Written with You (The Regret Duet #2)(11)

I sighed and released her. It sucked, but not everything I wanted to do to her revolved around being naked. Guiding my hands up her neck, I took either side of her face and brought her mouth to mine. It was deep and hungry, drawing from her throat another moan, and I swallowed it like my favorite elixir.

Finally, when I was done with a thorough, non-naked plundering of her mouth, I performed the herculean task of letting her go. Casually, and ignoring the screaming objections from my cock, I sank onto the tan cushions of her dainty wicker couch and crossed my legs knee to ankle. “So, what are we talking about tonight?”

The way her shoulders sagged was almost comical.

This was what she’d asked for. Clothed conversation.

But her disappointment was suffocating.

I hated it—for her.

But I also loved it—for me. Because it was proof that she was as desperate for me as I was for her.

She walked over to the couch and sat down facing me, one leg curled between us, her shin pressed to my thigh. “If it takes them forty-five minutes to deliver your pizza and you only live fifteen minutes away, we actually only have an hour.”

I brushed her hair over her shoulder, allowing my fingertips to sweep down her arms, leaving a trail of goose bumps in my wake. “Yes, but if it took me forty-five minutes to drive home, the pizza would be cold anyway. I show up with piping-hot, fresh-out-of-the-delivery-bag pizza, Trent’s going to use his superhuman skills of deduction and know I was here.”

She cut her gaze to the door and sniped, “Well, we can’t have that.”

With a thumb at her chin, I forced her to face me again. “He was a dick today. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there. But he and I talked and he’s going to keep his own shit to himself from now on. I made it clear that I’m not interested in his opinion on how I run my life.”

Her back shot straight, and her eyes flashed wide. “You…talked? About…me? What did he have to say?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. Trent’s all bark. He’ll come around.”

“I’m not so sure about that. He was pretty pissed today.”

“Okay, then let’s look at it this way. It doesn’t matter if he comes around or not. I can handle Trent.” I hooked an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my side. She came willingly, cuddling in close, resting her head on my shoulder and draping her legs over my thigh. “But I want to make it crystal clear that he’s not your problem. He’s worried, but he doesn’t get to take that out on you. Put him out of your mind and leave the rest to me.”

She melted into my side, her every muscle relaxing as an audible sigh escaped her lips. It pissed me off at Trent all over again. No wonder she wasn’t in the mood for more that night. She’d been alone and strung out all afternoon over the shit he’d said to her.

“Just so you know, there is a good chance I’m going to drop his pizza on the driveway when I get back.”

She hummed her approval, draping her arm over my stomach, completing my full-body Hadley wrap. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay. You want me to come over on Monday and talk to your contractor about why the hell your addition out back isn’t finished yet?”

Her head snapped up, an unexpected smile pulling at her lips. “How do you know it’s not finished yet?”

“Obviously because I have a drone hovering over your house at all times on the off chance that you decide to walk around your backyard naked.”

Her smile grew. “Nah. The one time I tried that, I caught Jerry walking around his backyard naked. And let me tell you, an eighty-year-old naked man is not something you can unsee.”

“I’ll call off the drone immediately.”

“Smart man, but I have to say I’m slightly alarmed by your gross invasion of privacy.”

I gave her a squeeze. “I’ve been attempting to stare down your shirt for months while you drew unicorn butts with my daughter. You have no idea the depths of my depravity when it comes to you.”

She laughed the way I’d hoped. While Hadley and I had shared quite a few laughs over text messages, this was the first time we’d really been able to talk freely without Rosalee’s little ears looming nearby.

This was better. Holding her, cracking jokes while shooting the shit… This could become addicting.

This was Hadley. The most dangerous woman of all. And there I was, sneaking over to her house, volunteering for a crash-and-burn situation. I didn’t know what it was about that woman that I found so irresistible. The taste of her both literally and figuratively the night before had been more than enough to have me throwing all caution to the wind to come back for seconds, thirds, and more.

“No. Seriously,” she pressed. “How’d you know they haven’t finished yet?”

“There’s a stack of shingles that hasn’t been touched in months in your side yard. What’s the holdup?”

She groaned. “I paid them.”

“And?”

“And that’s the holdup. I made the mistake of paying them in full upfront, and now, they drop by once a week, hammer one nail, then tell me they have to go get supplies and never come back.”

My jaw got hard. “First, never pay anyone in full. Half upfront. Half at the end. Second, what day of the week do they stop by to hammer that nail?”