Page 83 of No More Heartbreakers

“Excuse me. Hello. How are you? Would you like to come in? Oh, you would? Please do. Nowwhatis going on? Why all these questions about Nashville?”

“Yousaidyou were ready to move on.” His expression was accusatory and… hurt.

“Yes, and I’ve finally gotten my reel to where it’s almost good enough to send out. I was planning to apply for a couple of jobs that I saw on Medialine. And I didn’t contact your friend in Nashville, because honestly, I don’t think there’s any chance I’ll get the job. I’m not ready. Why would they want someone from market 133 with a thick accent?”

“Because you’re good. You are ready. And your accent’s gotten a lot lighter. Have you been doing the drills?”

“Yes, I have.” I purposely laid on the Southern accent extra-thick and creamy, sidling up to him, stopping just before the fronts of our bodies touched.

“Any other questions?”

Aric’s expression softened into a reluctant smile. I rose on my bare toes and stretched my arms up around his neck, pressing into him and causing the nightshirt I wore to rise high on my thighs.

His hands automatically went to my waist, but there was still too much tension in his body. My fingers sifted through the hair at the back of his head and rubbed the nape of his neck.

He let out a soft groan, closing his eyes in pleasure before opening them again to focus on me.

Caution still edged his voice. “Only one. Are you really ready to move on from Hale?”

Ah, and now we got to what was really going on in his head. “Yes. In fact, I was making sure he understood that tonight when you walked in on us.”

“That’s not what it looked like,” he said in a bruised tone.

I continued stroking the back of his neck. The increased pace of his breathing let me know it was working.

“Well, that’s what it was.”

He dipped his head to drag his lips up the side of my neck. Nowmybreath was coming more quickly.

“Poor bastard,” Aric muttered between kisses. “You’d be impossible to get over. I’d hang on to any shred of hope, too, if I were him.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’s still—”

“I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” Aric continued to work on my neck, making the rest of my body eager to get in on the action.

“Neither do I.”

I shifted so our mouths were aligned and kissed Aric, licking his bottom lip the way I knew he liked. He immediately responded by deepening the kiss, pulling me so tightly against his body it was hard to breathe.

After a few minutes of concentrated kissing, I withdrew slightly. “So are you staying?”

Without removing the arm that held me close to his body, he reached out and slammed the door closed.

My nerve endings erupted into a joyful chorus, anticipating the pleasure to come.

Though we hadn’t donethe deed, Aric had turned out to be the owner of some very talented hands. He’d made sure I’d gone to bed happy quite a few times in the past few weeks.

That wouldn’t be enough for tonight. To hell with waiting—I wanted to give him pleasure, too. I wanted Aric to be as slavishly addicted to my hands and mouth as I had become to his. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer this time.

We’d figure out the future when the time came.

I backed into my small living area, pulling Aric with me. When we got to the couch, I maneuvered us around and pushed him back to sit on it. He smiled up at me and lifted one eyebrow—he looked a little surprised and a lot turned on.

Feeling brave and determined, I climbed onto his lap to straddle him.

Aric’s eyes dropped to the front of my thin nightshirt and stayed focused there a few seconds before dropping lower.

He used the tip of one finger to slowly lift the bottom hem, revealing my lacy white panties. I had to smile at his harsh intake of breath.

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