In the first couple of weeks that follow the promise I made to Alexa, things between us are stilted and distant. She’s scared to let me back in, and I understand that—I’ve earned that. I do my best to show her that I meant what I promised, and I treat gaining back her trust like it’s my second job.

Slowly Alexa warms up to me again. At first, she gives me a happy smile and a hug when I see her, but leaves it at that. I move back into boyfriend territory inch by inch, doing whatever it is I have to do to make her trust me with her heart again.

Time isn’t always kind to us once I start work as the new team lead on the movie contract Hunter put me on. Filming schedules are long, and my hours aren’t anywhere near normal. Alexa and I try our best to make things work.

We talk on the phone as often as we can, and sometimes we meet for dinner during my breaks. We text all the time, and when her messages slow to a trickle, I know she’s getting too lost in her work. That’s when I call up and have something healthy delivered to her apartment, so she doesn’t eat cheese straws and M&Ms for days on end. I leave Post-Its on her front door, so she’ll find them when she wakes up while I’m sleeping off the long night shift.

Alexa starts turning up on set during my breaks. We have coffee sometimes, or a little picnic she put together and brought over, full of my favorite things. I spend a lot of my downtime with her. Sometimes we go out for a nice dinner, sometimes we spend a quiet night in, and sometimes I find myself knee-deep in party favors she’s frantically putting together for her next gig.

I do whatever I can to support her and let her know I’m thinking about her, and our relationship grows into the kind of thing I wish it could’ve been from the start.

On the last shooting day of the film, Alexa asks me to stop by when I’m done. I lead a debriefing meeting with my guys before I let them go, and it takes every single ounce of concentration I have in me to focus on my job instead of where I’m headed when I’m finished here.

I get to Alexa’s place in record time. She must be as anxious to see me as I am to see her, because she opens the door about two seconds after I knock.

The place smells delicious, almost like she’s making… “Is that lasagna?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she hums as she pushes herself up on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me close. I don’t even have a chance to think before she kisses me. It’s long and slow and everything I’ve been missing this past month since we got back together. I slide my hands along the small of her back, pressing her against me.

I’ve missed this.

She lets go too soon, and I pout about it a little, making her smile. “What was that for?”

“Because I notice you,” she replies, fiddling with my tie. “I see that you’re trying, and you’re making me a priority, and I appreciate it.”

It’s nice to know that she recognizes my effort, but I want to tell her what my actions are showing her. “I won’t ever stop trying.”

She grins, then gives me another kiss. “I made you lasagna. It’s your favorite, right?”

I can’t believe she remembers that. It was a random fact I threw out there when we first met over a year ago. Just because I can now, I reach down and slide my hands down the backs of her thighs, then lift her up. She lets out a surprised squeak before she wraps her legs around my waist and kisses me again.

We get lost in each other. I put her down on the counter, wanting to use my hands to rip her clothes clean off. It’s been too long since I’ve been inside of her, and I don’t want to waste another second. She leans back, her shirt hanging off her shoulder, the buttons dangling by their threads from where I’d pulled them open. I kiss and lick my way down her neck, across the tops of her breasts, and…

Her phone starts ringing.

It distracts me long enough that I look over to where it’s vibrating across the counter. Alexa turns my head back in her direction.

“Leave it,” she says, working the buttons on my shirt.

The buzzing stops for a few seconds, then starts up again. Alexa lets out an aggravated sigh and grabs her phone.

“Ugh, it’s my mom.”

Well, that’s a mood killer for sure.

“I have to take this,” she explains. “If I don’t answer, she’ll think I wound up in a ditch somewhere, and the cops will be here before we know it.”

Cops are an ever bigger mood killer. “By all means,” I say, reluctantly taking a step back.

She takes a deep breath and answers the phone.

“Hello? Hi, Mom. Yes, I got your message. I meant to call you back the other day, but things have been really busy.”

I start moving away to give her some privacy, but Alexa reaches out for my hand and gives it a squeeze. “Stay,” she whispers.

I nod and lean back against the counter.

“Yes, busy at work,” she says, looking at me in a way that makes me think she’s debating about telling her mom about us. “No, I’m not on a project.”

Alexa fidgets, and I know she’s uncomfortable lying to her mother, who still doesn’t know that she quit her job and started her own business.

“I know I have to put myself out there to get ahead.”

She looks at me, eyes wide and scared, because I know that she knows it’s time to tell the truth. I take her hand in mine, letting her know I’m here for support whether she decides to confess right now or not.

I bring her hand up and plant a kiss on the back of it, skimming my thumb along her knuckles.

That seems to give her whatever it is she needed, because her spine straightens, and she squares her shoulders.

“Listen…Mom.” She hops off the counter and pulls me over with her to the couch. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Thirty minutes later, Alexa sinks back into the pillows on her couch and tosses her phone on the coffee table.

“That was exhausting,” she says.

I pull her legs across my lap and start massaging her feet. She lets out a low moan that makes my pants a little tighter. It’s been so long that I ache for her, but now’s not the time.

“Moral support and foot massages? How’d I ever get so lucky?”

I smile, digging my thumb into her arch. “What’d your mom say?” I’d gotten the gist of the conversation, which was strained at times but seemed to resolve itself by the end.

“She’s disappointed I didn’t tell her before now. She’s nervous for me. She thinks I made a mistake.”

I have to tamp down the anger that flares up at that last comment. Knowing how hard Alexa works, how much care she puts into making her clients happy…

Still, her mother’s doubt brings out a fire in Alexa that makes me fall in love with her even more than I already have.

“Naturally, I have to prove her wrong ten times over.”

I grin. “Naturally.”

She sits up, gets on her knees, and swings her right leg over my lap so she’s straddling me. She’d pulled her shirt closed while she spoke to her mother, but the buttons are still wrecked, so it’s easy for me to slide my hand up her stomach, feel the goosebumps form on her warm, soft skin.

Alexa runs her fingers through my hair, and I lean in and run my nose along the underside of her left breast, making her shiver. I nip at the skin there and she gasps.

“I feel good now that she knows.”

I nod, knowing she must be relieved. “Want to feel better?” I ask, playfully tugging her nipple between my teeth.

“Yeah,” she sighs. “But I made you dinner and it’s going to get cold.”

The lasagna smells amazing, but Alexa’s pull is too strong. “We can heat it up later.”

She smiles. “It’s been too long. I’ve missed you.”

She reaches for the hem of my shirt and pulls it up over my head. I lean forward to help her out. She runs her fingers down my chest, admiring my abs. “Definitely missed these.”

I laugh, hissing as her fingernails scrape across my nipples, making my erection strain painfully against my pants. “Missed you so much,” I say, planting sloppy kisses against her neck as she rocks against me. “So I’m not going to last long if you keep doing that.”

I’m teasing her. Kind of. We’ve only been at this for a minute and I’m already turned up to eleven.

Alexa makes quick work of my fly, and I palm her ass while she’s at it, loving the fact that she’s wearing my favorite skirt. It shows off her legs and it’s perfect for easy access, which I’m taking full advantage of right now.

“You don’t have to last long,” she teases. “We have all night. And tomorrow.”

It feels like the right moment to add, “And however long you want me after that.”

She leans in and gives me a soft, sweet kiss. “I’ll always want you.”

“I’ll always want you.”

“Good,” she replies, teasing her way out of the moment as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a string of what has to be about ten condoms. “Because I came prepared.”

I tug one off the end, then push my pants down just enough. “Presumptuous.”

“I knew I was getting lucky tonight,” she says, running her nails just below my belly button. “You can’t resist me.”

“It’s true.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as she rises up on her knees, then guides me inside.

I sigh at her warm wetness, can’t believe I came so close to losing this forever.

She feels like home.

Alexa leans back, planting her hands on my thighs as she rides me. It’s a beautiful sight, and I want to see more of it, so I slide her shirt off and toss it on the floor. I let my hands roam, exploring all her curves, touching her the way I know she likes.

She moves forward and wraps me up in her arms, running her fingers through my hair as she rocks her hips, her orgasm coming on fast. I moan when she clenches around me; watching her made me forget just how close I am, too.

“Jesse,” she says, giving my hair a tug. “I need…”

I smile before I place a kiss right over her heart. We might not have been together long, but I’m pretty in tune with her body. I know exactly what she needs.

I reach down and rub short, hard circles on her clit. She lets out a gasp, hips stuttering as she loses her rhythm. It takes every ounce of willpower I have not to come while she takes pleasure in my body, but it helps having something to focus on other than myself.

“Come on, Lex.” I whisper right in her ear, my lips brushing against the shell of it. “I’ve got you, come on.”

She moans as she climaxes, pulling me in, and I bury myself deep inside her as my orgasm washes over me.

I lay back against the couch cushions, a thin sheet of sweat on my skin. Alexa wipes a few strands of hair off my brow, and gives me a look so full of contentment that it nearly undoes me.

Once I catch my breath, I lift her up. She wraps her legs around my waist.

“Where are we going?”

“To bed,” I say, walking us down the hall to her room. “You said we had all night, and we need to rest up for round two.”

In the warmth of her bed, Alexa curls herself around me like I’m her own personal pillow.

Her breathing evens out, and I think she’s asleep when she says, “Thank you.”

It’s so quiet I’m not even sure she knows she’s said anything, then she looks up and into my eyes.

“Thank you for staying with me. Earlier, when my mom called.”

It’s nothing that even requires any thanks, it’s what any boyfriend worth his salt would do for the woman he’s falling in love with. And I know I’ve made her question me, so I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure that never happens again.

I cup her face and kiss her. “I’m here for you whenever you need me.”

I say it like a vow. I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.

“I know that,” she replies, squeezing me tighter. “I know.”