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He grinned at her. “The kind of dessert I want isn’t on this menu.” She laughed a little, and the tension was broken.
After he paid for dinner and drove her back to the condo, he kissed her good-night outside her condo door. He wanted her—badly—but he didn’t want to make any assumptions. He would let her set the pace.
But she deepened the kiss and grabbed his shirtfront with both hands, practically dragging him into her condo. In a tornado of flying clothes, they made it to her bedroom, and they sank down on her palm-tree bedspread, neither one able to get enough of the other, their mouths hungry for one another.
“God, Laura,” he breathed, not sure if he’d ever felt this passionate about anyone, not even Elle. He wanted to be inside this woman now.
He flipped her over so she was on top, her thick dark bob swinging forward as she straddled him. She broke the kiss and sat up and he felt her delicious weight against him. He hardened beneath her pelvis as she moved slowly against him. She grinned, a look of mischief in her green eyes.
“Someone’s eager,” she said.
“You have no idea,” he murmured, feeling his whole body on fire for her.
She laughed deep in her throat, and he felt the reverberations all the way in his stomach. God, she was the sexiest woman on earth. He had no desire for anyone else in that moment. All he wanted was her.
He remembered her last time—wet, soft and eager and how she’d moaned beneath him, her faced flushed with pleasure as he brought her to climax. He wanted badly to do that again, to see her overtaken by ecstasy.
She put both hands on his chest. “But first, we need to talk.”
“Now?” It seemed the worst possible time to talk.
She reached behind her and grabbed the small plastic bag on her nightstand. “We should be using one of these.” She pulled a condom package from the bag.
Condoms. Of course. He should’ve thought of that. He should’ve. So why hadn’t he? Part of him knew why. He wanted to feel her bare once more. She’d been so delicious, so amazingly wet.
But condoms. That’s what they should be using.
Even though, wasn’t the horse already out of the barn? He pushed the thought away. No. Condoms were the right thing to do.
“Yes. Of course.” It was the safe, rational thing to do. They should’ve done this the first time.
“I mean, I hate these, just so you know, but we really need to…”
“I get it.” Mark wiggled out of his pants. She took the condom expertly in her hands and then slid it down the length of him. He groaned beneath her touch. Condoms wouldn’t be so bad, after all, he thought, as she lifted up her dress and pulled it over her head.
He admired her lacy bra and she slipped it off, exposing two perfect breasts. He cupped them in his hands, admiring their weight as she arched her back, pushing herself into him. She straddled him then, and he was once more inside her.
After that, he didn’t give the condom another thought.
* * *
AFTERWARD, AS THEY both lay spent and sweaty in each other’s arms, Laura grew quiet.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked as he traced her bare shoulder with his finger.
Laura hesitated, and he could feel her reluctance as she rested her head on his chest.
“Edward told me…that you had Elle arrested.”
“What?” Mark felt his blood pressure rise as his hand stopped, mid-caress. “What did he say exactly?”
Laura lifted her head and met his gaze, the look in her eyes uncertain. “That you had her arrested for neglect. Because of Timothy…”
Mark shut his eyes. He couldn’t deny it, but it’s not how Edward framed it, he was sure.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, rolling away from her. He sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed, keeping his back to her. “I’m sure Edward painted me as a monster going after a grieving mother.” Mark felt his shoulders tighten once more. He knew the story Edward told. He told it all over the island, which was why Mark had so few friends. No one bothered to ask him his side of the story. Now here was Laura, ready to jump right in with the pitchfork crowd. Why did that hurt so much?
“What happened?” she asked, moving to him, putting her arms around him from behind. “Can you tell me? I’m not saying I believe Edward. All I’m saying is he said some bad things.”
Mark nodded, weighing whether or not he even wanted to try to defend himself. After all, what was the use? Most of the island had judged him and found him guilty.
“Mark. Please. I want to know.”
Mark sighed. He thought about the little detail Edward left out. About Elle. He still felt strangely protective of the woman, even though everyone on the island thought he had been determined to see her behind bars. That wasn’t it at all.
