Page 122 of Let's Kiss and Tell

“How about a new deal?” he proposes.

I raise my eyebrows. “Anewdeal?”

He takes a step closer, and it takes everything in me to not touch him. I want him to hold mesobadly.

“We continue our arrangement,” he starts, and I’m already liking the sound of this. “You continue writing your stories…As far as my family is concerned, we’re still together…”

“Okay…”

“Youstillcome on as an expert for my story because you’re qualified and are the best person to interview.”

“Obviously,” I say and he smiles.

“And sex is on the table,” he says. “Whenever we want…no strings attached.”

I swallow, my skin prickling. “No strings attached?”

“No strings attached,” Marsh repeats. “Because I don’t think I can spend another second with you and not touch you. I can’t go back.”

I take a step toward Marsh, my hands going up and down his biceps. “I don’t want anything to change between us,” I say.

“It won’t,” he says.

“Marsh.” I look up at him. “I can’t give you a relationship,” I warn him a final time, making sure he knows where I stand.

“I’m not asking for a relationship,” he says gently.

“So, if we continue our arrangement,” I say slowly, “does that change anything?”

“This won’t be anything you don’t want it to be, Lucy. I promise.”

I can’t help but smile. “Okay,” I say, “because what we have is good, right?”

“It’s very good.”

“And I think”—I bite my lip—“it could be better with sex.”

“That we can agree on.”

It takes me a moment to process what we just consented to. Our arrangement from day one still stands but it’s nowsomuch better.We both get what we need out of this deal, and at the same time, we get to be together. Really be together.

There wasa lotmore that I wanted to do with Marsh and not because he’s big, or because he’s handsome in a Gregory Peck kind of way. It’s because sex with Marsh fills me in a way that I didn’t know was possible.

I look up, and Marsh’s eyes are a deep hazel on the other side of his glasses. His lips are full and his brows thick and grooved.

“Can I kiss you?” I ask.

“Lucy, you’ve got to be out of your mind if you don’t know the answer to that question.”

I go on my tiptoes, leaning forward, and gently place my lips on Marsh’s. It quickly turns into something deep, desperate, and hot. Marsh’s hands grip my ass, and I can’t conceal the smile on my face. This is what it feels like to be completely and utterly on the same page as someone. To have all our cards on the table, knowing exactly what the outcome of what we’re doing is. There’s no room for misinterpretation.

Marsh Oakley can’t hurt me.

More important, I can’t hurt him.

I Didn’t Know Sex Could Get Better

By Lucy Reid