I’ve never loved watching a woman eat so much. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a woman eat so much. Chelle’s teaching Amelia the joys of deep dish apple pie, and it’s a beautiful sight. My kid’s giggling, with a dab of vanilla ice cream on her nose as her legs swing back and forth on the leather stool. The two of them are already having a great time without me, which is the way it should be. Chelle sweeps her hair away from her face so she can take an extra large forkful of pie.

God, watching this woman eat gets me horny as fuck. That’s part of it.

Still, I’ve got to watch how turned on I get when Amelia’s around. There’s plenty of time for more adult entertainment later.

“Mom says she and Jason are going to go to Las Vegas tomorrow!” Amelia doesn’t seem fazed by Suzonne’s sudden marriage, and thank god for that. Though I never really saw Suze as a Vegas type of girl. We got married at Big Sur, because A) it was close to her parents, B) she was too pregnant with Amelia to fly, and C) if we put the wedding off any longer her dad was literally going to get his shotgun out of the truck.

Then again, maybe she would’ve been a Vegas type of girl if it hadn’t been for the shotgun. Maybe she’s finally getting what she wanted, the way she wanted it. And I’m glad for her.

Because having Chelle in my life now helps me see what an actual relationship is supposed to be. Hot sex, yes. Hell, more than yes; absolutely. But I think she gets me, corny as that sounds. And yeah, I think I get her, too.

So I get her a napkin, before she gets pie crumbs all over herself. My kind of woman.

“Mom says she can drop me off tomorrow morning. She wants me to help her pack up the yurt.” Amelia says it with an obvious sigh of relief. If there’s one reason to give D’Andrei a manful hug, it’s convincing Suzonne to move out of the canyon and into his beach house near Santa Monica. It helps with my commute and Amelia’s commute to me.

Chelle takes the phone, and starts flipping through pictures of the show with Amelia.

“I loved how you looked during the protest number.” Chelle points something out, and Amelia beams. “You looked really invested. You really cared.”

“I just let the spirit move me, like you said.” Amelia nestles her head against Chelle’s arm.

I wave to the guy behind the register. “Box, if you got one.” We’re going to need to keep the rest of this pie fresh. That is, until Chelle sneaks down during the night and eats it. And until I start coming up with foolproof ways to stop her and protect my part of the pie. This relationship is going to be a battle of wits, I can already feel it.

We walk back out to the car, Amelia singing and dancing one of the songs. I’m carrying the box, and Chelle’s got a fistful of plastic forks that she swiped.

“Always thinking ahead.” I lean down and kiss the back of her neck, and that little action alone’s enough to start getting me hard. I need to get this woman back to my place.

“I plan on swiping more during the ride home,” she says sweetly, fluttering her lashes. Devil woman.

We stop by Chelle’s place first to grab Archie. Poor little mutt can’t be left alone for too long. Amelia won’t stop fussing with his ears as we drive back to the canyon, wave goodbye to Suzonne and D’Andrei, and then take off back for my place. In Los Angeles terms, this is all like driving to the moon and back. But for the women in my life, I’d drive even further.

Maybe an extra half hour. After all, a man’s got to know his limits.

“Think Bruno will be happy to see Archie?” Chelle giggles as her tiny mutt jumps up and licks the tip of her nose. I scratch the dog’s ears, and he thumps his leg in approval. See? I can get along with little dogs.

“I just hope it doesn’t end up in Bruno dominating all over again.”

Chelle sniffs. “I think Bruno will be in for a surprise. You know, Archie’s been meditating.” She whaps my arm lightly when I laugh. “Seriously! I started playing wolf howling soundtracks for him, to get him more in the predator mindset. He’s getting so much more in tune with his primitive roots.”

“You’ve been spending too much time at that school.”

“Is that going to be a problem? Now that I’m hired to faculty and all?” She flutters her eyelashes again. Damn if she doesn’t know it’s sexy.

Reaching over, I squeeze her knee. “No problem at all. I’m all in favor of continuing education.” To make my point even clearer, I skim my hand up her leg, right up to the apex of her thigh. She gasps, and squirms a little beneath my touch before gently taking my hand away.

“Later,” she pants. “When the dog isn’t watching.”

Archie blinks his bug eyes at me. Son, you ruin everything. But you’re cute, so your mistress will undoubtedly let it slide.

Finally, we’re back at my condo. Bruno comes woofing up as we let ourselves in, and immediately takes to sniffing Archie’s ass. The little dog kind of accepts it while Chelle and I move away upstairs.

Shutting the bedroom door behind us, I look at the woman in front of me. She’s still toying with her curls, shifting her weight from foot to foot. I understand this look, and this body language. She’s afraid this is all going to go away. She needs something to keep her grounded, to let her know this is real.

Well. I’m about to show her how real it is.

Chelle gasps as I cross the room, pick her up, and lean her against the wall. Her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, I know she can feel my erection. My cock’s already rock hard just this close to being inside her.

“Why Mr. Munroe, you’re very forward tonight.” She whispers this against my mouth, then gives me a light, teasing kiss. When I go after her, she bobs away from me. Coy. Teasing. Both of those are guaranteed to make me harder, if that’s even possible.

“Then let’s be clear.” I kiss her neck all the way down to her collarbone, and she starts to grind against me. Fuck, I could come from this alone. “What do you want?” I growl in her ear. She squeezes me with her thighs, driving me way past crazy. Quickly, I turn around and deposit her on the bed.

Chelle gasps as she lands, bouncing a little. She giggles as I lean down over her, waiting. My hand slides up her thigh, all the way up to the silk of her panties. Her eyes go half-lidded as I thrust the thin material of the panties aside, and I tease one finger along her opening. Moaning, she writhes, but I hold her still with my other hand. I want her to tell me what she wants.

“What do you want?” I ask again.

“You,” she whispers. “Me. Sex. Uh. Please. Can’t think.”

Then she dissolves into laughter again, reaching up to trace her fingers along the line of my jaw. She’s both aroused and relieved and so am I. No more worrying about work, the show, my kid, my ex. Her clowns. Now it’s just us, the way it should’ve been from the start.

“I want you to fuck me,” she says at last, sitting up and kissing me. I lay her back down, continuing to pull off her panties. They slide away easily, and I press my thumb against her clit once, twice, tapping it gently. Fuck, she’s wet already.

Moaning, she bucks under my hand as I guide one finger inside of her. I move with a rhythm, picking up the pace as she throws her head back and groans. Her eyelids flutter shut, her hair is a red spill over the bedspread.

I begin to pull the straps of her dress down, but she shakes her head. Fingers fumbling, she undoes my belt, starts unbuttoning my pants.

“I don’t want to wait,” she says, gazing up at me with an expression of pure lust. Baby, neither do I. I reach for the bedside drawer, pull out a condom, rip the foil. Once I’m nicely sheathed, I press the tip of my cock against her cunt. Chelle moans again, running her hands up and down my arms. Her fingers dig into my biceps, urging me on. She’s begging me to go deeper.

So I do.

I enter slowly but relentlessly, filling her. I thrust as hard as I can go, then pull out. It’s so slow I nearly drive myself crazy, but I want her to feel every inch of this. I want her to feel me, to know I was there.

“I’m not going to last,” she cries, gripping me around the neck. Her fingers slide through my hair as I lean closer, pressing a kiss against her throat. I taste her sweat, and the scent of her arousal is overwhelming. “Please. More.”

I grab her ass, tilting her hips even higher. I slide in her as far as I can, all the way to the hilt. Chelle moans as I thrust harder, my rhythm picking up. Her hips buck against me, grinding to take me even further inside of her. Grunting, I piston faster. Chelle’s breaths come fast against my neck, and her thighs tighten around me as I drive into her with everything I’ve got. Already, I can see the world melting away at the corners. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m already as close as I am. The bedsprings scream beneath us, and Chelle joins in, getting louder and louder.

The orgasm is building inside me, an unstoppable force. Chelle closes her eyes tight, her mouth open as I give her everything I’ve got. Then, so slow it’s beautiful, I watch as her orgasm crests and breaks. Her mouth forms a perfect O and her entire body shudders as she leans back, collapsing onto the bed.

Chelle screams my name—all that I need to spill completely into my own orgasm. The world stops around me as I come, pouring everything inside of her. I can hear my own gasps and groan as if they’re far away. I collapse onto her, and we both breathe out together. Christ, I don’t think I can move after that. Chelle nuzzles up against me, trailing kisses along my jaw. I kiss her, tasting her. Her tongue laps against mine, and fuck me if that alone isn’t almost enough to get me hard again.

What does this woman do to me? Whatever it is, I need it.

“Was that what you wanted?” I murmur this against the hollow of her throat, as I kiss her. Sighing, she looks up at me as I pull out. I fold her against me, my chin resting on the top of her head. Chelle chuckles.

“I mean, I wanted something mind-shatteringly good. That’s hard to come by.” She grins when I grunt in surprise. “So imagine the shock when my expectations were met. You, sir, are getting a highly favorable rating on Yelp.”

“All I’ve ever dreamed,” I deadpan, and Chelle squeals when I flip her back onto the bed. I kiss her mouth, her chin, all the way down her chest. Fuck, maybe I really can get hard again. This woman makes me feel like I’m a goddamn senior in high school.

Only without the shitty SATs.

The next perfect orgasm is interrupted, because it sounds like a commotion downstairs. More specifically, it sounds like two stupid dogs are tearing the place apart. Plates breaking, precious memories destroyed, levels of the place getting torn apart. Cursing, Chelle and I get off the bed and head downstairs. I flip on the lights, and look down to find that, yeah, the entire dining room’s been knocked over. The chairs are on their backs; the table’s on its side; a bowl filled with ball knick knacks that Amelia insisted on keeping’s been thrown to the ground, and the balls have rolled every goddamn place.

And in the center of it all sits Bruno. He’s got his tongue hanging out lazily, like he’s just had a great workout. Furiously humping Bruno’s leg is none other than Chelle’s little wild-eyed mutt, Archie.

Both Chelle and I stand there, kind of agog at the display of canine stupidity below.

“So.” That’s all I can think to say.

“Looks like Archie finally humped his way to the top of the pack,” she says in reply.

Damned if we don’t laugh so hard we nearly fall down the rest of the stairs. And damned if it doesn’t feel good.