All went well, though, and she was safely on her way to the hotel. Moving quickly, I restacked the boxes outside the back door and took off.

Not the safest plan.

Not the smartest plan.

If anyone came around looking in the trash, I was screwed. But my hope was that the she-devil would make her move quickly. I made the call, kept it short, and hung up on Blanchet while she was yelling at me for not being able to witness the exchange, since the product was already at the drop.

Shaking it off, happy it was almost done but knowing it wasn’t over by a long shot, I used the key Elle had left for her “husband” at the desk and stepped inside.

In that moment, just as the door closed behind me, I felt an overwhelming sense of arousal. The room was small, just a giant bed, a closet, a bathroom that I knew she’d just showered in, and her, safe, and larger than life. The arousal I felt when I laid eyes on her wasn’t the kind of juvenile jolt a Victoria’s Secret catalog or Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue would have stirred up when I was fourteen. No, it was . . . I didn’t know . . . like my whole mind, not just my body, was suddenly overcome by everything she was.

She was wearing the hotel’s white robe and she was fidgeting with the terry-cloth belt. “Are you okay?” she breathed with a sigh a relief.

My gaze flickered hot over her.

She stopped her fussing. “I know you’re upset with me. I’m sorry.”

My whole life has felt like I’ve been suppressing my emotions and right now, I just couldn’t do it any longer. I needed a release. I needed something real. I needed . . . I needed her. I stabbed my finger in the air. “Stop that shit right now. I understand why you did what you did, but you should have told me about it first.”

She looked guilty. “I know. I’m not sure what came over me, but I heard that woman’s voice over the phone line and shut down.”

We stared at each other without blinking. “That was the DEA agent. You have to know I don’t want anyone but you. How could you not know that?” My voice was raised, rougher and tougher than I wanted it to be. But there was so much bottled up inside me, I couldn’t contain my anger and frustration. It was just leaking out.

Elle took a step toward me, her own anger now blazing in her eyes. “You should have told me what you were doing all along. You lied to me!”

My strides were quick. “No. I didn’t. I just didn’t tell you. I couldn’t! There was too much at stake.”

We were toe to toe like fighters in a ring. “You didn’t tell me. I didn’t tell you. What a pair!” Her voice was sardonic, laced with bitterness.

I looked into those green eyes. “We are a pair.”

She raised her arms out and gave a sarcastic laugh. “So, as a pair, where does this leave us?”

I gripped her upper arms, bringing them down. “Together!” I shouted.

“Together?” her voice was questioning but still filled with anger.

I licked my lips. I tasted salt. “You’re pissed at me because I was at a bar with a woman I hate?”

“No, I’m not pissed at all.”

My arms slid down her sides to her hips. “Then what are you?”

Her brave façade melted away instantly. “Relieved. Thankful. Grateful.”

“Then show me. Tell me. Or let me show you. Let me tell you how I feel. I need to be able to communicate with you, and conversations aren’t always the best way for me to do that.”

In a flash, she untied her robe and I stepped back so I could watch as she shrugged it off. “Fuck me. Tell me how you feel. Show me,” she whispered.

She was naked and my entire body was on overload. Amped on adrenaline, or love, or fear—I didn’t know which. I didn’t care. I just stepped toward her. “You sure?”

She swallowed, and this time the sound that left her throat was more like a purr. “Yes. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

Quickly, very quickly, I dropped to my knees in front of her and buried my face between her legs. “Because I need to taste you,” I told her with my nose at her clit, my tongue jetting in and out of her pussy right off the bat. Her sweetness was just too much. I couldn’t get enough. My hands skimmed the back of her thighs and I brought her closer.

Her hands went to my hair, lightly at first, barely skimming it. She said something. I wasn’t certain what, but it sounded like, “That feels so good.”

“I need to feel how wet I make you.”

She moaned so loud, I felt it down to my core and with that, I began to eat her up. Devour her. All along letting her know just how sweet she tasted.

Her fingers sunk further into my hair, tugging at it. She cried out and it was rough and raw. My hands were on her ass, holding her close, and I licked every inch of her pussy. Her moans were electrifying, and I hooked one of her legs over my shoulder so I could really get inside her. The flicks of my tongue were quick at first and then sliding it down, I buried it deep inside her with alternating sucks, licks, and flicks.

She was close. I could tell. “Come for me, Elle,” I commanded.

As if on cue, she cried out. “Oh, God, Logan, I am. I’m coming. I’m coming. I’m coming for you. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

Words spoken in the heat of the moment . . .

Music to my ears.

I couldn’t deny that this was real anymore.

It was all too real.

Both sated and breathless, I drew in a shuddering breath and then pulled her closer so I could look at her. I swam for a minute in her gaze. She was flushed, her lips and cheeks pink. Beautiful.

She wrapped her arms around me and we held each other, kissed a little more, rolled around on the bed, and ended up a tangle of limbs. She was between my legs, curled against me with her body pressed snug against my chest, and my arms were wrapped around her protectively.

I gazed down at her. Opened my mouth. Closed it. How was I supposed to have a talk with her about us when I couldn’t even bring myself to start the conversation? It’s not as if I didn’t understand the value of talking. I did. Communication, whether in or out of bed, was going to be key if we were going to survive as a couple when the fallout came from what we’d done.

And sure as shit, it was going to come.

When it did, we were going to have to stand strong, and stand together, and hopefully conquer more than just the world we lived in.

Perhaps, if we were lucky, we’d conquer each other.

Her fingers caressed the bare skin of my chest. “So what happens when we don’t have to hide anymore?”

My laughter was loud.

She tipped her head to look at me. “Why are you laughing? I’m serious.”

My fingers wove into her hair and stroked it. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at my lame-ass self. I’ve been lying here trying to figure out the best way to start that very conversation and the words just flow effortlessly out of your mouth. Go figure.”

She breathed in. She breathed out.

It was my cue to talk and my turn to draw in a deep breath. “We said we’d figure this thing out between us together and I think we are. But in all honesty, I’ve never had a relationship with a woman for longer than a month. With you I don’t see an end. I see something between us that could last a long time and I want to give us a chance. I hope after everything, you feel the same way.”

Wow, I’d said it.

Her hand ran up to my face and she caressed my cheek. “Logan McPherson, if you’re asking me to be your Mrs. Robinson, I accept.”

I laughed. “No, definitely not. I’d much rather be the teacher.”

She rolled her eyes.

“But, Elle Sterling, how about you agree to be my girlfriend instead?”

She laughed. “Aren’t we a little old for that?”

I raised a suggestive brow. “Lover sound better?”

She wrinkled her nose. “That makes us sound too old.”