What Lovers Do(38)

Flipping me onto my stomach, he kisses my back, the curve of my butt, and down the back of my legs before he nudges my knees apart and grips my hips.

The pillow muffles my drawn-out groan as he plunges into me. My fingers curl into it, gripping it tighter and tighter each time he rocks his hips, his teeth claiming the skin on my shoulder, one hand next to mine and his other hand sliding beneath my pelvis, the pads of his fingers stroking me.

“I need you to not be good at this,” he whispers in my ear.

“W-what?” I ask, a little distracted by our current activity, straining my neck to look back at him.

He kisses me before biting my lip as an evil grin bends his mouth for a split second before releasing it and flicking it with his tongue. “This. Sex. I need you to be a little bad at it.” He slows his pace. My orgasm is happening in under ten seconds regardless of his pace. “I can be a proud man, Sophie.” His hand next to mine slides along the mattress to my breast, squeezing it hard. “But I’m not too proud to admit I need a win today.”

I close my eyes, jaw slack, as I tear through the tape at the finish line.

The creaking bed gets louder, the headboard tapping the wall a few times while Shep gets his well-deserved win. He is the master, of that there is no denial. He rolls over, taking me with him so my face hovers over his and our shallow breaths mingle.

I grin. “I did my worst.”

I haven’t seen Shep this tired. His heavy eyelids blink once as a tiny smile twitches his lips. “Best friends.”

As much as I love Jules, she will never live up to this, no matter how many times she agrees to go to the movies with me.

“Well, you look pretty tired.” I run my hand through his hair, letting the damp strands by his ears curl around my fingers.

His brow furrows. “Oh, little girl…” he kisses my neck down to my breast “…you are so very wrong.”

What talent or stamina he lacked to get the job done on the golf course, he more than makes up for in the bedroom. After he proves he has what it takes to finish the back nine, I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. “Friends,” I say. “Only friends. You will never live with me. Understood?”

Shep chuckles. “Wow … okay. What about that made you think I was that fucking needy?”

I peer at him over my shoulder, at every inch of his gloriously naked body. Cersei whines behind the door.

“Do your thing. I’ll feed your pooch. And I’ll do it without feeling like we should shack up together. Does that work for you?”

I roll my eyes before grabbing my dress and scurrying off to the bathroom to “do my thing.” After my second shower of the day, I make my way to the pool where Shep’s reclined in a lounge chair, staring at the stars, jeans back on but no shirt. He tucks his hand behind his head and glances over at me while I recline in the chair next to him.

“To reiterate …” he says, “there won’t be news of a baby in the coming months. Correct?”

With a nervous laugh, I shake my head. “Sorry. No babies for you, Shep.”

“The pill isn’t one hundred percent, even if you’re taking it without fail.”

“Thanks, Dr. Shep. I’m not … well …” I rub my lips together. Where am I going with this?

“You’re not what?”

“You can’t get me pregnant because I’ve sorta … had a procedure.” There. I’m not lying. I’m not sharing the secret I’m not supposed to share yet. That makes me feel better. A little. Rolling my head toward Shep, I give him a tight smile.

Worry lines his face, but he manages the hint of a smile. “I have a tee time for us again in the morning.”

“Great. Then, I think I need to go to bed. And you need to sleep downstairs. Tomorrow morning we repeat the events of this morning, except I’ll need a smidge more syrup on my waffles if you’re going to over toast them.”

He waits and waits, allowing my mind to go crazy wondering what’s in that head of his. “This morning I watched you take off your clothes and swim in the pool.”

I grin. “True.”

“So … if tomorrow morning will be a repeat of this morning, then …”

I stand and smirk. “Night, Shep.”

He says nothing for a beat, but as soon as I reach the door, he murmurs, “Night, Sophie.”

I don’t look back at him. He doesn’t need to see the monstrosity that is my grin.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN





Sunday morning, we do a repeat, minus the naked pool time. I sense his disappointment the rest of the morning. I’m certain he’s going to use it as his excuse for losing a third time to me. Shockingly, he doesn’t. Not aloud, anyway.

“Tell your parents ‘thank you’ for their generosity. The home. The pool. The food. I had a good time. Or don’t tell them.” I wink and open my door as he stops the Mustang in the parking lot of my office. “Since … it didn’t happen.”

“Really? I have to give them all the credit for the weekend?”

I laugh. “You can take a little credit.”

“Gee … thanks.” He climbs out to retrieve my golf clubs from the trunk while I grab my bags and let Cersei out of the backseat.