“I want you to stay.” I lead him into my bedroom and turn to face him so I can unbutton his shirt to reveal the amazing tattoo that spans his entire chest that I admired the first time we were together. It’s a sphinx with the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle. The artwork is detailed and colorful and makes me wish I had all the time in the world to study it. Like the last time I saw it, I want to ask why he chose that particular image, what it means and how badly it hurt to have it done.
But like the last time, he kisses me, and I forget everything else.
Wyatt lifts my top, and I break the kiss long enough to let him take it over my head. His eyes go hot when he sees my breasts testing the confines of the sexy bra I wore in case we ended up just like this. “Damn,” he whispers. “You’re so fucking hot. I’ve thought about you so much after our night together.”
See why I like him so much? Wyatt isn’t going to be my future, but I’m thrilled he’s my right now, and I plan to enjoy every second of this encore performance.
He continues to undress me, and since he seems to enjoy it, I let him have his fun. With every new part of me he uncovers, he’s more appreciative. I remember that from our first time together, the way his attention did wonders for my wounded pride. When your boyfriend up and marries a blonde bombshell, the wounds run deep. Wyatt’s commentary and obvious pleasure in how I look made me feel better about myself than I had since disaster struck.
Wyatt guides me to the bed and arranges me the way he wants me before he kneels before me and dives right in, giving me lips and tongue and fingers in one coordinated effort that has me wailing in about two seconds flat. I’ve never even heard some of the sounds that come out of me before he had his wicked way with me.
I heard him when he said this couldn’t be anything more than what it already is, but as he gives me the fastest orgasm of my life, I’m full of regret for what might’ve been. He’s fun, funny, crazy intelligent, sexy as hell, and he’s shown me desire unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, but for whatever reason, he doesn’t want to be tied down. Why should he, when he looks like he does and is a freaking heart surgeon, for crying out loud?
He can have all the women. What would he want with only one?
“Hey.” His lips are on my inner thigh as his fingers continue to slide in and out of me. “Where’d you go?”
“Nowhere. I’m here.”
“You checked out on me.”
And he sees me. Doesn’t that just figure? I finally find the unicorn, and he doesn’t want to be pinned down.
He kisses his way up the front of me, teasing my nipples with his tongue as he kisses a path to my lips. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
I decide to be honest with him. What have I got to lose? “I’m trying to stay unattached, but then you swoop in and do… that…” I gesture down below with my hand. “And it’s hard to remember I’m not allowed to keep you.”
He drops his head to my chest. “I’m sorry, Dee.”
“Dear God, don’t be sorry for giving me the best orgasm I’ve ever had. It’s just that a girl could become addicted to that kind of action.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Yes, I heard you. Which led me to wonder why you’d want only one woman when you can have all the women.”
Looking up at me, he seems stricken. “That’s not it at all.”
I shrug. “It’s none of my business.”
“I swear that’s not it, Dee. If I were in a place to be with someone, I’d want that someone to be you. You’re all I’ve thought about for months.”
I need to stop this before he ruins me. With my hand on his chest, I give a gentle push. “Up.”
He withdraws from me and sits on the bed.
I reach for the throw blanket from the foot of the bed and wrap it around myself. “I don’t think I can do this. Wait, that’s not true. I don’t think I should do this.”
Wyatt looks down at the floor, making it impossible for me to know what he’s thinking or feeling.
“I’m not a fling kind of girl,” I add softly. “Despite how I behaved after the wedding, that’s just not me. I don’t have casual sex, or I never did before I did it with you, and even that didn’t feel casual. It felt important, and I’ve thought about you a lot since then, too.” I swallow the huge lump that’s taken up residence in my throat. “And when you tell me you’ve been thinking of me and… I can’t.”
“I understand.”
I’m glad one of us does. “I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t be.” He leans in to kiss me. “I enjoyed every second I spent with you.”
“Same.”
Realizing I might not see him again makes me feel desperate for something more. “I’ll still show you Miami if you’d like to. I don’t work again until Tuesday.” I can do that much, or so I tell myself.
“I’d love to see Miami with you.” He buttons the shirt he never took off and kisses me again. “I’m going to head back to Jay’s.”
“I’ll pick you up there in the morning? Around ten?”
“Sounds good.”
“Sleep well.”
“You, too.”
I watch him go, wishing for things that’ll never be, and wait until the door closes before I go to lock up. My legs feel wobbly after the rather exceptional orgasm he gave me as a parting gift.
Chapter 6
WYATT
I feel sick. Leaving Dee is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a long time, especially since all I want is to be with her, even if we only talk. I love talking to her. I’ve been lucky these last seventeen years. I’ve never met a woman who made me want more, so I was able to skate through life relatively unscathed, protecting my fragile heart from anything even close to heartbreak.
Until now.
I want to rage at the sheer injustice of having finally met a woman who checks all my boxes, only to have to walk away from her to spare us both from eventual disaster. I simply cannot subject her to the reality that is my life—and I can’t do it to myself, either.
But God, I want to, and oh, how I ache from knowing I just can’t.
In the Uber, I text Jay to let him know I’m on the way back to his place.
Hit me up when you get here, and I’ll buzz you in.
Will do.
I didn’t want to leave Dee. I would’ve given anything to spend another night with her, even if nothing else happened between us. Just being in the same room with her gives me a feeling of joy I’ve never experienced before. It’s the highest of highs—and it’s the best sort of high, the all-natural kind.
I’ve watched my brother and friends fall in love, settle down, give up their freedom for the chance to spend forever with one person, and I’ll admit I just didn’t get why they’d do that. Since meeting Dee, spending time with her, sleeping with her and then thinking about her obsessively for months, I’m starting to understand.
If they feel for their partners the way I do when she’s nearby, then I see why they’d take the plunge if it means holding on to that amazing feeling for as long as they can.