Page 9 of Fall In Love With Me (Fall In Love Again)

“Yesterday he came over, I just got out of the shower, looked a mess … then some things just … happened.”

“He’s working for Stew, right?” Gemma asks and I nod.

“So he came over to unclog your pipes?” Lauren jokes and then she laughs, but Marlena doesn’t take her eyes off me.

“So you saw him just yesterday and you two hit it off?” There’s no judgment there, but there is a note of worry in her tone. Like it’s a recipe for disaster.

“Yup,” I answer and set the glass down before crossing my legs on the porch swing and readjusting.

Lauren keeps it rocking and asks, “Was it a fling?”

“I don’t think so,” I say.

“So you like him,” Gemma teases and my smile comes back.

All I can do is nod. I really, really like him. I don’t tell them we stayed up last night talking until the early morning. I don’t tell them he brings back butterflies and all kinds of hope I haven’t had in years.

“So … are you two dating then?” Marlena asks, her smile ready to widen. The moment I answer, the girls squeal with delight and I’m forced to smile and feel at ease.

“I think so.”

AUBREY

An editor doesn’t need to wear a lace bralette and high-waisted, wide-legged pants. She certainly doesn’t need to wear heels in her own home after all the meetings of the day are over. Not that I wore this getup for the meetings. My heel tap, tap, taps as I sit perched on the bottom step, waiting for the knock at the front door with my phone in my hands.

I text Bennet that the microwave stopped working earlier today and he said he’d come by and see what he could do.

There may have been some flirtatious banter with him hinting I could pay him with dinner and me offering updessertas an extra incentive.

As it stands, my microwave works just fine. Just like how yesterday the dishwasher was just fine and the fridge the day before that.

It’s been four days in a row and yet the butterflies don’t quit.

Knock,knock.

I bite my lip to keep the smile at bay as I pop up from where I was sitting and go to my front door.

It swings open and reveals my handsome man in a dress shirt and slacks with a bottle of red wine. Plus a steely gaze that falls down my body hungrily and shamelessly.

His brow rises with surprise and he says, “You look fucking incredible.”

“I was going to say the same to you,” I answer in appreciation. His stubble is just right and I can already feel it gently scratching the crook of my neck as he takes me again tonight.

I can’t help the sweet hint of soreness that comes from clenching my thighs at the thought or the blush that rises to my cheeks.

He sees it and I’m not sure if it’s the blush or the clenching, but either way he grins as he steps inside, leaving the dusk of the spring night to fall behind us.

He stops at the sight of Chinese food lined up on the counter, plates already set. In the last week we’ve practically shared every trivia question imaginable about each other and I know lo mein and pepper steak are his favorite.

“I thought maybe I could feed you for your trouble.”

As he’s staring at dinner, I take the bottle of wine from him with both hands and make my way to the cabinet for the wine opener. “Oh, it’s a miracle by the way,” I tell him, looking over my shoulder as I reach up and notice how he’s watching my ass. “The microwave seems just fine now.” I smirk at him and he just shakes his head.

“You’re going to run out of appliances soon, Bree baby,” he murmurs, standing right where he is, staring at me in a way that only makes me hot.

Bree baby.My body heats at that little nickname he has for me. He’s got me flustered most of the day, but come night and I’m a wreck just for him. So much so, I set the first glass down a little too hard. It doesn’t break but it’s loud and I let out a little gasp.

“You need help?” he asks and doesn’t wait for an answer, coming up behind me, his chest to my back, an arm on either side of me. He lowers his lips to the shell of my ear and then teases me, “Next thing you know, you’re going to break the wine opener and it will be a real emergency for me to come over.”

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