Moving her hands into his hair, he moaned against her lips as his c**k twitch to life. Biting her lip, he smiled as she pulled away. He reached up, moving her hair out of her face, so that he could see her beautiful eyes. They were such a light brown, almost honey. Framed with dark lashes and makeup that made them shine, she was honestly the most gorgeous woman he had ever been with. Smiling down at him, she leaned back, sitting back on his thighs as she leaned against the cushions of the couch, still watching him. He reached out, moving his finger along her nipple, loving the way she looked at him.

Looking down at where his finger moved along her nipple, she placed her hand on his, stopping him as she looked back down at him. When her eyes met his, he knew something was up. The lust and want that was there before was gone.

Biting into her lip, she cleared her throat before saying, “You know this is a one-time thing, right?”

Phillip cleared his throat as he processed what she had just said. He wasn’t expecting that. He thought they’d f**k some more and then maybe talk about going out sometimes. She was putting the brakes on and, with the way her eyes were set on his, he knew there was no stopping her.

Nodding his head, he put on a carefree smile before saying, “Yeah, I’m good, believe me. We got this out of our system; we should be good, right?”

“Oh totally, I got my fill. I’m good.”

“Awesome, me too,” he said, nodding and feeling completely awkward.

“This is awkward. I hate awkward.”

Phillip laughed.

“I do too; I haven’t ever had a girl tell me that. Usually, I’m the one doing the telling.”

She smiled as she shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m emotionally unavailable and, with everything that is going on with you and then all the connections between us, this is such a bad idea. We probably shouldn’t have done this.”

She was right but still, he couldn’t help but think they could give it a shot.

What?

Mentally smacking himself, he thanked God for this girl. She was giving him a free pass; he didn’t have to worry about a clingy girl trying to get him to be her husband. Reese was giving him an out, a free lay. Was he stupid? Who questions that?

“No one will know about this,” he assured her. He didn’t know why he said that, but he felt like she needed to know that.

To his delight, she looked relieved as she smiled.

“Thank you. I won’t say anything either.”

Moving his hands along her hips, he held her as he said, “You were great.”

She smiled, smacking him gently on the chest.

“So were you.”

They held each other’s gaze. Phillip wanted nothing more than to bring her down for another kiss, and maybe even another round on the couch, but something told him that wasn’t what she wanted.

“I’m gonna go,” he said, squeezing her hips.

She nodded and got off him. He sat up and pulled off the condom, throwing it in the nearest trashcan before picking up his jeans. Sliding them on, he turn to see her standing naked, holding his shirt for him. He took in her spectacular body before reaching for his shirt and putting it on. Sliding his shoes on, he picked up his jacket and put it on before looking over at her. She was standing in her bra and thong now, her arms crossed across her stomach as she watched him. He knew he should just turn and go, but he couldn’t leave without one more kiss. Pulling her to him, he dropped his mouth to hers, capturing her lips in a long, drawn-out kiss that had his toes curling. She was amazing. It killed him to walk away, but she was right.

Parting from her sweet lips, he kissed her one last time before backing away from her. She crossed her legs, giving him an awkward wave as he reached for the door. Something told him not to leave, but when he looked back and she didn’t stop him, only waved again, he left.

When the cold air hit him in the face, he wanted to go back inside, wrap her in his arms, and have his way with her again, but his pride kept him from doing that. He should be happy he dodged a bullet. He didn’t want a girlfriend or a wife. He had Claire, and she was enough to handle. No one would ever know about his night with Reese, and that was good. He should be completely satisfied since he was thoroughly f**ked… but he wasn’t.

He felt empty, and he had no clue what that meant.

Chapter 8

GLANCING DOWN at her phone, Reese rolled her eyes. It was the third time Piper had called that hour, and Reese knew exactly what she wanted. She had been ignoring her all weekend, but her sister was a persistent little thing. Knowing she couldn’t avoid their conversation any longer, she finally hit answer on her iPhone.

“Hello.”

“Don’t hello me! You’ve been ignoring me for the last three days!” Piper accused.

Reese rolled her eyes again as she said, “I would never do such a thing. I’ve been busy. I had competition yesterday.”

She was only partially lying in the sentence, her kids did have a dance competition, but she had been ignoring Piper relentlessly.

“Liar, and even if you did, you still could have answered my text!”

“Sorry, I suck.”

“You do! What if something was wrong?”

Reese rolled her eyes; her sister was so dramatic.

“If something was wrong, Erik would have called me. I’ve been busy; you act like I call every day.”

That silenced her right up. Smiling to herself, she unwrapped a piece of chocolate as Piper said, “Well… whatever, you know why I’m calling. You might as well confirm it.”