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‘It doesn’t work like that. It’s not a one-for-one system. It’s …’ He sighed and pushed off the bed.

For a moment, Skye thought she’d angered him. She even opened her mouth to apologize. But TJ stripped the condom and walked into the bathroom to dispose of it. When he came back, he climbed onto the bed completely naked and with no self-consciousness. He pulled the covers back, grunted exaggeratedly as he lifted her hips to roll the comforter out from beneath her.

Skye smiled, but then he fluffed her pillows and dragged her up the bed to prop her against them. He lifted the comforter over her boobs, tucked it around her sides, and instead of getting in next to her, lay in her lap over the covers, his head resting on her thighs, his lean, muscular body splayed out for her.

The intimacy of his every gesture clogged her throat. Skye raised one unsteady hand to his head, ran her fingers lightly over his short hair, so that it prickled her skin.

TJ grunted and pressed his head more firmly into her hand.

They stayed like that for minutes, not talking, just basking. Being.

‘It’s not an exchange,’ he said finally. ‘It’s a give and take, sure, but not act for act. Nothing you could do to me could be sexier than the way you ride my mouth when you’re close to coming. I’d rather that than a hand job or a blow job any day.’ He sighed. ‘I’m not explaining this well. But I want you to know: I’ve been with dozens of women. Experienced women. Beautiful women—’

‘Okay,’ she drawled.

TJ’s smile curved against her thigh over the blankets. ‘This was different for me.’

Skye was both immensely pleased and embarrassed at the same time. ‘You don’t have to give me words—’

‘I do. Absolutely,’ he argued. And then he said those two that terrified her so much. ‘It matters.’

‘TJ, I can’t—’

‘I’m not asking you for anything,’ he assured her, soothing. ‘But I am telling you because words are important. I don’t want you to think the first guy you slept with did it because you were available and willing.’ He flipped over, rested his back against the headboard, and when she didn’t move, he reached for her, tugged her into his arms. ‘You matter,’ he said, and he kissed her on the top of the head.

Skye nestled in, snuggling deeper into the blankets, deeper into his arms. She was too afraid to give him any more of herself, too afraid to give him all the words sitting on her tongue, unspoken. Words like, I need you, Thank you, and I don’t think there will ever be anyone quite like you.

The part of her that had been so routinely torn down couldn’t bear to trust another, a man, so soon. She second-guessed all those new feelings, told herself she was just infatuated – and worse, grateful. She was terrified that if she said those things to him, he would freeze up and try to let her down easy.

So, she didn’t.

But she did relax against him, content to laze with her lover. The thought made her smile, and when TJ caught it, he asked, ‘What?’

Skye said, ‘I have a lover.’ And she said it proudly.

‘Damn right you do.’ He tugged the covers off her breasts, sucked one hard nipple into his mouth, so that she sighed and raised her hands to hold his head close.

TJ pulled back almost as soon as her body responded.

‘Hey!’ Skye pouted.

‘Brakes on, pretty girl.’

‘Why?’

‘I still have to take you on a date.’ He looked at the clock on the side of the bed. ‘We missed our dinner reservation, but we could still hit up a bar. I’m not drinking for tomorrow, but I can look after you while you do.’

She shook her head.

‘No?’ he asked. ‘We could—’

‘I want to stay here.’ As true as the words were, she also knew that, had she not been there, he would have been home preparing, resting for his ride.

‘You sure?’

‘Yes. We can order room service, watch a movie, and actually get some sleep.’

‘You want to stay overnight – with me?’ he asked.