Sweet Possession (Sweet #5)(79)

“Sleep well?” he murmured.

“The best night’s sleep I’ve had in longer than I can remember,” she admitted.

“Good. You needed to catch up.”

“Who was on the phone? Is everything okay?”

“It was the lieutenant who handled R.J. and Trent’s arrests. They confessed to leaving the notes.”

Her lips twisted into a perplexed frown. “But why? I don’t understand.”

Connor related what the lieutenant had told him and she shook her head. “That’s pretty pathetic, but what’s even more pathetic is that I was involved with those clowns. That I trusted them.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Quit beating yourself up. It’s all in the past. You won’t let it happen again.”

“Damn right,” she said with a grin. Then she reached up to touch his face. “What should we do today? We have hours yet until I have to be at the music store.”

“Anything you like or nothing at all. It’s solely up to you,” he said in a solemn voice. “You tell me what your pleasure is, and I’ll make sure you get it.”

She kissed his chest and pleasure melted through his body at the affectionate gesture.

“If I weren’t here and your job wasn’t to keep me safe, what would you be doing today?”

“Hmmm. I’d probably eat at Cattleman’s. Hang out with Micah, Nathan, and Gray. Nothing earth-shattering. Throw back a few beers.”

“I want to do something ordinary.”

He lifted a brow. “Define ordinary.”

“Something everyday. Average. What someone who leads a perfectly normal life would do.”

“You up for a jog?”

She pushed herself up and looked at him in horror. “You mean like exercising. Running?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. I like to keep in shape. I usually run in the mornings but I’ve missed a few days lately. We could go for a run. Take a shower together. Go eat breakfast at a little café I know of. Dad wants us to come for dinner tonight. He cooks lasagna every Sunday. It’s a family tradition. Maybe we can swing by after your signing.”

Shadows lurked in her eyes. Her gaze filled with uncertainty and she bit at her bottom lip. “Do they know? I mean, I guess they know, but do they know—know about us?”

He smiled at the way she sputtered around the subject. “Yeah. They know. Or at least Pop does. And now that he knows for sure, he’ll waste no time telling Faith, who’ll waste no time telling the other girls, who will waste no time telling their husbands. I should start receiving phone calls giving me shit within the hour.”

Her eyes lightened and she smiled back at him. “Sounds like a veritable gossip train.”

He shrugged. “We’re close. I guess that’s what friends do. Hard to keep anything from anyone in that group.”

“Yeah,” she said wistfully. “You’re lucky.”

“Hey, they love you.”

“I like them a lot too. I’m so glad I met them. And you.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said huskily as he leaned in to kiss her. “Now, how ’bout that run?”

“Oh my God, I’m dying,” Lyric wheezed when they walked—or, rather, she dragged—back up the drive to the house.

“You did great,” he said cheerfully. “Let’s hit the shower. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

“Of course you are,” she muttered. “You’ll eat like a pig and not gain an ounce. I’ll look at a cupcake and swell up like a blowfish.”

He jogged in place and then swatted her on the ass. She shot him a glare but followed him into the house and up the stairs.

They played in the shower and Lyric couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much. She soaped him. He soaped her. They got fresh and frisky and groped each other shamelessly, and by the time they stumbled out to get towels, they were both breathing heavily.

He advanced on her menacingly, his c**k rigid and standing straight up. She held up her hands to halt his advance. “Hey, none of that. You’re starving, remember?”

“Uh-huh. I’m starving. But not for food.”

She rolled her eyes. “When are you ever not hungry for food?”

“Now,” he growled.

She clutched the ends of the towel around her but he pried her fingers away, letting the towel fall to the floor, leaving her naked and still damp in front of him.

Her ni**les beaded and her belly clenched in anticipation as he reached for her.

“There better be a goddamn condom in here.”

She sucked in her breath, knowing that if they were going to actually be in a serious relationship, they’d need to discuss things like sexual history, condoms, all the icky stuff that she was used to shoving under the table.

“You don’t have to use one,” she said in a quiet voice. “I mean, if you didn’t want to.”

He regarded her curiously for a moment and then picked her up so she sat on the edge of the counter, her legs wrapped around his waist. He kissed the corner of her mouth and then nibbled a path to her neck that had her arching and sighing in contentment.

“How about I go find that condom, and we’ll have this discussion after I’ve f**ked you six ways to Sunday.”