“Is this a ‘no take-backs’ situation? Or is the offer for a friends-with-benefits arrangement still on the table?”
“When you tell me no, I’ll respect it. Always. But you can one hundred percent take it back.”
“Really?” Mia’s suggestion about the online dating service popped into her head. Situations like what she was proposing with Graham were only successful when both parties were completely honest, right? “Even if I’m simultaneously on the lookout for the guy who’s perfect for me?”
“Fine by me.” His eyes held steady as he scooted a few inches closer. Slowly. “Are you taking your no back, Claire?”
“I—I think so.”
He shook his head. “Not good enough. You need to be sure.”
She paused, inhaling deeply and letting the scent of his toothpaste flood her senses. She leaned closer. “I’m saying yes, Graham.”
His brown eyes darted between hers.
Did he not believe her? Think she wasn’t certain she wanted to do this?
She resisted the urge to fidget or talk in circles and instead let her gaze roam his handsome face, hoping confident silence would speak more to her decision.
Would she really be able to touch this man whenever she wanted? In a way that wasn’t just friendly? Her attention snagged on his mouth, and the way his lower lip went a little crooked when it stretched into a grin.
Like now.
Damn. That smile was devastating.
He reached up with one hand, tracing the curve of her jaw with his thumb. “Well, then.” Her breath caught as he leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth.
Her lips parted with a soft gasp and without thought, she lifted her hand to grip his muscular forearm. He brushed a kiss to her cheek, teasing her, somehow in perfect control despite having had no idea this would happen thirty seconds ago.
Claire, on the other hand, had thought about it the entire drive across town, and she was a nervous wreck.
Maybe that was the problem. She’d gone inside her head, which was the last place she wanted to be when Graham’s lips were within kissing distance.
She pressed her palm to his cheek and angled his face to hers, slanting her mouth over his. He moved even closer, the warmth of his thigh flush against hers, and her other hand slid into his thick hair.
A tiny part of her had wondered if the other night was a fluke and the only reason she’d gotten so hot so fast was because of the situation with the injured firefighter.
Judging by the race of her heart and immediate pulse of desire shooting to her core now, that wasn’t the case.
His strong fingers moved slowly down her back, leaving trails of heat in their wake, and the wet tip of his tongue traced the seam of her lips. The coil in her stomach released at the same time her brain registered the slam of the front door.
Claire jerked back and pushed Graham to his feet. Reagan walked past, eyes on her phone screen.
Wide-eyed, Claire just stared at Graham, who now had an amused expression on his face. Mixed with the rapid rise and fall of his chest and the dilation of his pupils, he made quite the picture.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice, smoothing her hair. “I, um...”
“Don’t want Reagan to know?”
She shook her head, thankful he kept his voice down.
“That might pose a problem, seeing as how we live with her.”
“I know. But I can be discreet if you can.”
“She was there when we discussed this, you know.”
“That was when we were waiting several years. At which point I figured we wouldn’t all be living under the same roof anymore.”
“Planning to get rid of me?”
“Gertrude nearly gets you kicked out of this condo on the daily. I have seniority and call the shots around here.”
Graham wisely remained silent, but the corner of his mouth twitched.
“Reagan will be done with graduate school by then. Surely she’ll have moved on. Anyway, that’s not the point. I just...don’t want to make a spectacle of ourselves, okay?”
Graham stuffed his hands into his pockets. “For this to work, the first thing you’ll need to do is tell yourself it’s not a big deal. That’s how an arrangement like this works.”
Claire smoothed her hair back. “I know that in theory, but...I’ve never done this before. I didn’t think I had it in me, but tonight at dinner Mia convinced me—”
“Mia convinced you?”
The disbelief in his tone forced a knowing laugh from her. “I was shocked as hell, too. I’m the one who made the decision, though. I want to do this and give it a try, but I didn’t mean for us to like...start now.”
It had just been difficult to resist when he was sitting that close and smelled that good, and leaned in like that...
“The way you were looking at me said otherwise.”
“Well!” She flung a hand in his direction. “Look at you!”
Oh, hell. That smile.
“Maybe this is a bad idea,” she blurted out, suddenly worried about her ability to keep her hands off him. Two kisses and her hormones were revolting and demanding satisfaction.
Graham, that spectacular smile still lighting up his face, slowly shook his head. “You don’t mean that.”
“Maybe I do. I’m already stressed out.”
“You weren’t when it was just us and you weren’t thinking about anything else.”
Her eyes slid closed as she thought about it.
Accurate.
He kept going, probably so she didn’t have even more time to do something as awful as think. “I’m going to my room now. When you’re ready, just let me know.”
“Reagan leaves next week to visit her family in Florida and she’ll be gone for almost a month. I think I’ll be more comfortable if it’s just us.”
Graham shrugged and turned, giving her a sexy wink over his shoulder as he went. “Sure, if you think you can wait that long.”
6
Graham’s roommate was having a negative impact on his sleep routine.
Not Reagan. She was nice and all, and probably cute, too, but she was more than a decade younger than him.
His brain didn’t even consider going there.
No, it was one hundred percent Claire.
Sweet fuck, he wanted to touch her everywhere. He’d always found her attractive and respected her confident, take-no-shit attitude, which only made her hotter. He’d never seriously considered more than friendship, though, because he knew he couldn’t give her what she wanted.
Not long-term.
Then, last year when she’d suggested that ridiculous marriage pact, it seemed like the perfect solution. He’d never have guessed she’d be down for an arrangement of convenience, simply agreeing to be someone’s companion because they’d hit a certain age where they’d be considered past their prime.
Who set that benchmark, anyway? He was closing in on forty and still looked pretty damn good.
Either way, it worked perfectly for him since he wasn’t looking for an emotional connection. He was all for committing to someone he trusted, liked (most of the time), and was attracted to, as long as they understood he wouldn’t be talking about his feelings and all that.
Thus far, women hadn’t seem interested in that.
So Claire’s idea was a perfect solution. Because despite his disinterest in a serious relationship, he still preferred not to be alone. He enjoyed the company of others. Thrived in it, actually. And while he was all for getting Noah and Mia together back then, he’d thought she was serious about their part, too.
With everything she’d been through with her dad, he understood why she didn’t consider him marriage material. He really did. Ever since she mentioned it, he’d wondered if things would be different if he’d chosen another career path. But after seeing how the firemen worked tirelessly trying to save Nathan the night of their accident, and stabilized Graham and Noah until the ambulance arrived, he’d never wanted to do anything else.
Plus, his job wasn’t the only dangerous thing he did.
Case in point: on the agenda today? Rock climbing with Noah, Chris, and Tyler in Eldorado Canyon.