Page 118 of Attached At Heart
Hearing him repeat that back to me made something feel off. Wrong. Phrasing last night as though it was some kind of simple benefit of marriage cheapened the reality of what happened. But I couldn’t really explain why.
“You tell me,” I said after a minute.
Wasthat what last night was?
But Blake refused to answer, shaking his head again. “I don’t think I can.”
I frowned, and Blake seemed to catch my reaction out of the corner of his eye. After a quick, final adjustment of his tie, he swooped back to my side, sitting on the edge of the bed. My name came out of his lips on a sigh I didn’t quite understand.
“I just—” I started before pausing. The words we shared this morning were important, and I didn’t have any prepared. “What happens now?”
Blake answered me with another kiss, pressing his lips to mine. And as much as I liked this newfound freedom we had to kiss each other for no other reason except that we wanted to, this kiss confused me.
“Are you trying to distract me?” I breathed against his lips—his soft, warm lips that were, admittedly, very easy to get distracted by.
Blake released a husky chuckle. “No, I’m just showing you whatI’dlike to happen.”
“Blake,” I groaned. Because as much as that was an answer to my question, it was also a way to avoid giving more of one.
“Delaney.” He dropped his forehead to mine, and I breathed in his musky, perfect Blake-ness. He cupped my cheek, his hand so tender but so firm. Sure. “I like kissing you. And I’d really like to keep kissing you now that we’re home.”
“Okay.” I could get on board with that. “I hadn’t been sure if we were just getting each other out of our systems the last few days, or…”
The hand that had been cupping my cheek fell down my body, his fingertips grazing over my bare skin—from the slope of my neck to the dip of my collarbone to the curve of my breasts. I arched into his touch, my body tingling with longing.
“Does it feel like I’m out of your system, Lane?” he asked, voice gruff.
“I don’t…think so.” I didn’t think so at all, but I wanted to know whathewas thinking. “What does it feel like for you?”
Blake sat back on the edge of the bed, looking surprised. His touch vanished from my body, making me feel adrift. “Me?”
“Yeah.” Gripping the edge of the covers, I pulled them up to my chin. “It’s just that last night when I said it was the best sex of my life, you didn’t…” I wrinkled my nose before shaking my head and casting my eyes to the side, wishing I hadn’t started that sentence. “Never mind.”
He stared, seemingly dumbfounded by what I’d just said. But I couldn’t imagine why.
“Delaney.” His finger slipped beneath my chin and turned it toward him. Brown eyes met mine, ones that were usually so calm but were wild in this moment. “Lane, I…” He broke off with a humorless laugh. “That was the best sex of my life. When you straddled me and I told you that it was the mosterotic experience I’ve ever had, I wasn’t lying. It was incredible. You arenotout of my system. I don’t know how to get you out of my system. If I did, I’d—” He bit down on his words before restarting. “If anything, you’re embedded deeper into me than ever before.”
It was my turn to stare, his words spinning in my mind like gears.
“I didn’t say anything last night because I just figured you knew,” he added with a touch of regret. “And I was too busy celebrating the fact that it was the same for you as it was for me. I never imagined…” He shook his head and then abruptly stood, walking to the other side of the room where his suitcase was open on the ground. He bent down, rummaging in it for a few seconds until he came back, holding two things in his hands.
“You’re not out of my system, Delaney,” he said with more finality, handing me a small cardboard box with a picture of tulips on the front. I took it, staring down at the top, where the words500 piecesstood out in bold lettering. “But I understand if maybe you’re not as sure as me.”
He took a deep breath, and I tore my gaze away from the puzzle to look up at him. “Your old puzzle has seen better days, and I thought maybe…” He drifted off, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe you need some time with a puzzle today. Maybe it would help you to…piece things together. About everything that’s happened.”
I went back to studying the box in my hands, speechless. The scenery was a little different from my other puzzle, but it still had rows of tulips and a few windmills scattered in the background. It was so pretty, even prettier now that I knew it really looked that amazing in person.Moreamazing.
“I’m not going to shy away from the things that happened the last two nights,” Blake continued. “But it was a lot, Lane. And Iknow sometimes when you have a lot to process, it helps to put something together that makes sense.”
That got my attention.
“Do you think last night didn’t make sense?”
“I didn’t say that.” He shook his head, looking at me with an earnest expression. “I might be struggling to believe it was real, but if I’m being honest, I think it was the most sensical thing we’ve ever done. But that’s just whatIthink. And I know…” He pursed his lips back together, seeming to debate if he wanted to go on.
I swallowed, waiting to hear if he would say more. He didn’t. But he did hold out his other hand, presenting me with carefully wrapped ceramic flowers.
“I also found these when you’d gone off to the bathroom at one of the stores,” he said. “I wanted to add a little color to the apartment. Figured you might like that.”
