Page 82 of Dare Me

He took the stairs two at a time with his suitcase in one hand and the bag of Ghirardelli chocolates in the other. As if she were listening for him, Arianna opened the door just as he was about to knock and almost knocked him to the ground in her enthusiasm to kiss him. Will dropped everything as he wrapped his arms around her and hauled her into his arms.

“I missed you so much,” she said between kisses.

“Me too…” he replied before claiming her lips again.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” she said breathlessly, before biting his lower lip and diving back in for another kiss.

God, how this girl filled his life with joy.

He broke the kiss and simply nipped and licked and kissed her throat and jaw. “I should have taken the red eye last night so we could have been doing this all day.”

Her response was a throaty little hum at first. “I told my boss I’d be in after lunch tomorrow. I wanted us to have all the time we needed.” She moaned. “Your mouth feels so good…I love when you do that…ooh, right there, Will…” Her legs tightened around him. “Can we just…inside and…wait. Is that a Ghirardelli bag?”

Lifting his head, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Seriously? I’m ready to practically take you against the wall in the open breezeway and you’re thinking about chocolate?”

“It’s really good chocolate,” she said shyly, biting her lip.

Slowly, he lowered her to the ground. “Yes. That’s for you. I thought you might…”

“You’re the best!” she cried before bending over and picking it up. “Come on inside. Dinner’s ready!”

Shaking his head, he reached down and picked up his luggage and followed her into the apartment. “So much for my seduction skills or my overall sex appeal,” he mumbled, but whatever she made smelled amazing. In the kitchen, he found her pulling a casserole dish from the oven. “What did you make?”

“I made beef stew,” she said proudly. “Again, because of the whole timing thing, I just thought something like this would be the easiest. Plus, I made those rolls you liked so much the last time and I have a bottle of wine waiting.”

As much as he couldn’t wait to strip her down and get her into bed, Will knew how much of an effort she must have putinto this. Stepping in close, he gave her a soft kiss. “You are amazing. Thank you for this.”

Blushing, she shooed him away. “Go pour the wine and sit down while I make our bowls.”

Within minutes, they were sitting and again he was blown away by the gesture. Picking up his glass, he held it up to toast. “To us, beautiful girl. And to a night of sleeping in each other’s arms.”

“Aww…” Tapping his glass, Arianna smiled. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me too.”

“How was your flight?” They talked about his day and how smoothly everything went and Arianna told him about how her day was a little boring because they had a leak at work and had to cancel appointments. It was one of the reasons she could actually change her schedule so she didn’t have to go in until after lunch.

“So it wasn’t really about us sleeping in and all that,” he teased.

“No, but it worked out that way, and I figured I’d go with it.” With a wink, she took a sip of her wine. “What about you? Are you going to have to be up and out of here early tomorrow?”

“Actually, I didn’t give Liam any specifics on when I’d be back. I just figured I’d text him in the morning. He hasn’t called to tell me that there was anything urgent that we needed to do, so I’m good with sleeping in too.” Reaching over, he took her hand in his and kissed it. “Or…not sleeping. You know…as in…”

“Oh, I know exactly what you’re saying and I’m glad we’re on the same page,” she said silkily. “And as soon as we’re done eating, we can start on all that…not sleeping.”

It was almost comical how fast they finished, and when he went to put his dishes in the sink, she slapped his hand away. “What? I just thought…”

“No thinking,” she said. “I’ll deal with them tomorrow.” Taking his hand, she led him out of the kitchen, but at the door to her bedroom, she stopped. “Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

Looking up at him, she frowned. “I like your bedroom better. It’s bigger and your new bed is way more comfortable.” Pausing, she added, “No offense.”

“Please, we both know that was just an impulse buy because I needed a mattress fast. I wouldn’t be offended if you replaced it.”

“Oh. Okay, whew!” Pressing in close, Arianna smoothed her hand over his chest. “So then maybe you wouldn’t mind if we went across the hall?”

“Not even a little bit.” And in the blink of an eye, he had his suitcase in his hand and was ushering her across the hall.

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