“It’s good.” Maybe if I typed it, I would learn to be good by the time she got here.
* * *
Six minutes past eight o’clock, Kendall dialed my number.
I picked up on the first ring. “Hello.”
“Hi. I’m in your driveway. You want me to park in the garage?”
“Yeah. Hold on.” I was up and outside, pressing the button. I felt a bit guilty in hiding her car, but I didn’t want to take any chances with other attorneys I knew who lived in the neighborhood. It wasn’t as if any of them were prone to snooping, but all I needed was for someone from the office to recognize her car.
She didn’t seem to mind parking in the garage if her smile was any evidence.
“Hello,” I greeted.
“Hi.”
When she came up and stepped into my arms, it felt natural to have her there.
I hit the button to close the garage and kissed her. Strawberry lip gloss greeted me.
“You and this gloss,” I said, taking her hand and leading her inside.
“Now that I’m aware you’re a fan, how can I not wear it always?”
“Dangerous words.” Which reminded me. We needed to talk. “I think it’s a good segue into tomorrow and what to expect.”
She quirked a brow. “Is this a conversation about rules and boundaries in the office? Because if so, I’m gonna need wine.”
I probably would, too.
We went into the kitchen where I poured two glasses of red.
She immediately hopped up on the countertop where she’d been the other morning. Shit. I was already fighting an erection from simply recalling that moment.
Her amused expression let me know she was most likely thinking about the same thing.
“You’re a big fan of my countertop?”
“It holds some special memories.” With a wink, she sipped the wine I handed her.
It was time to remember she was all of twenty-four, and I’d poured the wine for a reason. Our talk. “Look, I don’t want you getting attached. This isn’t a relationship.”
The way her eyes narrowed told me my words had come out wrong. I tried to do damage control. “What I mean to say is we want different things long term.”
“After sleeping together once, I wasn’t aware we were talking long-term plans.”
“We’re not, but I wanted to make sure we’re still on the same page.”
“We are on the same page. If it changes, I promise to let you know. I would hope for the same in return.”
“Good.” This had been simpler than I’d thought. I set down my glass and stepped in between her legs, loving when she twined them around me, pulling me closer. “So I have a question.”
She gasped when I trailed kisses behind her ear. “What’s that?”
“Why on earth did they name the horse Bunny?”
Chapter Thirty-Four