way she challenges me. I want every piece of her. We break apart, and she turns around, sliding her skirt over her body. We’re still breathing hard, trying to straighten our clothes and the paperwork that’s scattered everywhere.
“We just …” Julie starts, then laughs.
“Made some memories in this office?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“You started it,” I tell her, tucking her hair behind her ears, then kissing her.
“And you finished it.” She grins, looking up at me. “I’m so lucky.”
“No, babe, I am.”
After our heart rates settle, we sit back at the desk and finish doing inventory. Every few minutes, we catch each other’s eye and smile like teenagers with a secret.
“Thank you,” she says.
“For?”
“For today. For all of it.”
“You never have to thank me for being there for you.”
She reaches over, taking my hand. “I know things are going to get complicated when Craig is served. But having you here with me … I feel safe.”
“You are safe. I won’t let anything happen to you,” I promise.
An hour later, Julie submits the reports and places the order fornext week’s shipment. We walk out into the cool October night, holding hands. Not because anyone is watching, but because it feels right.
“Did you think it could be like this?” she asks.
“Only in my dreams,” I say.
As we stroll to her condo, I can’t shake the feeling that this peace we have won’t last and that something’s coming. But for tonight, we’re together, and that has to be enough.
25
JULIE
With Nick’s hand in mine and the October wind whipping my hair around, the three-block walk from Cozy Coffee to my condo feels shorter. We’re both giddy from what happened in the office, and we steal glances at each other.
My parents would be pissed if they knew, but that’s the allure of it.
“I can’t believe we just did that,” I say, squeezing his hand.
“Inventory or?—”
