Chapter 14
Clarke
Will wanted to show me another side to him. We spent hours on the couch, binge-watching the first two The Lord of the Rings movies. Obviously, he wasn’t a fan, but he was doing this for me. And I was caving because of it.
He talked through most of The Fellowship of the Ring and fell asleep midway through The Two Towers. I couldn’t blame him. Most people couldn’t hang through one three-hour movie, let alone two. After the second movie ended, I turned off the television and tapped Will on the arm.
He rolled onto his side, and his shaggy blond hair slid onto his forehead. It still didn’t feel real. I married a man who looked like a GQ model with a handsome face and a perfectly muscular body.
I never understood what he saw in me that night in the bar.
The puck bunnies I’d seen on his arm over the years were thinner, prettier, and much bigger boobs than me.
And he picked me. He pursued me. Maybe I hadn’t given him a fair shot in the past, but I had to protect my heart from breaking again.
“Will, wake up.” I shook him again. “It’s time for bed.”
“Mmm,” he groaned. “Not yet.”
I leaned down and pressed my lips to his ear. “Get up, sleepyhead. Unless you want to spend the night on the couch.”
He flipped onto his back and shoved the hair off his forehead as he opened his eyes. “You’re so bossy.”
“C’mon, husband. Bedtime.”
He gave me one of his boyish smirks as he sat up, propping his giant body up against the arm of the couch. “I like the sound of that.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
Three months. I only had to last until the end of our deal.
But I wondered if I would make it that long without wanting to kiss or touch him.
What was I thinking when I made that deal with him?
Our sexual chemistry was off the charts.
I’d never made it long around Will without jumping into bed with him.
And now, he was sharing my bed with me, like old times.
Will was growing on me the longer he was in my apartment. I still wasn’t ready to share everything about myself or my home, but I could give him a chance. He was right about needing to put the past behind us.
With the possibility of sex off the table, I was more at ease around him.
Knowing there were no expectations made it easier for me to lower my guard.
I decided during dinner I would treat him like Mia.
A friend and nothing more. If only I could stop thinking about how good he looked naked or how he made me feel.
“Get ready for bed,” I told him. “I’ll clean up the mess.”
I jumped off the couch and rushed into the kitchen with the empty bowl of popcorn and our crushed soda cans. Will rustled around in the living room before he stumbled into the kitchen. He tugged on the ends of his tousled hair and watched me as I cleaned out the bowl in the sink.
“Can I help you?”
He smirked. “I can think of a few things you can help me with.”
I pointed toward my bedroom. “I’m tired. Go get settled.”
Will stared at me for a long while before he left the kitchen, his sexy swagger in place as he walked toward my room.
Our bedroom. It still felt weird to think of my place as ours.
Did it count if I couldn’t remember saying my vows?
Even after days of wracking my brain, I could not recall a single detail about the wedding.
Dancing on the bar.
Elvis.
Hot sex.
More sex.
And a hangover.
That was the gist of what I remembered about that night. If Will remembered anything about that night, he hadn’t shared it with me.
When I entered the bedroom, Will was sitting at the edge of the bed, dressed in tight, black boxer briefs. Jeez. He looked ridiculously sexy, with his abdomen muscles and arms ripped to perfection. I stopped in the doorway, staring like a stalker.
Until he noticed me.
He wiggled his eyebrows. “See something you like?”
Hell, yes.
“No,” I lied as I entered the room. “I was just thinking about something.”
“Yeah, I could see that.” He grinned. “Like riding my cock?”
I sighed. “No, you idiot. Unlike you, I don’t think about sex all the time.”
“Uh-huh. And for the record, I don’t think about sex all the time.”
“Most of the time.”
He snorted. “Only when you’re around.”
Ignoring him, I walked into the ensuite bathroom to get some space from him. My heart hammered in my chest, ready to escape. Will had an alarming effect on me, but I would never admit that to him.
I moved into the walk-in closet I could access from the bathroom and bedroom.
This place was too damn big for one person, especially someone with so little clothing and personal items. I couldn’t even fill the other bedrooms in the apartment.
Most of them were full of extra junk and old photos and knickknacks.
I stripped off my clothes and stood in my panties and bra in the closet. Three months, I reminded myself. You can do this.
I slipped into silky pajama shorts and the matching spaghetti strap top, sans bra. Probably not the smartest thing to wear in bed with Will, but I couldn’t sleep in layers of clothing.
“You okay in there?” Will called out.
Do I have to leave the closest?
Yes… No.
Stop acting like a baby.
Sucking down my fear, I left the closet and finished in the bathroom before entering the bedroom in my skimpy pajamas.
“Mmm.” Will sat with his legs spread at the edge of the mattress, licking his lips as he appraised my almost naked body.
“Keep it in your pants,” I shot back.
“I’d rather you sit on my face.” He tapped the bed. “Get over here.”
“Will,” I chided. “You know the rules.”
“Right,” he groaned. “No sex. No touching. Blah, blah, blah.” He slumped back on a stack of pillows. “This arrangement sucks.”
“Deal with it.” I tapped his thick thigh. “Move over.”
He slid across the mattress and onto the left side. Will fluffed two pillows and leaned them against the headboard before resting his head on them. His eyes met mine as I laid back and slid under the covers, tugging the sheet over my breasts.
“You don’t have to hide from me,” he said mockingly. “It’s not like I don’t know what’s hidden under the sheet.”
I stared up at the ceiling. “Go to sleep, Will.”
He got out of bed, and I forced myself not to look. Will looked too good in his tight boxers, too good in anything. If we’d had more than a sexual relationship, maybe I could have thought of something other than sex.
He flicked off the dim overhead lights, bathing the room in darkness. I sighed in relief that we no longer had to look at each other. Seeing him in all of his masculine glory was doing too much to my lady bits.
Will hopped into bed, and I rolled onto my side with my back to him. He rustled around for a minute, rocking me. My heart pounded so loudly that I wondered if Will heard it.
I attempted to still my breathing and shoved my face into the pillow. Of course, Will never missed a beat. His fingers dug into my hip as he spoke against my ear.
“You okay?” Will whispered.
“Yeah,” I lied. “I’m fine. Just go to sleep.”
His hard body molded to my back. “Liar.”
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to ignore his cock growing hard against my backside. “Will, please. Go to sleep.”
“I’m wide awake now.”
“Sorry, I can’t help you.”
“I can’t sleep when I’m this hard,” he said as he moved against me. “I usually jerk off before I go to bed. But my bossy wife won’t let me.”
“Still can’t help you.”
He kissed the side of my neck. “You know you want to…”
“Stop torturing me.” I shoved him off me. “Close your eyes and imagine yourself falling asleep.”
He laid his head on the edge of my pillow, his breath heating my cheek. “I’d rather imagine burying my cock inside you.”
“Oh, my God, Will. Simmer down, will you?”
With a groan, Will moved back to his side of the bed while I tried to calm my racing heart, knowing sleep would be impossible.