24. Something More
SOMETHING MORE
“Ididn’t think we’d be traveling again this soon,” London said to him a week later.
She, Paris and Spencer were on their way to Gainesville and would be home on Friday night. Just two nights there, and arriving back at JKF late.
She hadn’t seen him alone once in the past week.
Or not what she would have liked.
Maybe it was for the best since it wasn’t the best time of the month for her. She was grouchier than normal per her sister and she knew damn well if she were alone with Spencer, she’d want to rip his clothes off.
So, the fact that the first time an opportunity arose her sister was tagging along sucked the big one.
“It was last minute for me,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s not as bad as the last place.”
“It won’t stink,” Paris said. “And we get to see Mom and Dad tomorrow night.”
“What?” he asked, turning to look at her.
“Sorry. We are about two hours from them, so we are going to meet halfway. Or Paris and I are. You don’t have to go with us.”
His frown said that maybe he was hurt he wasn’t included. Or maybe not. She could never get a good enough read on his thoughts.
It wasn’t as if she was excluding him on purpose. Everything was happening so fast.
“It’s fine. You can go see your parents.”
“No,” Paris said. “You’re going too, Spencer.” The smirk from her sister said that there might not be any way out of this for Spencer. “My parents want to meet you.”
He lifted his eyebrow at London. “I didn’t say anything. Paris is the only one who knows.” She leaned closer to his ear. “And she doesn’t know everything.”
All he did was nod his head. She didn’t know what else she wanted out of him. Didn’t seem as if they were going to get an opportunity to chat all that much. He was sitting by the window in the plane, her next to him, and Paris on the end.
The flight would be close to five hours with one stop and they were taking off early enough that she was up in the darkness, and not happy about it.
She covered a yawn and stretched her arms.
“Tired?”
“Yeah. I don’t enjoy getting up at three.” They had to leave by three thirty to get to the airport around four and check in for their flight leaving just before six.
“We’ll get to the office before one,” Paris said. “That gives us a few hours to get work done.”
“I hate getting back so late on Friday, but I get it. No signs of traveling for me for a few months. What about you, Spencer?”
“These were the two that I was told about for now.”
“We are used to being on the road,” Paris said. “Well, I’m wrong. Not this much. The idea of going to New York was to get more local clients.”
“How is that going?” he asked.
“I’m ready to have a contract looked over,” Paris said. “That dinner a little over a week ago sold them. Just waiting to get approval. I’ve got a few more lined up.”
“It’s easier for her,” she said. “More places have HR issues or need to get personnel squared away. Me, I’m in plants and there aren’t that many in the city.”
She knew that going in but was fine with it. Once she did these trips, the rest was follow-up, calls or emails could be weeks to months.
“But you get a sexy attorney to travel with you,” Paris said.
“Hey, don’t make comments like that about my—” The word jammed in her throat as her brain slammed on the brakes so hard she almost bit her tongue.
What the hell was she thinking?
She couldn’t call him her boyfriend. They hadn’t even had sex.
Two dates in the past week. If she was being generous enough to count a working lunch in her office as one. The second had been dinner on Monday. Nice and pleasant and nothing more than a kiss on the cheek as she climbed out of the taxi and it brought him home.
And now here they were, sitting side by side like something more than whatever they were pretending not to be. Or at least she was.
“Your what?” he asked, his grin cutting sideways, deliberately smug, the heat making her want to curl her toes in her sneakers. A place no one could see her reaction.
She narrowed her eyes. “I thought you were listening to music.”
He’d put his earbuds in, but clearly it was just for show.
“Not yet,” he said, his voice a slow caress carrying over her skin. Getting this close to him was going to make it hard to focus.
Her pulse picked up. “I don’t think now is the time to talk about this, do you?”
“Probably not,” he admitted. No pushback, no teasing comeback, just a smooth retreat as he picked up his phone, tapped a button, and closed his eyes. That damn patience of his.
He went quiet so easily.
And that was the part that tangled her stomach.
Because if he’d kept pushing, she could have fought. Bantered. Maybe deflected. Even tried to annoy him to get a rise. Anything.
But him stepping back?
That meant he was thinking the same thing she was.
And neither of them had the slightest clue what they were supposed to call it.
Or where they were supposed to go.
She hated to be in this position.
Just as much as she hated thirteen hours later, they were leaving the restaurant where they’d caught dinner before going to their hotel.
The flight had been smooth, she’d napped like Spencer appeared to be doing, her head even falling on his shoulder at one point. She didn’t know when, only that she woke up and tried to hide her mortification.
She didn’t know why when the guy already had his hands down her pants.
But they all got right to work, stayed focused and got the job done, filled up on food and were now at the desk getting keys to their rooms.
This time there were two rooms. One for her and her sister, one for Spencer.
She’d rather be with him.
They weren’t even next to each other but on different floors.
“Go if you want,” Paris said.
“What?”
“You’re pacing and it’s driving me nuts. Go to Spencer’s room.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you both want it and are both afraid to take the step. Not sure if it’s because I’m the third wheel or not, but I don’t care. I might prefer not having to share the bathroom.”
“He didn’t even ask me,” she argued.
“He probably doesn’t feel he has to. You’re a big girl. Go knock on his door. Take your suitcase just in case.”
“So don’t come back? That’s being a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”
“He’d expect no different from you.”
Since she made sure she packed a box of condoms just in case, her sister wasn’t wrong.
“Wish me luck,” she said, grabbing her carry-on and pulling it out the door.
Her heart was hammering so hard she could feel it in her palms as she waited at the elevator. The soft ding made her jump, and she slipped inside, jabbing the button for one floor up like it might steady her nerves.
It didn’t.
By the time she reached his hallway, she had to remind herself to breathe. She slowed her steps, lifted her hand full of confidence she absolutely did not feel and knocked twice.
The door swung open almost immediately as if he was just waiting for her to appear.
And there he was.
Spencer.
Bare legs in his shorts, damp hair dripping onto the collar of a soft T-shirt. Fresh from the shower, looking relaxed in a way she absolutely wasn’t and wished she was.
But it gave her the boost she needed. And almost calmed her at the same time.
She should have showered. Or at least stopped pacing like someone rehearsing a speech and made herself more presentable until her sister kicked her out.
“It took you long enough,” he said, his voice low, his eyes steady on hers.
“You could have said something and I would have been here sooner,” she tossed out, then marched past him and into the room because confidence was easier if she didn’t think too hard.
And the fact that she even had to make sure she was strutting in as if she owned the world was bad enough when it had felt natural to do that her entire life.
“You know how I feel about this,” he said, closing the door with a click that echoed in the room. “It has to be your decision.”
“I’d like to think it’s a joint one,” she shot back.
He was working her up like it was second nature. Even the urge to argue turned her on and gave her the last nudge to be who she always was. To stop second-guessing herself.
She didn’t wait for his reply. Instead, she planted her hands on his chest and gave a firm, deliberate shove, pinning him lightly against the wall. His breath caught, but he didn’t move away.
Perfect.
She rose to her toes, her mouth slanting over his in a kiss that wasn’t shy, and it sure the hell wasn’t tentative. It was full of every pent-up thought, frustration, and want since the day she met him. Her hips pressed into his, grinding deliberately, telling him exactly what decision she’d made.
And why she was here.
His hands came up instantly, gripping her hips like he’d been waiting for her to make the first move.
A low sound escaped him. Half groan, half surrender. It vibrated against her mouth in a way that shot straight down her spine and tingled right at her core.
He pulled her tighter, his fingers sliding under the hem of her shirt, his warm palms skimming her waist. The contact stole her breath. God, she’d forgotten how big his hands were, how easily he could hold her exactly where he wanted her.
How he could make her surrender so easily.
“Are you sure about this?” he murmured against her lips, though the tension in his body said he was barely holding on. Glad to know she wasn’t alone.
“Shut up,” she whispered, kissing him harder. “I’ve thought about nothing else in weeks.”
That did it.
His mouth claimed hers with a hunger that erased the last of her doubts. He pushed off the wall, spinning them, his torso flush against her front, heat pouring into her everywhere they touched as he backed them into the room.
She dragged her fingers through his damp hair, tugging just enough to make him growl.
“London…” he warned, though he didn’t pull back. He pressed a trail of slow, devastating kisses along her jaw, down her neck, lingering at the spot that made her knees threaten to give out. A spot she hadn’t even known existed.
She felt his smile when her breath hitched.
Her hands slid beneath his shirt, her palms gliding over his firm muscles and warm skin. Those defined abs she’d pretended not to stare at. The chest she’d imagined more times than she’d ever admit.
“Keep doing that,” he said, his voice roughened, “and I’m not letting you leave tonight.”
“Who said I planned to leave?” she shot back, tugging his shirt up inch by inch. “You saw my luggage.”
His eyes darkened, the heat, the need, and something deeper as he bent, lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around his hips like they’d done it a hundred times.
She gasped, her fingers gripping his shoulders.
“Guess it is a joint decision,” he said, his mouth brushing the sensitive skin beneath her ear.
She shivered. “Take me to bed. I’ve got condoms this time.”
He laughed and all but tossed her on the bed, her back bouncing once as he joined her there. “Me too.”
A small giggle escaped. Part freedom, part relief.
It’d be tonight. Finally.
Their hands were rushing across each other, clothes undone and flung all over the room.
She was going to get up and get her box of condoms, but he rolled, his feet hitting the floor, then reached for the bedside drawer, pulled it open and there were the condoms lying there like a symbol of victory.
She snatched one out of his hand, pushed him to his back, opened it and covered him, then crawled over his hips.
“Are you okay with this?”
“Does it look as if I’m not?”
Her eyes were on his cock, strong and steady, almost begging her to impale herself on it.
“You look ready for this.”
She lifted and sat down, a groan escaping her throat, his fist gripping her hair and yanking her face close to his.
“Ride me,” he growled, then crushed his mouth to hers.
Whoa. Not the man she thought he’d be in the bedroom. But hadn’t he thrown her off once before?
All the calm and patience he had... not now. Not like this.
This was where they fit perfectly. Where they were more alike than she ever thought would happen.
Her hips were rising and lowering, his mirroring it.
It wasn’t going to take long for the bright lights to fill her eyes. Not when she’d had a quick taste of him weeks ago and had been building it up more in her mind.
His hand tightened in her hair, almost pinching her scalp, making her move faster, harder, deeper.
“Get yourself there,” he said, his voice low and rough, just like his touch on her body.
How could this be the same person she’d been battling with for weeks during the day?
Easy. Because he was someone else after hours.
And now, just another side she was coming to...
Yeah, no. Her brain couldn’t travel down that road just now.
His other hand moved between their bodies, found that swollen bud he’d massaged before, but this time he pressed down as if it was a button ready to launch her.
It did.
If he wasn’t kissing the breath out of her, she’d be screaming out loud enough the other floors would hear her.
He let her go though, as she worked him over, and held on as if it took all he had until she was emptied.
And he still hadn’t come. She knew. She could tell.
She didn’t know what he could be waiting for until she felt herself in the air and on her back.
Damn, that was fast.
His arms were under her thighs lifting her off the mattress and he was slamming into her as if he had to unload all his demons at once. Or maybe it was the self-doubt that she knew he’d been feeling right there with her.
But when his body dropped on hers, she knew all those insecurities they both carried were no more.
Though what they had now still had no name and she was too afraid to ask what it could be called.