He froze, panting, with his chest rising fiercely under his snug shirt.
“I kissed Rhea. Today. Before the meeting.”
His hands stayed where they were, warm on my hips and on the side of my face. Steadfast.
“I don’t feel guilty,” I admitted, my voice firm with honesty. “I probably should. I want to be. But I’m not, and I’m having trouble wrapping my head around that because I’m worried about what you’ll think. And what she’ll think when she finds out I kissed you too.” I rambled as he stayed silent, staring at me, and then took a deep breath. “I want her. I want you. And I hate that it’s selfish of me to want that, something I’ve never been once in my life, but?—”
“It’s not,” he breathed.
I blinked.
He ran the pad of his thumb over my cheek, cradling my face in his palm, and I leaned into it. “It’s not selfish, Goldie. It’s honest. Something you’ve always been every day of your life. You’ve never led me on. You’ve never made promises you couldn’t keep.”
“I just… I don’t want to pick. And I know that’s so incredibly unfair to you both.”
“I don’t need you to pick,” he said, tilting his head. “If Rhea’s in this too, if you’re both serious, and if you keep it fair, I’m okay with sharing you.”
“You are?” I asked, startled by his acceptance, even though it was what I wanted more than anything.
He gave me a small, wry smile. “Rhea and I are nothing alike. We’ll never be the same kind of partner to you. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe you weren’t meant to settle for just one type of love.” His fingers danced against the skin at my side, peeking out from under my shirt above my overalls. “I don’t want a competition or games, so it must be fair and always honest. But I want you, Goldie. However that looks, just know I’ve never wanted someone as badly as I want you. I want this.”
The relief came fast; the excitement came even faster.
Someone saw me—really saw me—and didn’t ask me to be smaller, simpler, easier for them to want.
I leaned in and pressed my lips against his in a soft, tender kiss.
“Okay,” I whispered.
I didn’t know what else to say to that. Tohim.
So, I kissed him again.
Or maybe he kissed me back, I didn’t care.
I just knew I wanted it to never end.
His mouth caught mine as if we were both starving for something sweet and real. There was heat, but underneath it was something steadier. He wasn’t devouring me. He wasmemorizingme. Like every kiss was a question, or a promise. And each kiss back was a silent agreement, acknowledging that I wasn’t going anywhere.
My fingers twisted in the front of his shirt as I slid forward on the prep table, thighs parting to hook around his waist. He groaned softly as I pulled him closer, and his hips pressed into mine in a slow, teasing grind.
“Tanner,” I whispered against his mouth.
“Yes, Sugar?”
“Did you touch yourself before you came here?”
He didn’t shy away from my question, nor offer some macho reply, instead, he smiled against my lips, biting my lower one. “Twice,” he answered. “I probably should have gone for three, so I didn’t pin you to the counter the second you looked at me with those big blue eyes.”
I moaned, sliding my fingers under the hem of his shirt as my eyelids fell shut. “I’m not mad, either way.”
“I’ll remember that for next time.”
“Next time, let me watch.” I countered, and he made a noise that sounded like an injured animal as he bit my neck with the slightest pressure. It wasn’t nearly as rough as I wanted, but it gave away how on edge he was. “Do something else for me.”
“Anything.”
“Touch me.” I begged in a whisper.