Page 98 of Forced Proximity

By day two, I told her I didn’t care if it made me sound like the most needy, codependent human on earth, but I didn’t want to spend a moment without her. So, she joins me everywhere. She still scans rooms when entering, and her posture squares when people approach. But I’m pretty confident after a while, she’ll relax.

We have resumed our nightly movie watching routine, but this time we snuggle under a blanket, my hands usually exploring her softness until she quivers. We go on dates and walks and play basketball but spend an extraordinary amount of time in my bedroom. And couch. And gym. And a couple of times in the kitchen.

I roll on my back, and she rests her warm cheek against my chest. ‘You hungry?’

‘Not yet.’ She kisses my chest. ‘I need five more minutes of cuddle time.’

The possibilities for us are endless. I found my love, the person I want to be with forever. Everything about her brings me joy, from how a piece of hair falls from her ponytail and butterflies down her face to how her lips are so deeply pink when she first wakes up. How we stay up late, talking about everything from her former marriage to me throwing up on a co-star during my first movie, to her random desire to hold an iguana. I’ve never been more sure of anything before – I’ve found the one.

Last week Lexi told me she didn’t realize how much she’d missed physical touch all these years after her and Katey divorced, and sparring with Marcus didn’t count. Every moment she could, she hugs me, or holds my hand, or kisses me, and made me promise I’ll stop her if it ever became too much.

It will never be too much.

I will even take Zane’s side grins and whispers that they manifested Lexi and me getting together and planted rose quartz crystals all over my house that I apparently haven’t noticed. Honestly, and I’ll never admit it to Zane, but I don’t care what helped get us together. Crystals, Zane lighting candles, whatever. I’m so goddamn grateful.

She trails her fingertips over my arm with a sigh. ‘I don’t want to go back to work next week.’

Words I never thought I’d hear from her.

‘I’m so not ready for this honeymoon period to be over,’ she says, lifting her head to meet my gaze. ‘Although at some point, I’m gonna get sore.’

I chuckle at her devilish grin. God, those lips. A perfect combination of heaven and fire. Maybe if I stare at them long enough, I’ll forget she has to go back to work, too. Marcus was overly accommodating when Lexi requested time off. But still, it’s gone by too quick. ‘I wish you’d quit.’

‘I know you do,’ she says, wrapping her leg around me. ‘But I can’t quit my job. You know I can’t.’

I do know this. Lexi’s job is her life. At least for now. But my gut tightens anytime I think of her in danger. I keep this to myself for the most part, knowing she’d not be happy. This past month, we’ve talked about our future, taking breaks, when she’ll officially break her lease and move in permanently. But the conversation about her job is always a tad tense. Thankfully, she switched her rotation so no more twelve-hour shifts. Only weekends, high-profile conferences and executive meetings.

I kiss her hand and let the conversation drop, taking it as a win that the assignments she used to deem as too boring, she’s now okay with accepting.

‘Come on.’ I remove the covers. ‘Let’s get some breakfast.’

After showering and tossing on clothes, we move to the kitchen. I whisk the eggs and steal as many peeks at her grinning face as I can, still in a perpetual state of disbelief. Lexi’s here. With me.

After she injects her insulin, she moves behind me and wraps her arms around my waist. The heat of her body pressing into my back leaves the best, most delicious imprint. Her palms press against my chest, slide down my torso and lower, and before she even reaches me, I’m hard.

‘You’re gonna make me burn the eggs again, aren’t you?’ I flip off the stove, remove the pan and lift her onto the counter.

‘Can’t help myself.’ She drops her eyes to my mouth and licks her lips.

God that devilish look of hers does so many things to my insides. I cup her face, drag my thumb across her lower lip and pull her in. Her lips are so full, so delicious. I open her legs with my hips, slide between her thighs, and cup her ass to bring her closer. She’s so perfect. Everything I’ve ever dreamed of. Her smart mouth, her brain, her body, the way her silky skin feels beneath me, the way she makes me laugh. My body aches already, my need to be in her overwhelms my senses.

‘You’re so beautiful …’ I whisper as I drop my hands from her neck, hook my fingers around her underwear, and drag them down her legs.

She melts into my mouth, trails her tongue up my neck as I palm her breast, pulling and cupping the exact way she likes, savoring her whimpers as I rotate my hips against her. I bring her to the edge of the counter, lowering myself to taste her. Fingers thread in my hair, grip the back of my neck, her smell and taste and moans make me insatiable, euphoric, urgent. Her thighs lock around me, and I know she’s close. I use my fingers, tongue, my body, and keep going until she shakes, trembles and finally collapses against me with long, fulfilled breaths. God, I could listen to her like this forever.

After she recovers, she slides off the counter and lowers herself to her knees. ‘My turn,’ she says with a smile.

And Christ … when she wraps her lips around me, my heart immediately thuds against my chest. I brace myself against the counter, hold her hair and sink into her mouth.

***

Later that morning, Lexi’s giving me one hell of a side-eye as she tugs on her workout clothes. ‘You sure you don’t want to jog with me?’

She has every right to be skeptical. Since we got together, neither one of us have jogged solo. And now with it being fall, the outside temperature with this slight cooler breeze is perfect.

But there’s something I need to do, something important, and I need to be alone.

‘Not today,’ I say kissing her forehead. ‘But we can have another workout later.’ I grab a solid handful of her perfect ass and thrust my hips like a jackhammer.