“You’ve filled out,” he said, cupping her hip, taking pleasure in the warm skin.
“Are you telling me I’ve put on weight, Matthew Cooper?”
His gaze snapped up to her teasing expression and he returned her grin. “Yeah, but it looks good. A few more curves here,” he stroked her hip, then trailed back to her belly. “And here. I like it.”
She smiled, that luscious top lip teasing him. “You sure know how to flatter a girl.” Then she winced and shifted. “I think my butt has fallen asleep.”
He glanced over to the clock on his laptop. “Smart butt. It’s past two. We should follow its example.”
“Okay.”
She moved again and Matt gritted his teeth, stilling her with a hand on her thigh. “Wait.” As he slowly eased from her, she hissed through her teeth. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. It’s just...” She ducked his gaze, demurely drawing her legs together. “A bit tender.”
When he stepped back and reached for his clothes, AJ took the moment to regain her composure, sliding off the desk and grabbing her pants from the floor. She didn’t embarrass easily, yet she felt that annoying flush creep up her neck.
No other guy could make her blush like Matt could.
With her robe resecured and her pajama pants dangling from her fingers, she paused, watching him pull on his tattered shirt. The lean muscles in his shoulders shifted as he pushed one arm through a sleeve, then the other. She drank in the view, dragging her eyes across his smooth chest and dark nipples, down to his trim waist and abdominal ridges, to finally stop at his belly button where that tantalizing line of hair disappeared into his pants.
Her mouth went dry and she quickly snapped her gaze away. “I’m going to take a shower.”
He nodded then said softly, “Sleep well, AJ.”
You’re not coming with me? She bit down on that presumptuous question and instead managed a smile. “You, too.”
She waited until he turned back to the desk and, feeling incredibly out of sorts and oddly dismissed, she withdrew.
The discontent grew as she padded down the hall, offsetting the still-present throb of their lovemaking.
There was no reason to be annoyed, none at all. She’d pursued this and now she was getting exactly what she wanted.
With that thought firm in her head, she pushed open the bathroom door and turned on the light. A shower would go a long way to making her feel normal, even though she suspected this was just the start of many abnormal days ahead.
Matt leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes and reached for his third cup of coffee in two hours. Bright afternoon sun speared through the dark clouds outside and he winced, grabbing the remote to angle down the blinds.
As the shadows lengthened in his office, he relaxed a little. He’d been at GEM since eight and, amazingly, he’d managed to block out last night and focus on his schedule, completing his work in record time.
Until he paused and let his thoughts wander.
Lips...hair...soft sighs...
He swallowed his now-cold coffee, determinedly ignoring the way his body stirred. AJ was like a drug, seeping into his blood and arousing him to that point of almost painful ecstasy. Sure, they’d always been pretty explosive together but not like this. This was something more, something hotter, more intense.
Something deeper.
He shoved his cup across the desk. And now that he had the taste for her again, he wanted nothing more than to explore every new curve, kiss every inch of skin and bring her to climax over and over.
His phone rang, breaking off those dangerous thoughts, and he reached for it with a relieved sigh.
“Hello, darling.”
The familiar, oh-so-proper English voice washed over him. “Hi, Mum.” He stuck the phone in between his shoulder and ear and turned back to his computer. “What’s up?”
“Katrina tells me you’re off to Italy on Sunday.”
“Did she?”
“Yes.” Alicia Cooper ignored his irritation with practiced ease. “Could you call into Ferragamo and pick up a package for me?”
“More shoes?” He grinned, clicking on his computer screen then glancing over at his iPad as it synced.
“A woman can never have enough shoes,” she replied loftily.
As his chuckle petered out, she said, “Katrina also tells me she saw you last night.”
“Yeah.”
“With a redhead.”
His hand stilled on the mouse. “Yep,” he said cautiously.
“What happened to that other one...the dark-haired publishing assistant...Lilia, wasn’t it?”
“Nothing happened. We just went our separate ways.”
Matt ignored his mother’s silence, clicking the mouse and closing all the windows until only his schedule remained.
“What’s her name?” Alicia finally said.
Ah. There it was. “AJ.”
“Excuse me?”
“AJ. As in Angelina Jayne.” His computer trilled, indicating his office manager was updating his schedule. “Look, Mum, I’m a bit pushed for time, so...”
“What does she do?”
He swallowed a sigh. God spare him from his mother’s dogged determination to interfere in his life. Though Paige would tell him to give the woman a break. She’d lost one son already and Matt had chucked in a career she’d been heavily invested in since he was born. Maybe she just wanted to stay connected.
More like provide unwanted criticism.
“Well, Matthew?” she demanded now. “What does this woman do for a living?”
“She’s an artist.” The pause on the other end of the line told him so much, none of it good. “Look, Mum, I really have to go—”
“Fine,” she replied coolly. “Have a safe trip.” Yeah, she was pissed. Matt rubbed his forehead, smoothing out the frown lines.
“I will.”
He hung up, his good mood now laced with irritation. He glanced through his emails, forwarding a few, saving some, deleting the rest, before finally pushing away from the desk with a sigh.
This would not do. With a firm set to his jaw, he reached for his phone and dialed.
* * *
“Dinner again?” AJ glanced at the clock on the wall above the dining table—twelve-fifteen—then at a muted Dr. Phil on the massive TV screen. She stretched her legs, placing them carefully on the coffee table and crossing them at the ankles, then leaned back into the couch. “You really don’t have to, you know.”
“Wear something for the water.”
“What, a bikini?”
“No.” She heard the amusement in his voice. “Something for an ocean breeze. I’ll send a car for you at five.”
She hung up and tossed her phone onto the couch cushion. Everything still pulsed from last night, a dull ache that had her staring at the ceiling with