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  “Is this what the fancy hotel’s for?” I managed. “Do you do this for all the girls?”

  “I’ve never taken a girl away.”

  I pressed a hand to his chest, holding him back. “Not even for one night?”

  He shook his head, casting shadows over features that were as familiar as my own. “You make me want things I never I thought I wanted.” His simple words had my chest tingling.

  He dropped kisses down my body, starting with my mouth.

  “Like someone to fight with.”

  My collarbone.

  “Someone to kiss.”

  My nipples.

  “Someone to laugh with.”

  My stomach.

  “Someone to play with.”

  Between my thighs, making me arch off the bed.

  “All of it. Not a day goes by that I don’t want those things with you.” His words affected me, but more than that, it was his expression.

  Startlingly earnest.

  I needed to be closer to him, and I reached out a hand to stroke down the side of his face. He turned his mouth into my palm, and that little move had me shaking.

  “Avery…”

  “I don’t want to stop.” The urgency in his voice set me back.

  “What do you mean?”

  “We said that when you left next week, it’d be over. I don’t want that.”

  I swallowed. “Me either. But what about the fact that you don’t do relationships?”

  “Maybe there’s something to what you said. Compromise. Harmony. Not tension.”

  I breathy laugh escaped me. “You think we can make orange?”

  “I think we’d have fun trying.”

  Pleasure flooded me that had nothing to do with the way we touched.

  He reached for a condom on the bedside table, and I took it out of his hand. Confusion crossed his face as I dropped it, wrapped, off the side of the bed.

  “No.”

  “Are you serious?” His voice was tight, like he knew what he wanted me to answer be but was afraid to count on it.

  I nodded.

  Avery let out a groan. His gaze roamed my body, lingering on every curve on display for him. Just for him.

  “You have no idea how cool I was going to be tonight,” he murmured.

  “Oh really?”

  “Uh-huh. Leverage the nice hotel bit. I was going to make you scream. But the idea of being inside you, bare… I can’t make any promises anymore.”

  I grinned. “I understand.”

  He hitched one of my legs over his shoulder, then the other. His cock brushing my entrance had me moaning.

  “Come on,” I insisted, “don’t tease me.”

  When he rocked his hips against me, filling me, I sighed his name. There wasn’t room for anything else. No doubt, no questions. He took me over, without making me any less myself.

  He made me want to be myself.

  “Fuck, Charlotte.” Avery’s eyes fell shut, and he ran his mouth along my calf. “I think you were made for me, Duchess. I might be ruined for anyone else.” It was a joke, but the seriousness in his gaze had my heart turning over.

  He stroked into me, building me higher and higher. The lights blurred together until my fingers were digging into his forearms. We panted, our hearts tripping.

  When we were finished, we curled up in bed. I lay my head on his chest, the light dusting of hair tickling my face.

  “I guess I’ll have to postpone my date with that lumberjack while we play this out.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Mhmm. Big, giant guy.”

  In a lightning-fast move, he’d sat up and flipped me over his knee. “You’re not going anywhere near that guy.”

  His hand found my ass and I yelped. “I made him up!”

  “Swear it,” he threatened. His palm came down again.

  This time I could only giggle. “I—swear—”

  “So much for inspiring fear. How will my employees ever respect me as a director?”

  “I’m sorry,” I managed between convulsions, rolling off his knee and landing on my back. “But you’re not scary.”

  “Everyone else thinks I am.”

  “But they don’t know you like I do.”

  Avery stared me down, the humor fading and replaced with an expression that had my breath catching. “No. I guess they don’t.”

  The giddy feeling that took me over wouldn’t be denied. “We need to celebrate. You’ll get your promotion this week, I’ll have Trevor and my stapler gone by Friday—”

  “No stapler.”

  “—and Saturday we can celebrate freedom. Being normal.”

  “That sounds great. But maybe not Saturday. I have to work.”

  “Then Sunday,” I decided.

  He paused. “How’s the job search going?”

  I bit my lip. “The thing is, I was thinking about what you said, about figuring out what I want and going for it. But the last time I applied to anything, I got a bunch of doors slammed in my face when I couldn’t name the college I graduated from.”

  “So don’t let them close the door.”

  “Easy for you to say.”

  He shifted up to look at me. “Charlotte, I went to school for a long damned time. I hardly use any of that in my day-to-day work. You know what that means?”

  “You wasted more time and money than most people will ever have?”

  Avery tugged me onto my side so he could slap my ass again. I yelped.

  “No. It means what makes me capable of doing my job isn’t the years I spent sitting in lectures. It’s what I did with it. It’s determination and grit and getting up every time you get knocked down.”

  I shifted up onto my hip, staring down at him. “So why is it so important that Kenna stays in school?”

  Avery shifted to fold his hands behind his head. I tried not to be distracted by the lines of his chest, his abs, and…yeah. “Because the real reason isn’t that she wants to drop out. She wants to be a social worker, and she needs a degree for that. She thinks I do too much for her, and she wants to stop costing me money. I don’t know how to tell her it’s fine. There aren’t a lot of things I care about in this world as much as her future.”

  My heart expanded in my chest. “OK. Maybe we can have a talk. Woman to woman. But no guarantees.”

  “Yeah? Great.” He reached an arm around me, tugging me down onto his chest. “Wait. What’s woman to woman talk? Is that about…”

  “Go on, say it.”

  “Tampons?”

  “Yes. That is always the first topic of conversation between twenty-first century women. Advances in menstrual protection.” I shook my head as my fingers played with his hair. “I can’t even handle you sometimes.”

  “Then I’d better hurry up and fuck you again.”

  “That would be wise.”

  He flipped me over, and words were forgotten.

  But for the first time in a long time, in a strange city, I felt like I was home.

  28

  I Can’t Believe We Made That

  “Thought I might find you here.”

  Kenna looked up from her seat in the auditorium on the college campus. “Charlotte! I thought you and my brother were in New York.”

  “We got back yesterday.” I settled into the seat next to her and put my leopard-print heels up on the seat in front of me.

  I glanced to the front of the room. “This class looks cool. I thought you’d finished school for the year.”

  “I’m taking a summer course to get ahead. I’ll be done by the time I go to camp. But who knows, I might not come back. There’re a lot of things you can do without college.” Kenna’s smile faded and suspicion edged in. “So you just came by to…hang out.”

  “Right.”

  I reached into my bag and pulled out a cookie. “Want some? This guy at work makes chocolate chip that’ll curl your toes.”

  She reached out and broke off a piece. “You’re really not here to talk me i
nto staying in school?”

  “Nope. I’ve never been in school. I don’t know what you’d be missing out on. What is this, by the way?”

  She nodded to the front of the room, where the professor stood.

  “Today we’re continuing our conversation on evolving gender roles in the workplace,” the woman started.

  “Women’s studies,” Kenna whispered.

  I tuned into the lecture for a few minutes. I didn’t realize I’d gotten sucked in until Kenna nudged me with an elbow.

  “Got any more cookies?” I passed her the bag without taking my gaze from the front of the room. “Are you seriously that interested in this lecture?” she demanded.

  “If you’d ever worked at Alliance, you’d see how true all of this is. There are people who don’t think they can do what men can. More people need to hear this. Is this like your other classes?”

  “Yes and no. They’re all ‘read these text books from dead people.’” She passed me a psychology text. I flipped through the pages.

  “And it’s all garbage that has no link to real life. You’d rather be camping.”

  “Not garbage. I mean, social psychology makes a lot of sense. You can apply it when you talk to people.”

  “Hmm.” I pretended to read. “Avery says you want to be a social worker.”

  “Yeah. I want to help people.”

  I scanned one of the paragraphs. “This would definitely help.”

  I glanced up when people started to make noise around us.

  “Yup. Come on, nerd. Class is over.” Kenna shifted out of her chair and started piling books into her bag. “You can totally sit in on these classes if you like them so much. It’s called auditing.”

  “You can just sit in.”

  “Well, you’re not supposed to. But first- and second-year courses are so big, they’d never know. You could pass for a student. If you don’t mind bending a rule or two.”

  I smiled. “Kenna. Doll. I was bending rules while you were in diapers.”

  We filed out of the row and took the stairs down.

  “So you’re coming Saturday, right?” she asked as we reached the door of the class.

  “Saturday.”

  “To celebrate. I know Avery’s really superstitious about this promotion, but assuming he gets it… We’re going to an amazing restaurant. Uncle A’s springing for it.”

  “Um. Right.”

  Maybe he’d forgotten to tell me.

  Or maybe because he’s still holding you at a distance. You’re not his girlfriend—you’re a woman who’s about to be unemployed. Living off Grams’ life insurance.

  I hated the doubt that worked its way into my gut. But I couldn’t keep it out.

  “Hey, Charlie. Got a sec?”

  I shifted back in my seat to see Mallory leaning over the edge of my cubicle.

  “Sure. If you want an update on the wrap-up, I’ve revised the spreadsheet. Donor thank-yous got mailed yesterday. And I have cards for the comic and the venue to go out soon.”

  Mallory shook her head. “Yeah, that’s not why I’m here. I have something you might be interested in.” She held a sheet of paper in front of my face, and I squinted.

  “Wait. A job posting?”

  “In comms. I know we didn’t hit it off at first, but you did a great job on the gala. We women have to stick together around here. It’s contract, but will probably turn into permanent. Mostly it’s event support and…” she trailed off as I stared up at her.

  “Why are you showing me?”

  “Because you should apply.” Her phone beeped and she glanced down at it. “I have to get this.”

  “No problem,” I mumbled as Mallory scooted off.

  Me as a legit communications person.

  I stared at it over lunch. And that afternoon. And during my break.

  “Hey, Charlie. You OK?” Payton hovered over my desk.

  “Yeah. I’ve just been thinking about something.” I followed her into her office. “Mallory said I’d be perfect for this job. What do you think?”

  “Wow. I didn’t picture you staying at Alliance, but if it’s what you want…”

  I turned away. “It’s not what I pictured, but maybe it’s better. You think I could do it?”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake, Charlie.”

  “What!” I protested, turning back. My friend’s hand clasped the couch arm, and her normally flushed face was pale.

  “No, I just had this pain in my side.”

  In two seconds I had my arm around her. I scanned her pale face, the way her shoulders slumped.

  “We’re going to the hospital.”

  “Payton. I’m in a meeting, can I call you back?” Max’s voice came down the line.

  “It’s Charlie and no, you can’t call me back. Get your ass to the hospital.”

  Fear replaced irritation in his tone. “What’s wrong?”

  Noises in the background told me he was moving, and a door slammed.

  “I don’t know. She’s been having cramps and then she was in all this pain. Just get over here.”

  I stepped back into the room where nurses worked on either side of a pale Payton. She looked too small in that hospital bed.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded, wedging in. One of them had Payton’s sleeve up above her elbow and was wiping her skin with a cotton ball.

  “We’re running tests to assess her hormone levels. And we’ll do an ultrasound, even though it’s early for that.”

  I knew what they were saying without them saying it. They needed to see if something had happened to the baby.

  My friend’s glazed eyes found mine.

  “It’s going to be fine, honey,” I said, taking her hand.

  She nodded tightly. “Max?”

  “He’s on his way.”

  The nurses worked around her, an ultrasound tech joining a few minutes later. They’d just put the goop on her stomach when Max burst in the door.

  His dark expression was filled with an intensity I’d never seen.

  “It took forever for them to find you in the directory,” he panted. “It’s like they’ve never used a damn computer in this place.”

  I dropped Payton’s hand, letting him take my place at her side.

  “It’s fine. Probably just my stomach complaining about the lack of watermelon slushies lately.”

  Max looked toward the screen and froze. “Holy shit.”

  Payton followed his gaze, the corner of her mouth twitching up for the first time since we’d gotten to the hospital. “Whoa. Is that…?”

  “That’s your baby,” the tech confirmed. “It’s about two inches long right now.”

  “It’s moving,” Max said. His tone was awestruck.

  “That’s right. At ten weeks they’re starting to kick their limbs. It’s probably too soon to tell if it’s a boy or a girl.”

  “But it’s a person.”

  The tech smiled. “It is a person. And we’ll wait on blood tests, but everything looks good from here. Its heart rate is normal.”

  “Thank fuck. Wait.” He paled. “Can it hear me swear? Am I scarring it?”

  “You’re probably safe.”

  He turned to Payton, smoothing a piece of hair away from her face. “I can’t believe we made that. You’re unbelievable, Coyote. I’m sorry I suck at this. It’s been…unexpected. But you know how much I love you. Nothing we could do would ever disappoint me.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. The other. Her forehead.

  She reached for him and pulled his mouth to hers.

  Tears stung the backs of my eyes. I turned for the door, wanting to give them privacy. Max’s voice stopped me.

  “Hey, Charlie. Thanks.”

  I managed a half-smile before making my way out into the hall.

  People bustled past on the worn linoleum. I strolled down the hall.

  I’d been that girl once. Pregnant, feeling alone. That experience had been enough to make me want to write off guys for a long time.
r />   But it didn’t have to end like me and Derek. There were people like Payton and Max, who went through hard times and still found their way back to each other.

  Avery was the first person who’d given me an indication I could have it. Neither of us was looking for it, but we’d seen something.

  Maybe there was hope for me yet. For all of us.

  29

  This Is Definitely Yours

  I barreled into Avery’s office the next day, teetering on my heels. He glanced up from his desk. I pulled the door most of the way closed after me, crossing to him.

  “Hello, Charlotte,” he said. The stiffness in his tone surprised me.

  “Hey, I… Oh. I thought you were alone.” I noticed too late that his uncle was in the other chair.

  “I was leaving,” Armand said, shifting from his chair. He shot me an unreadable look as he left. I watched him go, then shut the door.

  “I’ve hardly seen you all morning,” Avery said when I turned back. “Payton OK?”

  And like that, the weirdness evaporated. I shook it off.

  “Yeah. She’s out of the hospital. They told her to take it easy today, though.”

  “Good. You left something at my place last night.” Avery tugged a scrap of lace out of his breast pocket.

  “I thought they might calm your nerves. Like a sexy security blanket before your meeting today.”

  His mouth twitched at the corner. “Thanks.”

  Last night had been the first time I’d fallen asleep at his place. Waking up with Avery in the morning had left a funny feeling in my chest. Like this was where we were supposed to be.

  I hadn’t asked about the party because I wanted to give him time. And deep down I knew this was going to work out.

  “How are you feeling about your meeting?”

  “In six hours, this day will be done, and I’m getting you alone at my place with a bottle of champagne,” Avery pronounced.

  “You want to drink bubbly?”

  “I’m going to pour it on you and lick it off.”

  His dark blue jacket matched his eyes, the shirt and tie a few shades lighter. Ones I’d picked out myself.

  The smile pulled at my mouth without permission. I shook off the Avery-induced haze and reminded myself why I was here.