Her smile widened. “No problem. I like spending time with you, especially when it’s private, and I don’t want any miscommunication on that front.”
He shifted against her, as if becoming aware of how close they were. Something in her lower belly contracted as all of her nerves fired at once.
“When can I see you privately again?” he asked.
“Hopefully soon.” They’d need to work out the details. Unless she was prepared to have him in her bed when Izzy was around—which she wasn’t—getting alone time would take some planning. “One other proviso.”
“Anything.” His low, gruff voice sent shivers of desire down her spine. He ducked his head and dropped a kiss on the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Her head twisted to the side to grant him better access and she struggled to remember what she’d been about to say. When his tongue touched her skin, she trembled. It had only been two days since she broke a six-year dry spell, but she craved him like it had been weeks since they were together.
He drew back, looking down at her, his pupils bleeding into the blue of his eyes and turning them dark. “What’s your proviso, Bex?”
Oh yeah, that. She thought hard. Tried to ignore the pulse between her legs that was insisting she tug him closer. “If you spring anything else crazy on me, like Wesley suddenly turning up in town, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”
He nodded. “I think you’ve earned that right.”
And then his lips were on hers, plying her with kisses, his tongue tracing her mouth and tasting her. She gasped, and he took advantage of that to deepen the kiss. She practically climbed him, desperate to be closer. His hands cupped her buttocks and lifted her, carrying her to his desk and setting her down on it. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her hands sank into his hair. Being this close to him was so good. So right. She could sense from the way he clutched her, his palms skimming greedily over her, that he needed reassurance. He’d been afraid she wouldn’t want him anymore.
Well, guess what? She wanted reassurance too. Reassurance that she hadn’t made a mistake by opening her life to him, and by cracking open the walls she’d built around her heart.
“Need you,” he muttered, fumbling with his belt. “Think I’ll always need you.”
“I need you too.” She smoothed her hands over his, easing their trembling, and helped him unfasten his trousers and lower them. Slipping a hand inside his underwear, she palmed him, glorying in the hot steely length and the evidence that he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. She closed her fist around him and stroked. Gasping, he fell forward, his hands landing on the desk on either side of her, his head dropping.
Rap rap.
They both froze, staring at each other, eyes wide. Someone was at the door.
“Oh, fuck,” Michael swore under his breath. “Hold on a second,” he called, louder.
Bex whipped her hand out of his pants and did them back up. Then she straightened her own clothing, knowing that however tidy she was, it wouldn’t wipe the flush from her cheeks. She was tempted to hide, but short of ducking beneath his desk, there was nowhere to go. Michael stared at the ground, muttering to himself. She strained to hear, and thought she could make out something about thinking non-sexy thoughts. Eventually, he straightened, his erection no longer visible behind the fabric of his trousers, and strode to the door to yank it open.
Shane stood on the other side. He glanced up from his phone and his eyes widened, skipping from Michael to Bex, then up and down the length of her body. Finally, he gave a knowing smile. She stared right back, refusing to bury her face in her hands like she wanted to. God, she hadn’t been caught going at it like this in a long time. Not since high school. Hopefully Shane would keep his mouth shut, or this would be all over the bay by the end of the day. He wasn’t the type to gossip, but he also tended to confide in Faith, who hadn’t kept her mouth shut for a day in her life.
“Michael,” he said with a nod. “Bex. Are you two finished, or would you like me to come back later?”
Bex hid her guilty smile. Shane was enjoying this. The bastard. “We’re done.” She turned to Michael. “I’ll see you later?” She hoped he understood the subtext. She was inviting him over.
His expression softened, his lips curling up and his gorgeous eyes crinkling at the corners. “See you then.”
To her utter mortification, he ducked his head and kissed her.
Shane chuckled into his hand, and she shot him a glare. “Have a nice meeting, boys.”
When she left, she put a little extra sway into her walk. If Michael got an awkward hard-on, it’d serve him right.
Chapter Twenty-One
Michael feltlike a kid on Christmas Eve. Ever since Bex had implied she wanted to see him again, he’d been unable to sit still. His suppressed excitement had him squirming and ready to crawl out of his skin, even during a particularly dull meeting he’d had earlier with one of the school’s major suppliers. He didn’t expect anything from her, and he sure as hell knew she wouldn’t behave inappropriately with Izzy around, but he ached to spend time with her. Their Sunday brunches had become his favorite part of the week and he’d missed hearing how Izzy’s weekend was going, what her friends were up to, and what Bex had planned for the coming days. He hadn’t realized exactly how much he cherished those mornings with them, until they were taken away.
Legs pumping, he turned his bicycle onto his street and pushed as hard as he could for the last half mile to the house. He wasn’t likely to get to the gym tonight, so he needed to make up for it now. He grinned as the cold air whipped around his face. He’d made a decision when Bex left earlier, and it felt good. Like everything inside him had finally fallen into alignment. He had his priorities straight. She and Izzy came first now. As far as he was concerned, they always would for as long as they wanted him.
He parked his bike in the shed and jogged inside, stripping off his sweater as he let himself in. Wesley sat in front of his laptop at the dining table, tapping away at a screen full of emails.
“Evening,” Michael greeted him.
“Welcome home,” Wesley replied, making a few more keystrokes then closing the lid of his computer. “Good day at work?”
In the same way Michael had never shared Wesley’s political ambitions, his brother had never understood his preference for the education sector.