I couldn’t believe we were having this talk in the movie theater lobby, but I was glad we were having it at all. Because being with him only proved that I refused to go through another three weeks of will he or won’t he.
He didn’t answer right away. Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. No way was I going to cry minutes after watching the same movie back to back about a kick-ass heroine who saved the world.
Tucking a finger under my chin, he raised my face until I met his gaze. “I have a demanding job with asshole clients who think I’m at their command twenty-four seven. And since they’re paying me millions, I kind of am. I don’t want to jump into a relationship only for you to feel like my job is my mistress. All I know right now is that I can’t quit thinking of you and I don’t want anyone else.”
“I guess we can start there, then.” I couldn’t escape the feeling that his job was a cop-out, that if he wanted to make it work, he could. But what did I know about running a business of that magnitude? Teaching required a lot of work off-hours, and each hour of tutoring took another hour or two of planning, organizing, and bookkeeping.
Only a couple of people drifted past us now. The next showing would start soon, and it was on the other side of the theater. I tried to lighten the mood. “Now that your dirty secret is out, what do you want to do the rest of the night?”
A flash of alarm crossed his face, but it was gone so fast I must’ve imagined it. “We have one more movie to watch.” He slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a ticket stub. “And then I get to show you all the things I’ve been thinking of since I got home from the cabin.”
A thrill shot through me. He’d bought a ticket to watch the 10:15 with me? I could’ve melted. “And then it’ll be my turn!”
Flynn
By the time we crossed the threshold into her house, I had nearly recreated my first time with Tilly. I’d been with her for hours, unable to talk to her much because of the movie. The quick heart-to-heart conversation between showings had left me emotionally ragged. Especially when she’d said my dirty little secret was out.
By the time she’d joked about racing me back to her place, all I’d wanted was to lose myself in her curves and forget about my shitty past and the dirty deed I had to live with.
I’d taken her against the wall before we’d fallen into her bed. We hadn’t done anything more than cuddle since the first frenzied round of sex. I wanted to feel all of her. The terror that had grabbed me by the short hairs and refused to let go as soon as Becky had spoken was still with me.
And then Tilly had apologized to me for being the one to drive me to such behavior. She was so much better than me.
Could I tell her the truth about my mom and sister one day without fearing she’d lose that look of adoration I’d come to crave?
“What are you thinking about?” she murmured. She was stripped naked and curled into me, her back to my front. My erection pressed between us, but I was content to stroke her silky skin—for now.
“How amazing you are. And that you taste like cinnamon.”
She chuckled, making her body shake and teasing my cock. I groaned and snaked an arm around to palm a breast, its weight in my hand better than a stress ball.
“Flynn.”
That tone. My happy contentment drained out of me. This was it. She was going to ask about my past.
“You never talk about you.”
“There’s not much to me.” The words rang with truth. Until Tilly had barged back into my life, I’d done nothing more than work and loiter at the clubs until I found someone to stave off the loneliness for a night. Most of the women I met were all decent people. There was the typical mating dance of the human species, one I was tired of. The congenial chatter, the flirtation, the illusion of future possibilities. Women like Becky who were interested in the same no-strings deal I was weren’t as satisfying as I’d led himself to believe. Then there were the ones who read into the way I dressed, how freely I spent money on dinner and drinks, what I drove and targeted me.
My only contributions to the world were the buildings I built. For other people.
“What about your family? Was it just you and your sister?”
I didn’t answer immediately, just trailed my fingers over her skin while deciding what to tell her. I settled on the majority of the truth. The part I was most ashamed of wouldn’t need to be shared. But before I did, I needed her.
Rising over her, I nudged her onto her back. Her look of disappointment stalled me
“One more time first. I promise I’ll tell you about my shitty past.” Admittedly not as deplorable as hers. But she’d been an innocent victim, at the mercy of those she should’ve been able to trust with her well-being. I’d failed the one person who should have been able to rely on me for her security. I stroked her face. “I need this. I need you.”
She nodded and opened herself to me, cradling me between her legs. I snagged a condom and rolled it on so there’d be no interruptions.
I dipped my head and caught a nipple between my lips. This was my turn to be selfish, to linger over her body, and savor her taste and reaction.
She arched her back as I swirled my tongue, my other hand stroking a path down her stomach, over the rise of
