We did our best to make good on my promise of fucking all over the house. After dinner, I’d been doing the dishes when her hands slipped around my waist. She undid my shorts, turned me so my back was pressed against the sink, and went down on me. Her hot mouth made me so wild, the blow job ended with her bent over the island in the kitchen, my hands on her hips and hers squealing against the quartz counter top.
Her bed became our bed.
In the morning, it was still dark out when her phone chimed with a message.
And another.
On the third ding, Anna made a sound of frustration and hunted for the phone on the nightstand. I was half-asleep in a sex coma when she bolted upright, and it snapped me wide awake.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Who’s texting you?”
“My publicist.” Her tone was hesitant. “She got a request for comment from TMZ.”
It was still too early to process anything. “What?”
“They’ve already posted it and identified you.” She turned her screen so I could see.
Pictures of me off the racetrack were always weird. I’d never understand why strangers would care about my personal life—I was barely famous. Anna had to deal with this shit way more than I did.
My first impression of the picture gave me a smile, but it froze. The invasion of privacy didn’t usually bother me, but this one? It got under my skin. Most likely because it was with her.
The photographer had captured us on the beach yesterday. Anna, in her blue-green bikini, sitting on the sand, and me beside her, my hand on her leg. The perfect timing of the shot made that innocent moment between us look like a lot more. She was gazing up at me with a dazzling smile, and my body language read like I was leaning in to kiss her.
The picture was a lie, but also not. We’d made it true only minutes later.
“Whoever took it had to be on one of those boats,” I said.
“Yeah, with a long fucking lens.” She tossed the covers aside and climbed out of the bed, marching toward the bathroom.
I followed her, wincing as she snapped on the blinding overhead light. “This is bad?” I asked. “People knowing we’re together?”
Anna skidded to a stop. She turned slowly to face me, her expression guarded. “Are we?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Okay, it’s early, so I’m not keeping up. Are we, what?”
“Together.”
“Is this a thing you do? Talking crazy in the morning?” I teased. “Of course, we are.”
She looked simultaneously relieved and nervous as she took a step in my direction, closing some of the space between us. “I mean, how does it work? We live on opposite sides of the country.”
“We’ll figure it out.” I said it with all the confidence I possessed, because I wanted this and would do everything I could to make it happen. “And whatever you want to tell your publicist is fine with me.”
“That’s what I’m upset about. Couldn’t we have had one day to ourselves? Just one freaking day?” She moved into my arms and set her warm hands on my chest. “People are going to find out, rather than hear it from us first. People like our parents.”
Shit, she made a good point. I’d need to call my mom ASAP if I wanted to save myself an earful. I’d said Anna and I had become friends, but I hadn’t mentioned I was going on vacation with her.
I hugged Anna tighter, running my hands up and down her back. “There’s a silver lining though.”
“Yeah?”
“Sam Richards is going to lose it when she finds out.”
A tiny laugh shook her shoulders. “It’s Hidenrite now. And honestly, it’s hard to dislike her, because she’s the one who got us talking.”
“True.”
She tilted her head so she could peer up at me. “Are you worried about what people will say?”