Page 27 of Ready or Knot

“We can extend the room if you want,” Carter offers.

I glance back at him and frown. One night at that hotel is more than I have in my savings. Carter shakes his head before I can say anything.

“Don’t worry about the cost,” he says. “We’ve got it covered. Do you want us to extend the room for after we’re gone?”

I blow out a breath as Logan pulls into the crowded dorm parking lot, taking the first available spot instead of hunting for something closer. As we head towards the dorm, I see my parents. I grab Carter’s hand and lean into him, a small ball of nervousness unwinding in my belly when he hums and kisses the top of my head.

“Let me chat with them. We can figure it out tonight, right?”

“Of course, Faedra.”

* * *

CARTER

“I’m ready to get out of this dress,” Faedra says once Logan gets the hotel room door open and we filter inside. She heads straight to the bedroom she stayed in last night, shutting the door quietly behind her without a glance back toward us.

Logan grabs his bag and heads into the other bedroom, Jude right behind him. He glances back at me, but I shake my head, pulling off my tie and tossing it to him. He catches it without missing a beat, shutting the door once Jude is inside.

I grab one of the waters from the restocked minibar and settle on the couch, pulling out my phone and going through some emails. There’s two from the Hawkins Corp. pushing back on the contract the team had offered. I notice I’m not actually the intended recipient—they’ve been forwarded to me by one of my upper managers. I mark them to come back to later. Amanda has sent me one, too, explaining the problem with the whole negotiation, and I sigh. I shoot back a quick email requesting her to set up a direct meeting between me and the administrator they’ve assigned to the deal.

The door opens, and I glance up, finding Faedra has changed into a set of athletic shorts and a cropped black hoodie, the creamy skin of her belly flashing with each small movement. She blows out a breath but offers me a smile, and I bask in it.

“Come join me?” I ask. She’s quick to cross the room.

“At least dinner was better than lunch,” Faedra offers as she sits next to me, a careful three inches between us.

“Logan seems to have been right with giving her some extra time,” I say. Putting my phone facedown on the coffee table, I turn toward her, adjusting so that my arm stretches across the back of the sofa.

Faedra rolls her eyes as she pulls her hair into a high ponytail in one fluid move.

“I’m still not convinced,” she says, leaning against me, messing with the cords of her hoodie as she rests her head on my shoulder. “Pretty sure my dad said something after the movers to make her back off.”

Her boldness in seeking touch is still surprising considering what she’s told us about not craving it, and it takes me an extra moment before I twist a lock of her hair around my finger. She hums, moving until her feet are tucked under her.

“What’s something you’re looking forward to in Denver?” I ask after a minute. She hums in thought, leaning into my touch when I start tracing shapes along her neck before sitting up and biting her lip.

“The different landscape,” she says after a moment. “I’ve taken so many pictures of the ocean and the city here, and I love them, but I’m excited to have new things to capture.”

“You’re a photographer?” I ask. It’s not something she’s brought up when we’ve talked late at night.

She shrugs, tracing my knee. “It’s something I enjoy.”

“I can’t wait to put your prints up at home, then,” I say.

Her eyes brighten, and my control snaps. I put a finger under her chin, tipping her head up, and I kiss her. Her response is immediate, her tongue tracing my lip in silent question that I’m happy to answer—thoroughly. When I finally pull away, her breathing is choppy and I’m hard enough that it aches. The soft, subtle notes of her jasmine scent make it even more impactful. She traces her lip, her cheeks flushed, and I groan, kissing her again.

Before I can get lost in it, though, the other door opens and the men walk back into the living area. Faedra pulls away, offering me a soft smile before resting her head on my shoulder again as Logan takes the chair across from the sofa.

While Jude pours a generous three knuckles of whiskey, Logan asks, “Did you bring that project you showed me? Or is it packed?”

Faedra lifts her head, twisting to look at Logan. I finger comb her hair, luxuriating in the feel of her subtle relaxation into me.

If she’s this responsive suppressed, I can only imagine how much touch she’ll need when she comes off of the medication. Good thing there’s three of us.

She nods. “Do you want to see it?” she asks. I press a quick kiss to her shoulder when Logan nods and she twists her legs off the couch, sitting up in a smooth movement that has my cock twitching.

Fuck, but the next several days without her are going to be long.

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