Page 12 of Come Fly With Me

Be strong!She straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. “Look, Mitch. Our arrangement—”

“States that we’re friends with benefits. Yeah, I know.”

When she ignored the forkful of cheesecake, Mitch brought it to his own lips. He moaned as he tasted it, his eyes fluttering closed. The sight made Jodie’s mouth water, and not just for cake. For a moment, she lost track of her thoughts.

“Good, good cake.” His eyes opened, and he stared straight at her. “I was thinking about our arrangement and realized that we have plenty of benefits, but we don’t have much of the friend part. Now, as you’d know, if we ever spent any time talking, I’m a lawyer. And as a lawyer, I know that having a deal that isn’t completely adhered to leaves a person open for all sorts of complications. A deal is a deal and should be fulfilled in its entirety by both parties. Otherwise, the agreement becomes null and void. That way lies anarchy.” He calmly ate another bite of cake, watching her while he did so, and she almost groaned at the sight.

Damn, he was killing her here.

No.

Be strong.

If he thought she was going to be charmed by his ludicrous argument, he had another think coming. “Mitch, I don’t do relationships. I told you that. You can’t turn this into something more than it is.”

“Who said anything about a relationship? We’re talking about a friendship. Without the friend part, we don’t have a valid agreement. Without the friend part, we just have benefits. And as much as I love those benefits, it would be dishonest to take part of the deal without fulfilling all of it. After all, an agreement is an agreement.”

“I don’t mind if we only keep half of the agreement.” In fact, it was exactly how she wanted things to be. “Maybe we should renegotiate the deal to get rid of the friendship part? We could just stick to the benefits.”

Mitch shook his head, slowly, as though resigned to his answer. “I respect you too much to relegate you to booty-call territory. Maybe when I was younger, but it seems a bit immature now I’m in my thirties.” He heaved a sigh. “No, we’re better off with a mutually respectful arrangement that includes friendship along with the benefits. And it has to be the whole arrangement, Jodie. I’m known for my honesty in business. If word got out that I only held up half of my deal with you, it could ruin my reputation.” He wiped his mouth on a napkin he’d also pulled from the bag.

“But I don’t want things to change. I like things the way they are. I hate to sound heartless, but I’m just in this for the sex.” She winced as the words came out of her mouth.

Mitch rounded the counter in a move that was pure predator and stalked toward her as though she were prey. Jodie backed up against the bench top, and he placed a hand flat on either side of her, caging her in.

“You’ll still get your sex, I promise.” The words were a rumble that vibrated throughout her body, making her melt.

Mitch leaned in, pressing his firm chest against her breasts, making them ache to be touched. He engulfed her in his warmth and scent, seducing her just by his presence. She clenched her fists at her sides to stop from tugging that pristine shirt from his pants and sliding her hands up the contours of his stomach. Damn, it was agony fighting the lure of him.

“Sex without the friendship?” she managed to say, hating that the words came out as a question rather than a firm declaration.

The man was interfering with her thought process. Muddying her mind with the way he moved against her and the memories of what he could do to her body. Getting physical with Mitch was like nothing she’d ever experienced. His entire focus centered on her, reading the sounds she made as though they were a how-to manual for giving her pleasure.

“Can’t do that, baby.” Mitch nuzzled the spot behind her ear that literally made her knees go weak. “Got to do the honorable thing.” His teeth tugged at her earlobe, and his rumbling drawl against her ear sent a shiver throughout her body. “You understand that.” As he nipped at the edge of her jaw, Jodie dimly noted that her eyes had closed and her hands were now fisted in his shirt.

“No friendship,” he whispered the words against her mouth so that she could almost taste them, “no benefits.” He bit the fullness of her bottom lip, and she couldn’t help the small squeak of need that escaped her. “And we don’t want the benefits to stop, do we?” His tongue soothed the slight sting in her lip. “Not when the benefits are so,sogood.”

Jodie couldn’t think. She’d become one vast ball of yearning need.Yes!Her body was screaming.The benefits are good. Don’t stop the benefits.

“You listening to me, Jodie?” He whispered the words between tiny kisses across her cheeks. “What’s it going to be? You want the benefits to stop? Or are we fulfilling the whole agreement?” His fingers threaded through the hair at the base of her head, and he angled her face up to his. “Look at me, baby.”

It was a whispered command, and in her lust-drugged state, she couldn’t resist obeying. Her eyelids heavy, she forced them open.

The dark look in his eyes stole what breath she had left. “You don’t want the benefits to stop, do you?” he whispered.

“No.”Not now. Not ever.

His eyes crinkled and warmed as he smiled. “Good, Jodie. That’s good. So, we’ll have a nice little friendship along with those benefits. But don’t worry, nothing else is going to change. I’ll still give you what you need.”

Jodie found her eyes focused on his lips as he spoke. She heard the words, but she honestly couldn’t say she understood them. “Less talking, more kissing,” she demanded.

“Whatever you want,” he said before his mouth covered hers.

His kiss was dark and deep, sweeping away what little cognizance she had left. Without knowing how it had happened, she found herself sitting on the counter with Mitch standing between her legs. His body pressed against hers, the heat of it a seduction in itself. Firm muscle rippled as one hand threaded through her hair and the other caressed the curves of her back. Her hands were under his shirt, fingers digging into flesh at the waistband of his pants. She could feel him, hard and ready against her. And she needed him. Badly. Now.

“Not on the counters!” The shout startled Jodie’s mouth away from Mitch’s.

He stayed where he was, breathing hard, as Deke came into view. It took Jodie’s brain a minute to defog enough for her to realize her brother was glaring at her.