When their breathing slowed, he eased out of her and settled her skirt back down. She didn’t open her eyes, simply laid there with a sated smile. He quickly discarded the condom and zipped back up, even those few seconds too long away from her. He settled back down next to her, and she cuddled against him, both of them perfectly content lying in silence next to each other.
As he lay there watching the sky turn to dusk, feeling her heart slowing to a steady beat against his side, he realized that two months would never be enough. That he wanted her to walk away from Dr. Dan. That he’d never stopped missing her. And that he’d claimed her as his long before he’d known what that meant.
There was no walking away unscathed. It was already too late.
“So Andre told me about your proposition,” she said long after he thought she’d dozed off.
He traced his fingertips down her arm. “Is that right?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“And?”
Her sigh was weary, but she snuggled closer. “And I can’t imagine going back to The Ranch and letting anyone else touch me.”
He closed his eyes, letting her statement wash over him. “Glad to hear it, Ev.”
“Daniel gave me two months of freedom before the wedding and the move, so I might as well spend it how I want it, right?”
“Of cour—” Every tendon in his body went stiff as he registered the rest of her comment. “Wait, what move?”
She sat up on her elbow to look down at him, her brow furrowed. “To L.A. For the show. As soon as we get back from our honeymoon we’re going to start packing up to head west. I thought you knew.”
Her words twisted his windpipe into a knot. He tried to clear his throat, but no response came out. Two months and she’d be gone? Like cross-country gone?
She ran her thumb along his forehead, smoothing the creases. “What’s wrong?”
He swallowed hard, forcing down the lump. “Nothing, it’s just, I’m a little surprised is all. I didn’t know. I mean, I knew that we would end this part when you got married, but I was hoping to still be a friend afterward. I just found you again. And now you’re leaving.”
Her smile held heartbreak. “You think Daniel would’ve let me do this with someone local, someone I’d have a chance of seeing after we’re married?”
He grimaced. Of course not. The guy may be an idiot but he wasn’t stupid. “I see your point.”
She laid her head against his chest again. “Guess we just need to make these two months count.”
Fucking-A he was going to make them count. Screw it all—his rules, his fears, all of it. No way was he letting Evan walk out of his life again. Not without doing everything in his power to stop her.
He curled his arm more tightly around her, his resolve hardening like steel inside him.
Game on, Dr. Dan.
Game fucking on.
TWENTY
“Tuck your tits in more. You have nip showing,” Finn advised as he adjusted the lighting on Callie’s left.
“Professionalism, Finn,” Evan reminded her intern from behind her camera.
“Sorry.” Finn cocked his chin up in a haughty pose. “Pardon me, Ms. Jessup, for my crassness, but there may be a wee bit of your naughty bits exposed on top.”
Callie giggled and adjusted her boobs in the snug red bustier she’d donned for the first part of her boudoir photo session. “No worries, dollface. It’s not like I’m a real customer. But the British accent does sound cute on you.”
Finn blew her an air kiss.
“That looks good. Keep the light at that angle. And muss up the pillows behind her on the bed. They look too perfect.” Evan adjusted a setting on her camera, then straightened. “You look gorgeous, Cal. You still sure this is what you want to do?”
Callie shot Evan an eager smile. “Definitely. I didn’t spend four hundred bucks on lingerie and have you drag an air mattress in here for nothing. I’m going to show Brandon exactly what he’s missing if he keeps hanging out in the slow lane.”