“Better?” I asked.
“Yes.”
She wrapped her leg around me, pulling me into the cradle of her body. “Okay?”
The heat of her shot through me. “Oh God, yes.”
Our eyes locked. She licked her lips. I gazed at the plump flesh, then met her gaze again.
“I want to kiss you.”
“You do?”
“You’re so fucking sexy.” I tilted my hips. “That show was for me, right?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to kiss you again? Like last week?”
“Please, Reid.”
“I need you to know something.”
“What now?” she demanded. “For someone who wants to kiss me, you talk a lot.” She pushed against me, her mouth so close I could almost taste her. “You need to shut up.”
God, I wanted to taste her. She was my obsession. But I had to tell her.
My mouth hovered over hers, desperate to connect. “We should talk.”
“Kiss first, talk later.”
“I’m serious.”
Her arm snaked around my neck, pulling me close. “So am I.”
I tightened my grip on her, frantically trying to control myself.
“I’m a virgin, Becca.”
She froze. “What?” she breathed out. Her hand gripped my ass, her body pressed tight to mine. The feel of her launched me into another orbit like a rocket and scrambled my already addled brain.
“I’m a virgin, and I want you to punch me,” I burst out.
“Punch you?”
She looked startled, and I realized what I said. “My card. I want you to punch my V-card.”
Her eyes became round and huge in her face. “Reid . . .”
“You. I want it to be you.”
I crashed my mouth to hers. As I slid my tongue along her bottom lip, she opened for me. She tasted salty, sweet, and all Becca.
Kissing her felt like coming home, to the only home I wanted.
I only hoped she felt the same.
Reid
I had no idea how long we stayed on the floor. Our mouths never separated, our bodies tightly melded. She was warm, supple, and wrapped around me. Her mouth was heaven. I would never know how I had existed before kissing Becca. Going forward, I only knew it was going to happen daily, multiple times.
She was pure opium, and I was hooked.
She slipped her hands under my shirt, skimming along my back, and under the waistband of my sweats. I bucked into her with a groan, shifting, sliding as our bodies moved across the floor. Her answering groan was different from the other noise she had been making—the low, passion-filled whimpers that turned me on. This was more guttural, almost painful. Somehow, in my lust-filled haze, I realized her hands were no longer tugging me closer, but pushing on my shoulders.
I lifted my head, my breathing hard. “Becca?” I pleaded.
Don’t ask me to stop, please don’t say it.
“I think-I think you’re screwing me.”
I chuckled, dragging my mouth along her cheek. “I don’t know much, but I do know we haven’t gotten there yet, baby.”
“No, Reid. I think I’m lying on one of your screwdrivers. It hurts.”
I sat up, pulling her with me. Sure enough, not only was she lying on a screwdriver, there was an assortment of anchors and screws under her. I rubbed her back in contrition.
“I’m sorry. I guess we got carried away.”
She snuggled into me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I don’t mind getting carried away with you.”
“Are you okay?”
She tilted her head, meeting my eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She traced my lips with her finger. “More than fine.”
I captured her hand, kissing her fingertips. “Me too.”
“Are you really?” she whispered.
“Really what?”
“A virgin.”
“I am.” I sucked in a deep breath. “I guess we actually need to talk.”
“We should,” she agreed.
“I would rather keep kissing you.”
She smiled, pushing my hair off my forehead. “Why don’t I have a shower while you work on the system? After, we can talk and figure out the rest of the day.”
“The kissing sounds so much better.”
She leaned forward, brushing her lips to mine. “We will kiss more.”
“Yeah?”
“Promise.”
“But you have plans. You told me you were going out.”
She lowered her eyes and shrugged. “I may have fibbed a little.”
I recalled Aiden’s words. She’s good.
“You were setting me up?”
She met my gaze. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Did you fake the password thing yesterday too?”
“Yes.”
I gripped her hips tight. “Did you really want Craig here?”
“No. I wanted you. But you were so distant.” She lifted her hand, running a finger over my jaw. “I . . . ah, I know, Reid.”
“Know what?”
“That you’ve been to prison.”
I jerked as if she had slapped me. “You know that, and you still want to kiss me?”
“Yes.”
“Did Aiden . . . ?” I found it difficult to believe he would have said anything.
“No one actually. I had lunch with Sandy. But she said nothing. She didn’t break your confidence.”
“Oh. She did one of her obvious, say-nothing-but-lead-you-in-the-right-direction moves . . . The slight bobbing or shaking of the head?”
“Yes.”
“She’s good at that. An expert, really. She could patent it, I swear.”
“Are you angry?”
I sighed, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “No. I’m partially relieved, to be honest. Shocked you let me kiss you, though.”
She inched forward, so our bodies were tight together. “I know how much they all respect you at the office. I also know you wouldn’t be where you are if they didn’t trust you. That says a lot about the person you are now. I don’t know what happened in your past, but if you want to tell me, I will listen.”
“I have to tell you. You deserve to know, regardless of your decision.” I swallowed hard, feeling my nerves kicking in. “You should know about me.”
“Okay. Let me grab a shower.”
Becca
We sat on the sofa, facing each other, our legs crossed. Reid looked nervous, his gaze flitting around the room. Unsure how to help him, I scooted nearer so our knees touched. Reid looked down at our position and offered me a small smile. I slipped my hand into his and squeezed.
“Whatever you want to tell me, I’ll listen.”
He gazed over my shoulder absently as he gathered his thoughts.
“I was found in a bus station when I was about two weeks old. It was around the holidays, and the station was crazy with travelers and package pickups. A woman found me in the washroom with a note pinned to my blanket reading, ‘Please take care of me because my mother can’t.’”
I held his hand a little harder. “Oh, Reid.”
“The cops were called, and I was taken to the hospital. They tried to locate my mother, but they never found her. She could have boarded a bus or purposely come to the station to drop me off or brought me from somewhere else. It was too hectic, and no one noticed.” He lifted one shoulder. “Nowadays, there are cameras everywhere tracking people—twenty-five years ago, not so much. My mother picked the perfect spot to desert me. It was crowded and busy, and she was a faceless woman in a sea of people. Even carrying a baby, she didn’t stand out.” He sighed heavily. “I suppose I should be grateful she left me where I would be discovered easily.”