Page 58 of That First Date

My nipples perk up again from feeling him so close to me.

If I lean back even the slightest bit, my back will collide with his chest.

“That looks yummy.” His mouth dangerously close to my ear.

“It is,” I choke out. Barely.

“I have a question for you, Avery.” His hand comes up to brush the hair that was hanging over my shoulders to my back. Exposing my shoulder to him. Without thinking, my head tips to the opposite side. Welcoming him to my exposed skin.

“Yes, boss man?”

His fingertips feather my skin from my bounding pulse in my neck, down my shoulder to my wrists. “Do you always look this beautiful when you wake up?”

That does it.

I relax my body back into him. His hard body presses into mine as his hands drop to the counter to cage me in while his face presses into the hollow of my neck. I’m trapped in the swoony orbit of Marc Ford, and if I’m being completely honest… I don’t think I ever want to leave.

“What is that smell in your hair?”

“Lavender,” I breathe out. “It’s my shampoo.”

I hear a deep inhale before he softly presses his lips to my shoulder.

I suck in a breath and it stays there, trapped in my lungs like I’m drowning in the waters of him. The skin under his lips feels like a branded tattoo I didn’t ask for. For the first time in my life, I want a man's lips all over me. Not just any man’s lips—this man.

“Marc,” I whisper.

One of his hands leaves the counter, and takes residence on my stomach, pressing me harder into the front of his body, and I’ve never felt so relaxed in a man's arms. I practically melt into him while my hand leaves my coffee cup to cover his hand, keeping him in place because I don’t want him to release his grip.

“I went on a long run this morning.” Another kiss to my shoulder. “I felt alive. My heart was pounding with every step that I took, while I breathed in the fresh air and the smell of fresh cut grass of the suburbs. It was the perfect way to wake up.”

“Okay?”

“But then I saw you walk into the kitchen…” His words stop as he presses his hips into mine. His erection pressing into my lower back. I exhale the long breath in an attempt to regain some composure. “Not even pounding the pavement the way I did today, can get my heart racing the way being in your presence does.”

My body turns quickly in his tight hold. The front of our bodies now molding together as his hand dips to the lowest point of my back, keeping me in place against him. My hands grip his biceps as if my life depends on this moment. Like I’ll fall if I let go.

I already know he’s turned on by the bulge in his shorts pressing against me.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t soaked standing here.

“You know that a high heart rate left untreated can lead to a lot of cardiac issues,” I tease him a little bit, trailing my hands up his arms and sliding them around his neck. His pulse races under my palm.

“Unfortunately for me, the only way I can avoid that is by avoiding you, it seems.”

“Hmm.” I smirk.

“And you’re delusional if you think that will ever happen.”

I bring my mouth closer to his before I say, “What if—”

I’m cut off by the sound of the sliding door opening.

The two of us break away from each other as if we were just caught doing something we shouldn’t be doing. Which is partially true. Neither of us should be letting this go further than it is because what happens when this arrangement is over?

“Oh hi, honey.” My mom beams, before she looks at Marc who's still very much shirtless and adjusting his shorts. “Good morning, Marc.”

“Good morning, Ms. Woods.”

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