Anticipation (32 page)

The fact that she came willingly and practically tore his clothes from his body went a long way toward assuring him that he wasn’t the only one regretting the stupid ground rules she’d laid down. It didn’t stop him from being determined to honor them, though.

Blue didn’t respond to pushing. If he insisted on scrapping the one night rule, he didn’t doubt for a second that she’d use it as an excuse to pull the plug on their entire arrangement. No, Blue was the only one who could change or break the rules. Until then, he was bound and determined to give her what she thought she wanted, because he was bound and determined to get what
he
wanted: Blue.

That didn’t mean he was above rigging things in his own favor.

On the first Saturday, he made love to her three times, the third time so thoroughly that both of them could barely move afterward. Blue was still dozing, her cheeks flushed from a climax that had left half-moon nail impressions in his back when he nudged her and tilted his head toward the clock.

“What?” she asked, her eyes heavy-lidded with contentment.

“It’s nearly midnight. I’m happy for you to stay the night, but I know you have a thing about it.”

Blue frowned. Then she pushed her hair off her forehead and sat up.

“I should go,” she said.

He didn’t say a word, even though he wanted to point out how freaking ridiculous it was for her to go when neither of them wanted her to.

After a long pause, she threw back the covers and slipped out of bed. When she was finished dressing, he pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and escorted her to the front door.

“Drive safe,” he said.

She nodded, turning to go, but he blocked her exit with a leg across the doorway and pulled her into his arms for a goodnight kiss. She melted against him, and only the thought of his end goal made him break the kiss.

“See you on Monday,” he said.

She blinked a few times, looking so out of sorts and short changed he almost laughed.

It wasn’t really funny. If they were doing this his way, they’d still be in bed, and she would be in his arms. They’d stay that way till morning, then he’d take her somewhere nice for breakfast before maybe hitting the beach or doing something else lazy and relaxing together.

Together being the operative word in all of the above.

But Blue didn’t want together. Or so she said.

He played dirty at work, too, recruiting Renarto and Raf to shoot hoops with him in the parking lot at lunch time and then making a point of dropping into the staff room with his shirt off to grab water to cool down.

He put in a lot of effort to stay in shape and he knew Blue was susceptible to his body because she’d told him so more than once when they were in bed together. So he worked it. He braced himself against the sink and flexed the hell out of his arms and shoulders while he “casually” drank a glass of water. He watched Blue out of the corners of his eyes as he wiped his belly and chest down with his gym towel. And he crowded her in the hallway when she happened to be there at the end of one session, brushing against her breasts “accidentally” in passing.

She broke on the Thursday, hauling him into a workroom and kicking the door shut.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” she said, hands on her hips as she confronted him.

“Whoa. What’s going on?” he said.

“I’m not an idiot, Eddie. I know when I’m being played.”

“I’m not playing with you,” he said.

He wasn’t, he was in deadly earnest. More serious than he’d ever been in his life before.

“What do you call this sudden obsession with running around with your shirt off, then?”

“It’s summer. It’s hot outside.”

She advanced on him, the better to jab him in the chest with her index finger.

“Stop trying to change the rules,” she said.

He held his hands out to the side. “I haven’t said a word about the rules.”

She glared at him, and for a moment he thought he was genuinely in danger of copping a punch to the face.

“But if you want to change the rules, I’m happy to talk about it,” he offered hastily.

“Shut up, asshole,” she said, then she fisted her hand in the front of his T-shirt and dragged him close for a kiss.

He had her up on the tattoo chair, her mini-skirt around her hips in no seconds flat. Conscious of the fact that they were at work, neither of them made a sound as he unzipped his jeans and pushed inside her. When she came, Blue pressed her face into his shoulder and bit him through his T-shirt, the pain spurring him on toward his own climax.

Afterward, he helped her tug down her skirt and straighten her bra.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” she said on the way out the door. “The rules still apply.”

He didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. Blue could fight against him all she liked, but she couldn’t fight her own desire.

He gave her a minute to make her escape, then headed upstairs. Raf glanced at him as he entered the office, his gaze narrowing briefly as he took in Eddie’s goofy smile and rumpled clothes.

“I take it the campaign’s going well?” Raf asked.

“So far, so good.” He’d filled his brother and Maggie in on his new strategy after he and Blue had returned from Albury, well aware that they were both worried and invested in what was going on.

“How long do you think you can do this?” Raf asked.

“As long as it takes,” Eddie said confidently.

“Well…good.” Raf turned back to his paperwork.

“Why?” Eddie asked, sensing his brother was self-editing.

“Nothing.”

“Come on, man. Don’t make me use the twin powers.”

“It’s tougher than you think, being with someone who isn’t fully committed. All the things you can’t say or do… It gets to you eventually. At least, it did to me.”

Eddie knew Raf was talking about Lena, and he knew his brother was probably right. But it wasn’t as though Eddie had a Plan B here. He’d tried being direct with Blue, but she was way too guarded, too used to protecting herself at all costs.

The way Eddie saw it, he had no choice but to simply hang in there and hope that he could wear her down. Otherwise… He was in so deep now, and so close to what he really wanted, he didn’t even want to contemplate the alternatives.

Maybe that made him a delusional optimist, but so be it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Just over three weeks later, Blue woke to the sound of a toilet flushing. She lay blinking at Eddie’s ceiling for a full twenty seconds before it hit her that there was sunlight filtering around the edges of the curtains.

Damn it, she’d accidentally stayed the night.

She threw back the covers as Eddie sauntered back into the bedroom, arms stretched wide as he yawned. The posture did amazing things for his six pack, and she forgot to do anything but stare for a beat.

“You want coffee? It’ll take a few minutes for the machine to warm up but it shouldn’t be too long,” Eddie offered.

She glanced at the tangle of clothes on the floor, a mixture of his and hers. She should go. She shouldn’t even be here in the first place. She’d already stretched the once-a-week rule several times, now she’d stayed the night.

Eddie must think she was a hypocrite of the highest order.

Or a pushover.

She wasn’t sure which option she preferred.

“You got somewhere you need to be?” Eddie asked, walking around the bed and stopping in front of her.

She had to tilt her head to look him in the eye when he was this close.

“No.”

“Then stay. Let me make you breakfast.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his bare chest, and the easy warmth and affection behind the gesture almost did her in. She rested her hands on the smooth planes of his back and let herself enjoy the small moment.

“Okay,” she said. “Breakfast sounds nice.”

“You want pancakes or eggs?”

His voice rumbled through his chest, and she turned her head a little so she could breathe in the smell of his skin.

“Surprise me,” she said.

His hands slid from her back to her ass, and the next thing she knew he was lifting her to his level while he kissed her. She laughed into his mouth, and he laughed, too, before things got serious between them.

After a minute or so he broke the kiss and let her slide back down his body.

“All right. Pancakes or eggs. Gentleman’s choice,” he said.

Her gaze dropped to his erection. It seemed a terrible shame to waste something so fine, but Eddie simply turned away and grabbed yesterday’s jeans before stepping into them.

“Can I help with anything?” she asked.

“Sure. Come and keep me company.”

She found her panties and yesterday’s tank top from the mess on the floor, then lingered to quickly make the bed and fold their clothes before following him into the kitchen. She couldn’t help thinking of Maggie as she pulled out a stool and sat at the counter. Her friend would be punching the air if she was could see this scene, Blue suspected. They’d had exactly one conversation on the subject of Eddie since the “arrangement” began, but Maggie had made her feelings abundantly clear — she thought Blue “giving Eddie a chance to prove himself” was the smartest thing Blue had ever done.

For her part, Blue thought her friend’s romantic idealism knew no bounds. This arrangement with Eddie wasn’t the start of something, as Maggie so clearly believed, it was the end of everything. But Maggie would realize that soon enough, Blue figured, when things went south with Eddie.

Any day now.

“You want normal or cinnamon pancakes?” Eddie asked, looking up from cracking eggs into the batter he was making.

“Normal is perfect, thank you.” She watched as he whisked the ingredients together with elegant economy. “You know you can buy a mix, right? In a little jug that you just shake?”

Eddie shot her a look, laughter in his eyes, even though his mouth wasn’t smiling.

“Too obvious, Sullivan,” he said, letting her know he wasn’t going to respond to her bait.

She planted her elbows on the counter. “So, what are we having with these pancakes?”

“I’ve got maple syrup, berries, lemon curd, or ice cream. Name your poison.”

“Um…all of the above?”

They continued to amuse each other as Eddie poured the first round of pancakes into the frypan.

“You want to keep an eye on these while I fire up the coffee machine?” Eddie asked.

She slid off the stool and rounded the bench, taking the spatula from him and moving into position in front of the frypan.

“You should probably still supervise. I’m great at burning stuff,” Blue said.

“I know. I’m keeping an eye on you, don’t worry.”

There was something in his tone, and when she glanced over her shoulder he was unashamedly staring at her ass.

“What? You want a piece of this?” she asked playfully, sticking her backside out and wiggling it.

Eddie set down the bag of coffee beans he’d been about to pour into the grinder and headed her way.

“Yeah, I want a piece of that.”

She howled with laughter when he sank to his knees and gripped her hips, holding her still as he sank his teeth into her ass cheek.

“Ow, that hurts,” she protested.

“Faker,” he said, and he bit her on the other cheek, too.

“You are in so much trouble, Oliveira,” she said, pointing the spatula at him. Then she realized she was holding the perfect torture implement in her hand.

“Come here so I can get all fifty shades on you,” she said, swinging the spatula through the air fast enough to make it whistle.

“Like I’m going to walk voluntarily into that trap,” he said.

She pounced on him, and they wrestled for control of the spatula, bodies pressed against one another. It wasn’t long before wrestling turned into something else. Eddie was kissing his way into her cleavage when the smell of burning pancakes made them both turn toward the stove.

“Damn,” Eddie said, and she could see from his frown that he was genuinely annoyed. He prided himself on his cooking skills.

She pressed a quick kiss to his chin. “My fault,” she said.

He looked at her, the frown quickly fading from his face. “Yeah, it
is
your fault. You’re too distracting.”

Warmth bloomed in her chest, sparked by the heat in his eyes and the rough emotion beneath his words. For a second — a heartbeat — she let herself believe that this was real. That he meant it when he said beautiful things to her. That the future he’d sketched for them might be possible — her and Eddie, together. No rules. No limits. No expiry dates.

For a tiny moment out of time, she allowed herself to believe that she was special, that she would be the one woman who Eddie didn’t leave.

Suddenly her chest was so tight she could barely breathe. She took a step backward.

This was the danger of spending too much time with Eddie — she started to believe in things she had no business believing. She started to yearn for the moments when he snaked his arm around her waist in bed and pulled her back against his chest, and to seek out opportunities to make him laugh.