Needing Her (From Ashes #1.5)(32)

Raising an eyebrow, I pointed a finger at her and whispered so the people near us couldn’t hear. “That’s not fair. You can’t keep holding that night over my head!”

“Just saying! I want to hear more about your crazy hot sex with cop man.”

The old man at the table next to us turned and eyed us for a second before going back to his paper.

“Detective. And you do realize not everyone is as lucky as you and Aaron are. His schedule is all over the place, there are some times he goes in and is home not long after I am, there are some nights where he doesn’t come home from work at all. So, excuse me for not having enough stories for you because I don’t practically live—and work—with my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? You just said ‘boyfriend’! That was a detail I missed!”

I sighed and slumped down in my seat. It had been a week since Amber had shown up at my apartment and interrupted Connor and me, and she was enjoying dragging out every piece of information from this past week about as much as I had, experiencing it with him. “No. No you didn’t. Connor and I aren’t . . . anything really. I was talking about you and Aaron.”

She gave me a lazy eye roll, and pushed her empty cup at me. “You aren’t going to do the same thing with Connor that you did with Bryce. You and your whole can-only-stay-friends thing is bullshit.” Amber looked over at the old man looking at us again and held up a hand. “Sorry, excuse my language.”

“I’m not. I’m not making us stay anything. We just aren’t anything. There’s a big difference here.”

“Yeah, I could tell last week. The way he kept looking at you and always touching you like he was making sure you were still there. I was getting turned on and nothing was even happening.”

I checked my phone for the time, and grabbed my purse as I stood up. “That’s one of the more awkward things you’ve said this morning.”

“It’s the truth!”

“Ha. Go home and get some sleep, I need to get to work before my brothers start hunting down random guys.”

“I’ll see you tonight for a repeat of last week!”

I turned and hushed her as I looked around the coffee shop. “Please don’t interrupt us again tonight, I haven’t seen him since Wednesday.”

“I kid. I kid,” she said with a wry smile. “But I want details of your monkey sex tomorrow!”

My face had to be as red as my hair by now. I widened my eyes at her and laughed lamely when she blew me a kiss. “Sometimes I just want to punch you.”

“You love me!”

“I do. Seriously, go get some sleep. You look like the crypt keeper.”

Amber threw her head back when she laughed. “Ah, bitch. I love you too.”

I laughed and ran out the door and to my car. My phone went off right after I’d pulled into my parking spot at work, and I frowned when I saw Connor’s text. He hadn’t been able to come home last night, and didn’t think he would beat me back today.

Which also meant I couldn’t make my day go by faster by talking to him since he would be busy with work.

Seven hours, thirty-six games of Minesweeper, and twenty games of solitaire later . . . and I was now all cozy in my desk chair as I read from my Kindle. But I was distracted. Other than one more text from Connor saying he was hoping to be able to leave soon, I hadn’t talked to him today, and I had a feeling that once he got home he was going to crash. I hated and loved that I was this anxious and worried about not seeing him, when I’d seen him two nights before.

Bryce and I would go a week without talking, and I wouldn’t give it a second thought. A week and a half with Connor, and I felt like I was falling deeper every day. I craved him. Craved his touch, his kisses . . . just craved being near him. Part of me was worried he’d see how much I cared, and I’d scare him away . . . the rest of me loved the rush of feelings and emotions I had, just thinking about him, that I’d never experienced with Bryce.

“What’s this?”

I almost tipped my chair backward when I flung my legs off the desk and reached wildly for the Kindle that had just been ripped out of my hands. “Give it back, Kota!”

“And his throbbing member—”

“Ew! You know it doesn’t say that. Give it back, *.”

He tossed my Kindle on my desk and sat down next to it. “What’s up, brat?”

I reached forward for my e-reader, but he slapped my hands away. “Ugh, what do you want?”

“What? I can’t check on my favorite sister?” he said with a charming grin.

“I’m your only sister, f*cker. And, no, you can’t. You only ever come up here to piss me off somehow.”

“Not true, and I’m offended,” he grabbed at his chest dramatically. “I’m being nice and you’re just wanting to hurt me.”

“What do you want, Dakota?” I repeated as I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I need to know if you took care of the setup for the new clients we got this week.”

“Yes, I finished it as soon as Craig gave me the information, and the security officers have been informed of the new places.”

“See? Favorite sister.”

“Why are you really in here?”