Page 32 of Fierce- Royce

It’s not like she wanted any of her friends or family to be aware.

“It’s all going to be between the two of us only,” she said. “And I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I,” he said.

“Well then, your place or mine for this meet-up tomorrow?”

“I’ll text you my address,” he said. “If you’re good with that.”

“That works,” she said, looking around her small place. He might feel claustrophobic in it.

They talked a few more minutes and hung up.

Her brother had asked her earlier if she was happy and she’d been honest when she said she wasn’t unhappy in life.

But if he asked her right now, she’d say she was ecstatic.

11

A Great Reason

“So what was your holiday like that it prompted you to reach out to me after not doing it for weeks?” Chloe asked the minute she took her jacket off in his house.

Royce should have figured it would come up and had to decide on how much he was going to talk.

“Being horny isn’t a good enough reason?” he asked with a grin on his face.

“It’s a great reason considering what we are going to discuss, but it’s been weeks. I find it hard to believe yesterday was the day you reached a point where you couldn’t hold out any longer.”

He laughed. She was being a good sport about this. “No. I mean yes, I’ve been thinking about this for weeks, but as I said, work and life got in the way.” He stopped for a second and then said, “Yesterday just reminded me once again that I’ve got to stop doing that.”

“Ahh, someone got on your case about only focusing on work?” she asked.

“You sound like you know that from experience,” he said.

“More than I’d like,” she said drily. “Before we get to those ground rules, you look like there is more you want to say.”

He wasn’t surprised she’d figured that out. They said they were going to keep this strictly sex, but there was no reason they couldn’t be part of the friends dynamic of it too. Maybe then she’d get an idea of why he agreed to go this route.

Matter of fact, he’d like to know more about her reason too.

“Sure,” he said. “A little background from both of us might help. It seems we both had a trigger yesterday to get this moving.”

She laughed. “You had the trigger. I’ve been ready for weeks or I wouldn’t have suggested this.”

She had a point. “True. You know my parents are divorced, correct?”

“I do,” she said. “And you spent some time with your mother yesterday.”

“Yes. Elise and I drove there. About ninety minutes in the car and back and the few hours there felt like a lifetime. My mother is remarried. Her husband, Steve, was a widower with two kids. They’ve been married about fifteen years or so, dated a year to two before. I try not to keep track.”

“Are you close with Steve or your stepsiblings?”

“No,” he said. “I see Steve when I’m guilted into visiting and he’s nice enough and tries to keep the peace between my mother and us. As for his kids, it’s been years. They try not to bring us together for anything. We had brunch there and left, his kids showed up later.”

“Hmm. I find that odd. Do you not all get along?”

“Can I get you a drink or something?” She’d walked in the front door, took her coat off and he hung it up and then she moved to the living room with him and sat. He’d seen her eyes looking around his house though.

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