She was helpless against him in a way that left her far more vulnerable than she’d ever been with Bill. Andrew Copeland was her heart. Just how this had come to be, even when it had happened, she wasn’t sure. But it was there. He lived inside her, past all those walls she’d erected to keep herself safe.

“Waltzed right in and made yourself at home.” She smirked.

He felt so good inside her she simply let herself feel what he did. Filling her up more than physically.

She arched, offering as much of herself to him as she could. He touched her like she was fine and precious, like he couldn’t not touch her. No one had ever made her feel so cherished and sexually irresistible.

“I did? I’m a scoundrel that way.” He nuzzled her neck, licking up to her earlobe, which he took between his teeth until she squeaked with pleasure, and he chuckled.

“I’m so easy when you touch me.” She laughed as he took two handfuls of br**sts and hauled her closer.

“Thank God for it. I like you being easy for me.”

Climax slammed into her as he slipped his hand down to her pu**y, finding her clit ready and slick, needing to be touched. She held on tight, trying to breathe, falling in deep as he played the rhythm of her body.

“Hope you realize I’m one of those guests who just won’t leave,” he mumbled sometime later, their bodies tangled in the mess of sheets, underwear and blankets.

“Thank God.”

“I’m sorry we fought.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, idly playing with one of his nipple rings. “Do you never have fights with your other women?”

“That part about the women before. About how I didn’t like them.” He took a deep breath. “Cut pretty close to the bone.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you, but I see you, Andrew. I know you. I can’t lie about how exceptional I think you are, and I can’t lie about what I see in you.”

He shook his head. “None of them were what you are. This is new for me. Not how I feel about you, I’ve wanted you a very long time. But dealing with your feelings and remembering I want you to be around tomorrow.” He snorted. “Takes getting used to. Though I want to, which is also new.”

What girl didn’t want to hear that from a man like Andrew Copeland? She knew part of why it thrilled her so much was, hello, he was hot and had been the freewheeling sexy boy with a thousand women fawning over him. But she believed him when he told her how he felt about her. However improbable it was, she had been different. What they had was different than what he’d been before with those other women.

Another part of her realized it was actually true. She’d seen him with various women over the years, and she’d lay odds that none of them had seen the inside of his house much less gotten an “I love you” from his lips.

“I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not good at this. What if I f**k it up?”

“You’re going to hurt me.” She licked over the hard muscle of his pecs. “This is inevitable, because no one can hurt you like someone who’s close to you. We’ll fight. You’re a pushy, bossy man, though you like to play laid-back. I know you, Andrew; you’re not laid-back about important things. And that’s where we’re going to tangle. Because I don’t know how to be a girlfriend, and you don’t know how to have one.”

He snorted as he stroked over the hollow just below her ear, sending shivers through her. “Least you’ve finally been able to call yourself my girlfriend. This is progress.”

“But we’re not what I was with Bill. Don’t think I don’t understand this.”

She shifted to look at his face better. “Hot damn, you’re pretty.” She kissed that mouth of his, meaning to be quick, but with him, she never knew if it would be a sweet pause or a fast-moving wildfire.

He groaned, opening his mouth, sliding his arms around her, holding her body to his as he took over, devouring her with such self-assured sexuality she nearly melted on the spot. Parts of her were significantly wetter than before, so maybe that’s where she was melting.

“What’s making you smile?”

“I made up a horrible joke in my head. But I can totally laugh at it that way. Saves embarrassment of saying it out loud.”

“Come on, I promise to laugh at all your jokes. It’s part of the boyfriend job. Though you can’t tell anyone this, I’m new at it too.”

“Never say,” she murmured as she sat up. “Andrew, I simply must tell you that you have the most beautifully male body I’ve ever seen. You’re, god, you make my mouth water.”

He blushed and she smiled down at him, surprised and touched by how sweet and shy he actually was when it came to the big, important stuff.

“Flattery will get you just about anywhere with me, Red. Then again, all you have to do is ask, and it’s yours. I’m putty in your hands.”

Reaching down between them, she grasped his cock, giving it a friendly squeeze. “I promise to be gentle.”

And she was. Mostly.

21

“Are you getting enough sleep?” Elise looked over Ella warily. “You have dark circles under your eyes. Is Cope pestering you to have sex instead of letting you sleep?” She then laughed, making Ella groan and roll her eyes.

She’d stopped over at Elise’s to drop off a book she’d borrowed and to visit for a few minutes in the midst of a really insanely chaotic period of time where she’d been running from place to place, trying to stay afloat in a sea of to-do list items.