The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

            They moaned at the same time, hers a needy request while his was deep and guttural.

            He fucking loved that sound, loved that he was the one drawing that reaction from her.

            She leaned back on her arms, letting her head fall back as he drove her to madness with his strong body. His mouth took advantage of her position, lifting water droplets off her wet skin while he explored her with his tongue, and he knew he’d never forget the hot look in her eyes as she watched him lick all over her.

            He felt her heels dig into his lower back, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders while her body tightened and flexed around him. Every movement they shared was fucking sexual perfection—scorching intoxication that he was totally under the influence of—and he had the fleeting realization that he’d never had sex like that before.

            In his entire life.

            It was great sex, the kind of sex you couldn’t quit even if the world was ending around you, but it was laced with a disconcerting sentimentality that made him want to pull Hallie closer and kiss her on the forehead.

            Which ignited something inside him that made his already sweaty body feel hot all over.

            Jack tightened his grip on her hips and gave himself up to all of it, going wild with Hallie as she panted like a sprinter and clutched at his shoulders. He buried his face in her neck as the finish rushed through him, and he’d barely refocused on his surroundings when he heard Hallie say, “Now that was a brilliant start to the morning, Marshall.”





Hallie


            “I can’t believe how pissed your mom looked,” Jack said as they boarded their flight.

            “Yeah, she unloaded on me in the bathroom, and I’m fairly certain she thinks you’re my bad influence.” Hallie giggled, and couldn’t believe that her mother’s rage wasn’t stressing her out at all. “Before you I was an angel.”

            “Wonderful,” he said.

            “It’ll be fine. Next time we talk I’ll tell her you saved me from drowning or something, and it’ll be cool.”

            “This sounds absolutely like something that won’t work,” he teased, squeezing her fingers.

            She loved that he’d immediately grabbed her hand at the airport, even without relatives in sight. Their fake dating was officially over—everyone else was leaving the following day—but he was still treating her the same.

            And after the night and morning they’d just shared, she wasn’t surprised; it had been intimate and perfect, way more than just a roll in the only-one-bed hotel room.

            But a tiny part of her was concerned because they hadn’t had time that morning to really talk about what their relationship would be upon returning home. Neither of them had said exactly what they wanted, but she was too afraid to bring it up.

            Once they were in the air, she leaned her head on his shoulder and fell sound asleep. She slept through the entire flight, and when her eyelids fluttered open as the flight attendant announced their descent, Jack smiled at her in a way that made her remember every hot detail from the night before.

            “Why are you so tired, Tiny Bartender?” he asked, his voice deep and gravelly as he ran his hand up and down her spine. “Long night?”

            “I don’t want to overshare,” she whispered, raising her mouth to his ear, “but I met a guy at a wedding and he railed me all night long.”

            “He sounds fit,” Jack said.

            “You have no idea,” she said. “It was like a sexual boot camp, but with french fries and TV.”

            That made him throw his head back and laugh, the same way he had when they’d fallen out of the closet during the rehearsal dinner, and she knew it was over.

            She was head over heels in love with Jack Marshall.





Chapter

TWENTY-EIGHT



“I’m going to the restroom, and I’ll meet you at baggage claim.”

            “Deal,” Jack said, grabbing her carry-on from her shoulder and putting it over his.

            “Don’t ditch me,” she said, laughing, and then he stepped onto the escalator and headed downstairs. She walked toward the closest bank of public restrooms, but she felt more like skipping, she was so happy.