Page 164 of Grand Love

“But sex is your way. You think I couldn’t go without it?” I smile up at him. “You forget I went over a year!” I step back, biting my lip to suppress my laugh. “I’ll date you. No sex.”

“Good.” He nods.

“Good?” I question.

He’s gone mad. I can’t wait to see how long this will last.

“Yes, good. Now come to bed with me.” He pulls me by the hand and out of the kitchen.

“We can’t sleep together, people who date don’t sleep together.”

Leaning in, he kisses me. It’s deep and loving and everything that I needed. “Get up those stairs and into my bed. Now,” he groans against my lips.

Backing me up the stairs, he places light kisses to my lips, pausing every now and then, letting our lips linger. We walk through the bedroom door and my legs hit the back of the bed. Then I’m falling to the mattress with him on top of me.

He looks down at me, running his hand down my tank, exposing my bra. “Promise me when I—”

I cut him off with a shake of the head. “Nope!” I grin. “I can’t promise you that.”

He wets his lips, smiling lazily. “Good girl.” Climbing from the bed, he goes to his draw and fishes out a T-shirt, then tosses it to me. I watch as he pulls back the covers and then starts to unbuckle his belt.

His gaze meets mine. “Go get changed.”

This man has seen every inch of me, discovered every inch of me. Yet he expects me to go hide away to change. I smile as I slip into the bathroom, pulling the tee over my head and letting it fall to my thighs.

Tonight has been bittersweet. I feel sad about lying to Mason by not telling him about Lance, and I still don’t know how I will fully forgive him for what he’s done. But if I can’t forgive Lance, how can I ever expect Mason to forgive me? And he’s going to try, despite his lack of trust in me he wants to try this. He wants to date me. I smile and look into the mirror, cringing when I see my red blotchy eyes. It will be hard not seeing Joey, and I feel like I’m betraying him by not being there when he probably needs me most, but I also know that this will be a new beginning for me and Mason. Ellis too. I can’t let anything else get in our way.

I leave the bathroom and round the bed, feeling his eyes on me the entire time. Crawling under the sheets, I roll to my side to face him. His arm reaches out, curling around my waist and pulling me into him. Our legs entwine, slotting us together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle—creased corners and all.

It’s been too long since I’ve been here, in this bed and in his arms. Tears flood my eyes, but I don’t let them show.

“Mase,” I whisper against his warm chest, his woodsy scent making me heady.

“Hmmm,” he mutters, already sounding sated.

“I love you.”

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