“Oh, really? You think so? Is that what you came over here for, to finish the job?”
“I didn’t come here to finish anything, Red,” I say. “I’m just getting started with you. I have no intention of finishing the job anytime soon.”
She smiles, looking at me for a long moment before she says exactly the last thing I expect to hear from her. “I’m not looking for a boyfriend.”
The words catch me so off-guard that I laugh uncomfortably. “Excuse me? Did I ask you to be my girlfriend?”
“Nope.” She crosses her arms, which has the unintended effect of giving me a view of her chest down the front of her shirt. I have to glance away and think about something decidedly un-sexy, because if I keep looking there, I’m going to be rock hard in all of about twenty seconds.
“Well, in case you haven’t noticed,” I point out helpfully, “I’m not ‘boyfriend material’.”
Autumn laughs. “I’m rather clear on that point. So we’re just friends.”
“Friends,” I agree. “Though, I don’t know that I’ve ever been down on the floor between a friend’s –“
“Luke!” Autumn protests loudly as Olivia comes toddling back toward her.
“Mama,” Olivia howls, veering right toward the refrigerator.
“Are you hungry, Liv-bug?” she asks. “Do you want a snack?”
I turn back toward the counter, focusing my attention on prepping dinner. Friends, I tell myself. That’s a novel concept. I’ve never been friends with a woman I’ve screwed before. Shit, I try my damnedest not to have conversations with a girl beyond exactly what I’d like to do to her.
Friends – with a woman who has a kid.
Maybe I’m growing. Becoming a better person.
After Autumn settles Olivia into her highchair, she comes back to the counter to fill up a cup of water for her. She brushes against me – accidentally, I think – but when I look up at her, I realize it’s totally intentional. “I think it’s called friends with benefits,” she amends, her voice low, as she passes by.
Shit. And just like that, I can’t stop thinking about Autumn naked. I’m not getting even slightly more mature.
Friends with benefits.
I should be pleased with this development. I should congratulate myself on my luck with escaping a potentially clingy girlfriend.
Except there’s just a small part of me that finds it annoying that she just suggested we only hook up.
14
Autumn
“Is it always this way?” Luke asks.
I’m holding Olivia in my arms after reading three stories to her in the rocking chair – one extra, because she was too excited about Luke being here, mostly because he raced cars around the living room floor with her for an hour. Now he’s standing in the doorway of her room, whispering.
“Like this?” I ask softly, looking down at Olivia, who looks positively angelic in her sleep. “Are you kidding? Hell, no.” Standing up, I cross the room to lay her in her crib, kissing her on the forehead as I tuck her in, and then shut her door behind me.
Luke steps back, but not much, and I’m suddenly very close to him. The faintest hint of cologne, or maybe aftershave, lingers on his skin. “Hell, no?”
“She looks adorable when she’s asleep,” I say. “Not so much when she’s screaming at three in the morning.” I feel the need to warn him that kids don’t sleep through the night. I’m nervous and self-conscious, and standing so close to him makes me feel panicked. So I ease away from him, walking down the stairs as I clear my throat. “I’ll clean up the kitchen. I may not be able to cook, but at least I can – oh. You already cleaned up. Of course you did.”
I’m looking at my kitchen, spotless, the dishes put away and the counters gleaming.
“While you were taking care of Olivia,” he explains, his voice low in my ear. He’s standing right behind me, not touching me. And all I want him to do is touch me.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask, and he laughs.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“You cook, you clean,” I go on, distracted as he trails his finger along the side of my neck, sending a river of goose bumps down my arm. “There has to be something wrong with you, some dirty secret you’re hiding.”
“The dirtiest,” he whispers, hooking a finger under the strap of my tank top and sliding it down over my shoulder. He kisses me softly on my skin where the strap was, and it makes me gasp.
“I can imagine,” I say, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I’ve done quite a bit of imagining when it comes to Luke.
“Oh?” He pulls me back toward him, hard against his erection. “What exactly have you imagined, Red?”
“Th-That. You.”
“You’re tense,” he observes, sliding his hands along my arms.