Page 48 of Legally Mine

"Baby, I've been counting the minutes."

A pang of lust shot through me almost immediately at his words, ending right in that spot I knew I couldn't let him reach. I closed my eyes and hissed a breath out between my teeth.

"But I'll wait," Brandon continued as he started massaging my hand as if nothing had happened. "If you need some time––" he stopped and gave me a sharkish grin. "And you can actually be that patient, of course––I'll wait. I'm not losing you again, Red."

Before I could reply that he would never lose me––not if I could help it––the door to the apartment opened, and Eric stomped in. He was clearly a little worse for wear: fitted gray T-shirt wrinkled in places (likely from being left on the floor for too long), light blond hair tousled past the point of looking good. He stopped short when he realized I was on the couch with company.

"Oh, hey, Cros, I didn't realize you had a date––oh, shit!"

Eric almost tripped over his large feet when he got an eyeful of who was sitting next to me, one long arm stretched carefully around the back of the sofa, the other familiar hand on my knee. I looked down and tried to brush it off; Brandon's fingers took a stronger grip.

"Hey, um, this is Brandon Sterling," I said weakly as I stood up, forcing Brandon to release my knee.

Brandon immediately stood too and took the few steps across the room. "Hi there," he said with an outstretched hand to Eric.

Eric stared at the hand for a moment, then seemed to come to his senses about who exactly was standing in the middle of his apartment.

"Mr. Sterling, of course," he said in a hurry as he returned the firm handshake. "I'm Eric Stallsmith, your, um––"

"Newest junior associate," Brandon finished kindly. "Pending your bar exam results, of course. We're happy to have you on board, Eric. Nice to meet you in person."

"Thanks. I'm very excited about starting up after I take the bar," Eric said before catching my "get out of here" look over Brandon's shoulder. He turned back to Brandon and flashed his best interview smile despite looking like he had picked all of his clothes out of a laundry hamper. "Anyway, sorry. I can see you and Skylar are in the middle of something. I'll just...be in my room."

He gave me and Brandon one last awkward glance before scuttling to his bedroom.

"Um, good night," he said briefly, and shut the door behind him.

Brandon turned back to me with an amused look, then slung an arm over my shoulder as I came to stand next to him.

"I should probably go," he said regretfully. He glanced to Eric's bedroom and shook his head. "I can't stay here. Not with a new employee." Then, leaning down so his mouth was right next to my ear: "Not with the noises you make."

I shivered, and not because I was cold. It was for the best. I couldn't go home with him yet since his ex-wife might be watching, and we had to wait regardless until I could really spend the night anyway. The pang of guilt blossomed again in my gut. Tell him, I thought.

"It's okay," I murmured as I tipped my head up.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Brandon asked in between kisses that were steadily turning into something more.

I laughed. "Tomorrow," I said, then gently pushed him away.

As he grabbed his jacket off the rungs, he gave me that thousand-watt grin that blinded me to just about everything else.

"See ya, Red," Brandon said as he snuck one last mischievous kiss, making me laugh out loud.

I watched him circle down the stairwell until I heard his footsteps echo out of the building. Then I stepped back into my apartment and closed the door. I wrapped my arms around my waist, both recalling his touch and giving myself a bit of comfort. It was painful to see him go, but at least this time I didn't have to focus solely on the fantasies. This time I knew that eventually I'd have the real thing back, even if it scared me, still not knowing exactly what we were or how we were going to do it. But it also felt really fucking amazing to know that he'd be back again tomorrow.

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