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"Yeah, so what?"
"Doesn't that involve not hanging around afterward?"
"Delaney Marlowe, are you treating me like a one night stand?" I ask, putting my hand on my chest. "I'm hurt. " Okay, I'm being sarcastic, but I am kind of surprised. I mean, come on, usually I'm the one who's out the door as soon as I can get away with it afterward, but Delaney's acting like she's the one who wants me gone. I'm more annoyed than hurt.
"That's what this is, isn't it?" she says. "I mean, upstairs…. and, um, in the shower, that can't happen again, Gaige. "
"So when you handle me in Japan, you're not going to handle me," I say. "Is that what you're saying?"
Delaney blushes. Score one for me. "Absolutely not," she says, her voice firm. "This cannot happen again, Gaige. We're going to be under scrutiny in Japan and I'm representing the company there. So are you. There would be so much blowback if that –"
"Yeah, yeah, got it," I say, cutting her off. Leave it to Delaney to be wound so tight when it comes to stupid company policies.
"This can't leave this room, Gaige," she says, her voice panicked. "Promise me. "
I turn toward her, swallowing my irritation. "Trust me, sweetheart, I have no interest in anyone else finding out about this. "
For a second, I think the expression that flits across her face is hurt or disappointment, but it's gone so quickly I can't be sure. "Exactly," she says quickly.
"So we'll agree. It will just be one night. "
"Right. "
"Then it won't hurt to do it again, will it?" I ask. "I mean, one night, right? It's best to get everything out of your system. "
She rolls over onto her side, facing me, her head resting on her hand. "One night and that's it. After tonight, we stop. "
I nod. "Absolutely. "
Like hell we're going to stop. I only just started with this girl.
"And it stays between us. "
"I'm not taking an ad out in the newspaper," I say, running my hand up her thigh.
Delaney wrinkles her nose. "Do people even do newspaper ads anymore?"
"I don't care," I say, sliding my hand up farther. "Are we going to talk about newspapers, or are we going to make love?"
Delaney slaps me on the arm. "Ugh. Stop using that phrase. "
I reach up to her mouth, run my thumb along her bottom lip. "Ask me nicely. "
She raises her eyebrows. "I don't ask for anything nicely. "
"If I recall correctly, you were begging pretty well earlier," I say. "Now you're changing your tune?"
She smiles before wrapping her lips around the tip of my finger, and all I can picture is her lips wrapped around my cock. "Too much talking," she says. "One night, remember?"
In the morning, Delaney murmurs in her sleep, incoherent nonsense words but I listen anyway. She's lying with her head on my chest, her hair splayed out all over, finally asleep after one more round of sex followed by an outrageous amount of talking about random meaningless things. It's like the sex loosened her tongue, made her punch drunk or something. It made us both that way, I guess.
Delaney was giggling, laughing at stupid shit I said while we laid in bed, kind of like she used to when we would hang out at night. Except this time, we were naked. And I wasn't trying to get in her pants anymore, because I already had.
I'd always figured that if I ever tapped Delaney Marlowe, that would be the end of it, just like the way it worked with every other chick I'd ever met. The chase is everything – it's the aftermath that I can't fucking stand.
But with Delaney, I don't want to leave. So I close my eyes and breathe in the scent of her, filing it away in my memory bank. Just in case she's serious about this being a one night stand.
She finally stirs, rolling over onto her stomach to look at me, her expression satiated, at least until she registers it's me. Then it changes to a look of panic. "You're still here," she whispers.
"Good morning to you too, sweetheart. "
"What time is it?"
I glance over at the alarm clock on the table. "Eight. "
"Eight?" she asks, sitting bolt upright. "Shit. I have to jump in the shower. Chelsea will have my ass if I walk into work late. Didn't my alarm go off?"