Текст книги "Watch Over Me"

Автор книги: Sydney Landon

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TOO HOT TO HANDLE

Maybe he was asleep and this was a dream. There was no way Gwen Day, the woman he’d wanted from the first moment he saw her, was here now, touching him . . . damn near everywhere. “Er . . . Gwen . . . babe, did you need something?”

“You could say that.” She pushed him back a few steps before shutting the door behind her. Just when he thought this encounter couldn’t get much weirder—or hotter—she leaned down, grabbed the hem of the slinky black dress she was wearing and pulled it over her head. Then she stood before him in nothing but a black lace bra, tiny matching panties, and black strappy sandals. He was completely and totally screwed.

Also by Sydney Landon

The Danvers Novels

Weekends Required

Not Planning on You

Fall for Me

Fighting for You

No Denying You

Always Loving You

Betting on You (Penguin digital special)

SIGNET ECLIPSE

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014

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penguin.com

A Penguin Random House Company

First published by Signet Eclipse, an imprint of New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC

First Printing, September 2015

Copyright © Sydney Landon, 2015

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

SIGNET ECLIPSE and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

ISBN 978-0-698-19849-4

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Version_1

Contents

Also by Sydney Landon

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Special Excerpt from The One For Me

About the Author

As always, to my amazing husband, Tim. Our love and a sense of humor have gotten us far. I love you!

To my parents, John and Geneva Foster. Thanks for always encouraging us to reach for our dreams, no matter how far-fetched they might have sounded at the time.

Chapter One

“Well, this officially goes down as my crappiest birthday ever. Hands down,” Gwen Day moaned. She looked up to meet the sympathetic eyes of her friends, Mia Gentry and Crystal Webber. “I’m finished with men. I mean, what do you even need them for anymore?”

Crystal, who was newly divorced, nodded her head in agreement. “You got that right, girl. I have a vibrator that’s always hard, doesn’t talk back or leave the toilet seat up, or dribble toothpaste in the bathroom sink. I’ve come more in the last six months with my plastic boyfriend than all of my combined years with my ex. If I’d had one of those suckers when I was twenty, I’d have never gotten married.”

Beside Crystal, Mia gave them a sheepish look. “Um . . . well . . . I like my man just fine and trust me . . . he’s always hard whenever I want it.”

“You suck,” Crystal grumbled. “The rest of us don’t have a perfectly wonderful, hottie boyfriend like Seth Jackson. You could at least share him, you know. Have you two considered broadening your horizons with a threesome? Because I’d totally be up for it.” Wiggling her brows, she added, “I seem to remember you mentioning a certain threesome fantasy featuring Suzy Merimon and her hubby, Gray.”

The conversation between her close friends had distracted Gwen momentarily from her pity party but she soon returned to brooding. She had no interest in her vibrator, although she agreed with Crystal that men were completely overrated. She had thought all of that was changing for her when she met McKinley Powers. His company handled the security for Danvers International, where she worked. He was drop-dead handsome with his short military haircut that he still favored even after leaving the Marines, not to mention his rock-hard body that never failed to make her heart race and knees tremble. The fact that he was a genuinely nice guy was an added bonus.

When they had first started dating, Mac had been more than content with her “taking things slow” request, which maybe should have been her first red flag. After they’d been going out for a month, he still hadn’t put any type of pressure on her to move beyond kissing. By the end of the next month, she was horny and frustrated. It had seemed like he was the one now wanting to take it slow when she was ready to rip the clothes from his buff body.

They had engaged in some make-out sessions that never progressed past second base. He always pulled back when he got too close to third base, and dammit . . . crossing home plate had become just a distant dream.

Gwen knew all of the books said never to let a man determine your self-worth, but she had been really struggling with that one after Mac’s silent refusal to have sex with her. Until she finally put all of the pieces together and figured out that it might not be who she was that was the problem, but more important, who she wasn’t—Ava Stone.

Mac was good friends with the Stone siblings, who also worked for Danvers. There was Declan, who had served with Mac in the military; Brant, who was Declan’s older brother; and then there was Ava. She was an attractive blonde Gwen had seen around the office on several different occasions. She had come to understand that there was possibly something more than friendship between Mac and Ava when she witnessed Mac completely losing it because his coworker and good friend, Dominic Brady, had given Ava a ride on his Harley. Mac had been so upset that warning bells had gone off in Gwen’s head.

From that point on, her relationship with Mac was on borrowed time and she knew it. He had become more distant than ever. He forgot to call her, didn’t return her calls, and was just generally unavailable, physically and emotionally.

So, one evening she had gone to his house to talk and just to spend some time with him, and he’d taken off almost immediately after receiving a call concerning Ava. Gwen had decided to wait it out and see if he came back home. When he finally did, hours later, they had ended it. There was no fight, no ugly words, or insults. It was very civilized. Gwen might not be happy with Mac for dating her while he was hung up on Ava, but he had been honest with her in the end and she knew that it had really upset him to hurt her.

Her self-esteem had been limping along since that evening—until Mia had dropped her bombshell this morning. Mia had heard from her friend Suzy that Mac and Ava had gotten married over the weekend in Las Vegas. Gwen definitely hadn’t been expecting that blow. She had figured she would be tortured for a while seeing them as a couple around the office. She had never expected Mac to break up with her and then almost immediately tie the knot. God, was she now the woman men dated right before they found “the one”?

She had been so lost in thought that she almost jumped from her seat when Mia’s hand landed on her arm, shaking it excitedly. “I know—let’s have a girls’ night tonight! Seth’s leaving this afternoon on business for a few days so I’d love to go out. How about you, Crystal?”

Gwen was secretly hoping that the other woman would veto the whole thing because she wasn’t really in the mood to socialize. She just wanted to go home, eat herself into oblivion, and watch some man-hating movies on Lifetime. Of course, she’d probably run right into Dominic at the apartment complex where they both lived. Geez, she needed to move now. Wasn’t it just her luck to live doors away from Mac’s friend? Dominic was already so annoying . . . okay hot—completely, smoking hot—but still annoying.

It was no one’s business if she peeked through her blinds every time she heard his boots in the hallway. Yes, dear Lord, she had to admit to herself that she could distinguish the sound of his tread from the rest of her neighbors. He just looked so good in his cargo pants and those tight shirts. And some evenings she was even lucky enough to catch him in all of his masculine glory after returning from a run. Shirtless . . . and wearing those low hanging shorts he favored. She loved the sight of his hard body with those rippling muscles, glistening sweat, the tattoos, the . . . “Hmmm?” Gwen looked around to see both Mia and Crystal staring at her.

Crystal smirked. “Honey, where was your head at? You just moaned and your eyes went crossed.”

“And you have some drool on your chin,” Mia pointed out helpfully.

Gwen felt her face flush as she quickly ran a hand across her mouth. Darn it, there was drool there. Freaking Dominic Brady! “I . . . er . . . was just thinking about dinner.”

“Yeah, sure.” Crystal grinned. “Whatever you say. So anyway, how about drinks at Hawks tonight?”

Mia rubbed her hands together. “Ohhh, going the sports bar route, I like it. Seth would hate it, so it sounds perfect to me.”

Gwen found herself agreeing. Surely an evening out with her friends was better than sulking at home. After all, her ass was big enough and adding another pint of ice cream to it wasn’t going to help things any. Tonight she would have fun and forget all about Mac—and Dominic. How hard could that be?

*   *   *

Dominic Brady sprawled back on his sofa with a big sigh of contentment. Jet lag was a real kick in the ass. Maybe he was just getting old, but flying to Vegas and back in less than forty-eight hours was not something that he cared to do often. When he was in the Marines, he and his friends had lived for quick trips like that. They’d get a few days off and make the most of it. Sin City was a frequent destination back then. Now, just being home in his apartment in Myrtle Beach was much closer to heaven than the bright lights and the scantily clad women on the strip. Yeah, hell, only thirty-three and he officially sounded old.

The trip this weekend had been for a good cause, though. One of his best friends had gotten married to the woman he’d loved all of his life. It had been a long, rocky, and uncertain road for them, but Mac and Ava had finally worked it out and Dominic couldn’t have been any happier for them. He and Mac, along with Gage Hyatt, owned a company together called East Coast Security. They monitored and provided security for many high-end companies, including Danvers International, which housed their headquarters.

For Dominic, the job and the location fit him perfectly. His family lived in Georgia, so he was close enough to visit when he wanted and far enough away to keep his nosy mother and sister out of his business. He loved them dearly, but they had been trying to find him the “right woman,” since he was potty trained. If he still lived closer to home, they’d be herding single women past him like an assembly line. The fact that his sister had married her high school sweetheart and promptly popped out two kids put only that much more pressure on him.

He had just started on his second Corona and was watching SportsCenter when he heard a sound at his door. It was more like someone moving against the frame than knocking. Biting off a curse, he reluctantly put his beer down on the coffee table and went to check. It was likely no one coming to visit him. His neighbor at the end of the hall liked to party, and even though he always tried to keep the noise down, occasionally there were a few lost strays in the hallway.

Dominic checked the peephole, then pulled back in surprise. This was a new one. He could make out the crown of someone’s head and that was about it. He stood there for a few moments, hoping that the person would just move on. When he heard nothing but silence, he came to the resigned conclusion that he was either going to have to leave them there all night or open the door and encourage them to move on.

Swinging the door open suddenly might not have been the best idea, Dominic concluded, when a soft body landed against his. He heard a feminine giggle, then a “whoops!” He froze in place when hands started roaming his chest and then his torso. “Mmmm, you are sooo hard. . . . I knew you would be.”

What the hell? Just as he registered that what he thought was brown hair through the peephole was actually dark red, his interloper looked up, and he gasped in shock. “Gwen?”

“Dominic,” she purred back, blinking at him with wide eyes like an owl. Her hands continued to roam and he didn’t know whether to be thrilled or sorry that he was wearing nothing but a pair of basketball shorts. Her hands on his bare skin were having a direct effect on his cock and the silky material wasn’t doing much to contain it. On the other hand . . . it felt good . . . no, amazing.

Maybe he was asleep and this was a dream. There was no way Gwen Day, the woman he’d wanted from the first moment he saw her, was here now, touching him . . . damn near everywhere. “Er . . . Gwen . . . babe, did you need something?” He almost groaned aloud when her hand dropped to cover the bulge in his shorts.

“You could say that,” she moaned as she pushed him back a few steps before shutting the door behind her. Just when he thought this encounter couldn’t get much weirder—or hotter—she leaned down, grabbed the hem of the slinky black dress she was wearing and pulled it over her head in a move that would make a stripper proud. Then she stood before him in nothing but a black lace bra, tiny matching panties, and black strappy sandals. He was completely and totally screwed.

Still trying to be the voice of reason for some crazy reason, Dominic held out a calming hand, saying, “Babe, what’re we doing here? I mean . . . God, you’re gorgeous!” All right, maybe that last line had slipped out before he could stop himself, but holy hell, how was he supposed to stay calm when Gwen was standing in front of him, practically naked, with a come-hither look in her eyes that was making him pant like a dog in heat?

She began to prowl forward and he walked uncertainly backward—which he figured out was a big mistake when he tripped over his coffee table and landed in a heap on the sofa. “Oh goody,” she rubbed her hands together as she stopped a few inches from where he had landed. “It looks like we’re both on the same page.” Then . . . she dropped down to straddle his waist, and it was all over for him. When she grinned before pulling a strip of condoms out of her bra, he almost professed his love on the spot. Who was this woman? She certainly looked like his beautiful neighbor, but that was where the similarities ended.

He’d caught her checking him out on more than one occasion, and yes, in his fantasies, he had wanted to believe that she desired him as he did her. But she’d never given him any outward reason to believe that was true. He had certainly never imagined her showing up on his doorstep like a wet dream. So he forced himself to ask one last time, “Are you sure about this?” In answer, she ground herself against him before licking his neck. Well . . . that meant yes in his book.

He put his hands on what he had come to think of as the Holy Grail . . . her ass. It was firm, round, and drove him to distraction. Dominic had never been one to desire a skinny woman. He loved soft, lush curves and to him, Gwen had the perfect body. His only problem was deciding where he wanted to lavish his attention first. “I need you inside of me,” Gwen murmured as she bit his ear. As if to prove that point, she plastered her body against his chest, freeing his hips, before saying urgently, “Shorts off, condom on.”

Dominic had always been something of an alpha male so this role change was not only different for him, but it was also surprisingly sexy as hell. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this uncoordinated as he did his best to push his shorts down and then fumble to put the condom on his throbbing erection without causing it to blow early. At this point, he was hanging on to his composure by a mere thread.

After what was probably seconds but felt like hours, he was sheathed and past ready to feel her around him. “All right, baby, let me take care of you.”

“Yes . . . God, yes,” she breathed throatily. “I need to take my panties . . .” Refusing to let her up, he ripped one side of her flimsy excuse for panties and then the other. She lifted her hips slightly and he pulled the fabric free, sending it sailing somewhere nearby. He ran a finger through her cleft, finding it wet and swollen. “Dom . . . I’m ready, now please!”

Putting a supporting hand under her ass, he raised her body before bringing her down onto his waiting shaft. He held himself still as she cried out, afraid that he’d hurt her by going too fast. “Okay, baby?” he asked as he stroked her hip soothingly.

Gwen rose to her knees, so that he almost slid out of her wet heat before she bottomed out on him once again. “Harder, Dom!” Her demands broke what little control he had left. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close enough to devour her lips, while pumping his hips at a ruthless pace into her tight passage.

Soon, they were nothing but a tangle of shifting limbs, grinding bodies. Dominic bit, sucked, and licked every available inch of her skin, and it drove him to distraction when she did the same. He’d never really thought he would enjoy having his own nipples nipped, but damned if it wasn’t off-the-charts hot. He wanted to make it last for hours, but all too soon, he felt the familiar tingle at the base of his spine. When Gwen started to spasm around him, he was helpless to hold back any longer. But his orgasm seemed to go on forever as black dots danced through his vision.

Dominic collapsed backward as all of the blood that had been gathered down below finally redistributed throughout his body. He grazed his hand lazily up and down Gwen’s spine as she nestled against him. He knew he needed to get up and dispose of the condom, but he figured he could do that when she inevitably freaked out and ran from his apartment. He was braced and waiting for that to happen. Hell, he felt almost like the woman in this scenario, wanting to cuddle and talk about feelings and crap like that.

When Gwen sat up, he dropped his hand, already trying to distance himself. He was floored when she licked her lips and gave him a lopsided smile. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to need to do that again. Can we? Please?”

Well, hell, it was official. He had gone and lost his heart to the girl next door . . . and his best friend’s ex. In true fashion, he never took the easy route.

Chapter Two

Gwen woke up and looked around the darkened room for the glow of her alarm clock. Her head was throbbing and her body was sore—in places it hadn’t been in quite some time. Just about the time that thought hit home, she realized two things. First, there appeared to be an oven at her back and second, there was an unfamiliar weight across her waist.

Holding her breath, she moved her hand along the anchor holding her in place and hissed in shock when a voice suddenly sounded in her ear. “Baby, you’ve pretty much sucked me dry, but if you give me five minutes, I’m sure I’ll have something for you.” It appeared that he wasn’t lying because the “something” was currently digging rather impressively into her backside.

Panicked, she jumped from the bed and promptly crashed into a hard object. “Oww, damn!” she cried as she tried to get her bearings. She was holding her injured hip in one hand and trying to locate a light switch with the other when suddenly the room was bathed in brilliance. The term “bull in a china shop” had new meaning as she flailed around, temporarily blinded.

“Whoa, darling, hold still before you break your neck,” said a husky voice right before a set of strong hands encircled her hips—her naked hips. “You’re going to bruise this beautiful body, and I’ll be forced to lick it better.”

Suddenly, it hit her with the force of a freight train. “Dom-Dominic.” She blinked a few more times before letting her eyes wander down his body. Naked and big—very big. Dominic. “We had sex, like a whole lot of sex, didn’t we?” she blurted out.

“We did.” He grinned wolfishly, then licked his lips. “I must say, Red, you’re a whole helluva bag of surprises that I would have never expected, but I’m damn sure thrilled to discover them.”

Gwen felt herself flushing all the way to her roots. Oh my God, the things she’d done to him . . . the things they’d done together. She might be embarrassed now at how wanton she had been, but the memories were enough to have her squeezing her legs together restlessly. Ouch, she was sore down there in what had been no-man’s-land. But it was a good feeling—no, OMG amazing was more apt.

Now, though, she wasn’t sure what he expected from her. Was she supposed to get dressed, tell him thanks, and leave? She hadn’t really thought this through last night when she’d stumbled to his apartment after drinking a few glasses of wine . . . Okay, maybe more like a bottle with her friends. The only thing that had been on her mind had been reaffirming the fact that someone out there wanted her. She could have hooked up with some faceless stranger at the bar, but she hadn’t been able to get Dominic out of her mind. Her friends had urged her on when she’d declared that she was going to “rock his world all night long.” They had called her a cab and sent her off to battle with a lot of war cries and hoots of encouragement.

And holy mother, it had been worth all of the awkwardness she was feeling now. Thanks to her alcohol consumption, things were fuzzy in a few places, but she remembered enough to know the man was a freaking sex god. He had a huge cock and he needed almost zero recovery between rounds. She was pretty sure that they’d blown through the strip of condoms that Crystal had stuck in her bra as she was getting into the taxi. Apparently, her friend, although claiming to be celibate now, didn’t intend to stay that way for long.

When Dominic’s hands slid soothingly over her ass, she croaked out, “Um . . . so . . . I guess I should go?” She grimaced at how pathetically hopeful she sounded. She had not meant for her statement to come out as more of a question.

When Dominic released his hold on her and turned toward the bed, she fought tears of disappointment. Before she could move though, he extended his hand and grabbed her wrist, tugging her down with him. “It’s still early, babe. Come back to bed.” Without protest and possibly a tad too eagerly, she followed behind him until she was settled with her back to his chest and his arms curved around her waist, anchoring her close to his warmth. “Yeah, that’s better,” he said huskily against her neck. Wait. . . . Did he just smell her? Oh, my . . . that was seriously hot . . . and kind of disturbing since she hadn’t showered recently, but who the hell cared. She finally felt herself beginning to relax against him. Just as she was close to drifting off, he said something that had her jerking around to look at him in shock. “We need to prepare for the possibility that you could be pregnant, babe.”

“What?” She gawked at him, wondering if she’d heard wrong. “I . . . we used condoms, and that’s like ninety-nine-point-something percent effective. I mean, that’s what they do, right?”

He ran his thumb over her bottom lip while nodding. “Of course.” She smiled, thinking he was just overly cautious, when he added, “But we had the . . . mishap on the last round.”

Their last round . . . Oh God, she remembered it now. They had been in a position that she’d never imagined was even possible. It involved him standing and her legs draped on his chest while he held her arms and lifted her up and down. Wow, she felt like a world-class porn star just knowing that she’d done that. Her fond memories took a bit of a dive as she recalled the “mishap” in question. Dominic had cursed when he’d pulled out and found that the condom had ripped at some point. She had been so boneless by that point that she couldn’t have cared less. Until now. “Oh no,” she whispered. “Oh crap, I had forgotten about that.” Studying his calm face, she asked, “Do you think anything leaked out?”

The ass had the audacity to chuckle at her question. “Um, I’d say some probably got away, babe. I mean, I don’t want to brag or anything, but my boys are probably kick-ass swimmers.”

Gwen rolled her eyes and dug her elbow into his stomach. She felt a small glimmer of satisfaction when she heard him groan. “You’re not helping, you know. Can you be serious for just a minute?”

Dominic gave a resigned sigh before saying, “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Red. No need to get all worked up over spilled milk or in this case . . .”

“I get it,” Gwen rushed to cut him off. She quickly did the math in her head and felt a little better. “I think I’m in a good place cycle wise. I mean, I just had my period so I haven’t hit the midway point yet.”

Scratching his head and looking adorably confused, Dominic said, “Babe, I have no clue about women’s cycles. I’ll leave that to you. Just promise me one thing,” he added, suddenly looking serious. “Don’t keep it from me if something should change. I can handle anything but lies.”

Gwen melted back against his chest, enjoying the feeling of his arms holding her close. It had been so long since she’d had a man holding her in the early morning hours. Mac had never stayed the night with her, so she’d never experienced this with him. She had no idea what would happen between them once they left this bed and started their day, but for now she wanted to pretend, if only for a while, that he wanted her—for more than one night.

*   *   *

Gwen made it to her office at Danvers International with just moments to spare. It wasn’t as if there was a time warden standing at the elevator to punch them in and out, but she always tried to be diligent in arriving before nine each day.

She had just put her purse away and was checking her e-mail when someone tapped on her door before swinging it open. Crystal walked into her office and leaned against the corner of her desk while Mia followed, closing the door behind her. They both had identical, expectant looks on their faces. Gwen decided to sit quietly and see who broke first. Finally, Crystal blurted out, “Well?”

“Well, what?” Gwen asked as she pretended to study her computer intently.

Mia tried her hand next. “So . . . er . . . did you do it?”

By this point, Gwen was fighting hard not to laugh as she said, “Do what?” in a bored tone.

“Hell’s bells, Gwen!” Crystal snapped. “Did you get laid or not?”

“Way to blurt it right out there, Crys.” Mia rolled her eyes. Pointing to Gwen, she said, “Look at her—of course she did. I’ve never seen her looking this relaxed.”

Crystal had just opened her mouth to make a comment when there was another knock at the door. “Yes,” Gwen called out, wondering who else could possibly be dropping by this early. Most of her coworkers tended to hole up in their offices with cup after cup of coffee until at least noon.

Gwen almost swallowed her tongue when Dominic strolled in looking like sex-on-a-very-big-stick. He gave her an intimate smile that had her panties melting. “Hey babe, I know you were running late this morning so I thought you might not have had time to stop for coffee.” He lifted his hand, holding up a white cup. He walked past her friends as if they weren’t even there and put the cup in front of her. Then, he dropped a kiss on her shocked lips before whispering in her ear, “It’s decaf . . . just in case.” When she continued to sit there, staring at him dumbly, he tapped her chin. “See you tonight? I’ll make dinner.” Without waiting for a reply, which she seemed unable to give, he straightened and nodded to Crystal and Mia as he walked past. “Ladies . . . have a good day.” With that, he was gone and Gwen would have thought that she had imagined the whole thing if not for the cup of coffee sitting in front of her.

“Wait. . . . Did that just happen?” Mia asked looking shell-shocked.

Fanning herself, Crystal said, “Well, if the orgasm I just had is any indication, then hell, yeah, it did. Gwen Day, I hate you!”

Gwen felt the urge to kick herself. It wasn’t as if it were the first time that a man had brought her coffee. Mac had done that in this very office before. But something about Dominic’s visit had felt so personal . . . so intimate. Even with her friends looking on it had been as if they were the only two people in the room. And dammit, he had even bought decaf on the outside chance that she was to get pregnant. That thought alone should have her freaking out, but strangely, it felt too good to have someone watching over her. He had even mentioned cooking dinner for her as if it was a foregone conclusion that they would be together that evening. When Crystal huffed loudly, Gwen focused on her friends and stated the obvious, “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“You don’t need to know right now, Gwen,” Mia added softly. “He came for you this morning. You didn’t have to wait around on pins and needles wondering if he’d call. He laid all of his cards on the table for you.”

“He looked at you like he was going to eat you right where you sit for breakfast. It was so hot, I was practically spitting fire watching you two.”

Gwen gave up all pretense of playing it cool and sagged against her chair. “Last night was amazing. I don’t know what I was expecting, but he was so far beyond even my wildest dreams. We . . . you know . . . for hours. Every time I thought I couldn’t last another moment, he proved me wrong. I—I thought it was just the one night, but now . . . I’m not so sure.”