Ben had forgotten he’d even had that on the last page because he wasn’t planning to discuss any of it tonight. “It’s a few guidelines for things that may come up over the wedding weekend.”

Somehow she managed to look even more curious than she had when she’d initially seen it. “What guidelines? What do you mean?”

He rubbed a hand over his mouth before speaking. He didn’t know why he was so hesitant to discuss the topic. It was only part of the preparation that went into their arrangement. “I mean, in regards to physical contact.”

“Then let’s talk about it. I’m here now, so we may as well.” Ryan didn’t look nearly as uncomfortable as he did, and that observation only caused him to be even more uncomfortable.

“That reminds me,” he said, handing her the envelope of money that he’d set on the table before she’d arrived. “This is for you.”

She took it from him and tapped her hand with it a few times before placing it down on the table. She hadn’t seemed uneasy a few moments ago, but somehow now she looked unsettled. He’d have to remember to give it to her up front like the websites said.

There was a long moment of silence between them, and Ben could swear he felt the air thicken with each breath. Finally, Ryan leaned back against her chair, looking much more relaxed than she had a few moments ago. She crossed one leg over the other, drawing Ben’s attention to the smooth skin of her legs below the edge of her skirt. “Let’s hear what you got,” she said, a slight smile playing on her pink lips.

Ben cleared his throat and directed his attention back at the screen, but he let his gaze drift back down to her legs once more before speaking. “How do you feel about PDA?” he began.

“Depends what it is, I guess. Are we talking about a kiss on the cheek or are you planning to feel me up in aisle six of Target?”

Ben pressed his lips together to suppress a laugh. “Probably the former.” Though he had to admit that putting his hands on Ryan’s tits sounded fucking amazing right now. It didn’t matter where it was. He felt his cock stir in his pants, and he adjusted himself under the table, he hoped discreetly. “I’m serious, though. We need to discuss what you’re comfortable with. I don’t want it to seem like you’re only a friend, but I don’t want to do anything that you’re not okay with.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving him a tight smile.

“Okay, I’m going to name some things and you tell me if you’d be all right with me doing them to you. Or if you’d feel comfortable doing them to me. I don’t mean to doubt your escorting skills—” Did I just say ‘escorting skills’? “What I mean is that I’m sure you can do whatever I ask of you, but I want to make sure you want to do those things. Not only because I want our relationship to seem believable, but also because I don’t want you to feel—”

“Ben?”

“Yeah?”

“Just go through whatever you have listed there.”

He wasn’t sure when he’d gone from tough all-star hockey player to babbling middle schooler, but he was thankful she’d interrupted him. “Okay. First one’s hand holding.”

“Well, to be honest, I kinda think it’s corny, but I’m okay with it if you like it.”

“Okay. What about if I touched you in other places?”

Ryan’s eyebrows raised at his word choice.

“That’s not what I mean. Like, if I put my arm around you and rubbed your bicep or something, or played with your hair while we were sitting next to each other on the couch maybe.”

“You seem like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I have,” he answered honestly, though the true meaning of his statement was lost. He’d thought way too much about Ryan Cruz since he’d met her. How her dark hair would feel as it fell onto his chest, how soft her breasts would seem in his rough hands. “So what do you think?”

“I’m definitely fine with both of those.”

“Okay, good.” He typed a yes below each of the questions before moving on to the next one. “Is there a physical act that makes you feel uncomfortable if it’s done in a public setting?”

She laughed softly before uncrossing her legs but keeping them pressed together. “There are probably a lot of them.”

“Come on. You know what I mean,” Ben said before taking a drink. When Ryan continued to stare at him, he spoke again. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m wondering if your next question will be about anal fisting?”

Ben nearly spit his beer out onto the computer screen, but somehow he managed to eventually swallow it. “Jesus! No! Why would you think that?”

Ryan was already doubled over in laughter. “It’s from a book,” she said, shaking her head at him.

“You read a book about anal fisting? Shit. I know you said you like to read, but I had no idea your range of topics was so . . . eclectic.” He stared at her as he waited for her to explain.

“No, I didn’t read a book about that. It was in Fifty Shades of Grey. You’ve heard of that, right? The dude in it tries to negotiate anal fisting,” she explained.

Ben looked at his computer screen then back to her. “I may need to amend my list.”

Ryan smacked him lightly on the arm, causing Ben to laugh.

“Okay, so I see the connection,” Ben said. “But I was thinking more like putting my hand on your knee or thigh. I usually save the anal-fisting discussion for the fourth date, at least.” He couldn’t help but give her a wide smile as he thought about how ridiculous this conversation was. Not to mention how comfortable they were with one another already.

“I get that. You don’t wanna scare people away by talking about it too soon,” she said simply.

“I know, right?”

They let the silliness between them die down a bit before getting back to business. “So a hand on my thigh?” Staring down at her legs, she seemed to be contemplating what he’d asked her. “Where would your hand be?”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably on the part of your thigh that’s exposed now.”

He noticed her eyes glance down for a fraction of a second before she brought them back up to his. The two remained still, silently staring at each other as the air between them seemed to change with each passing moment. Somehow it was thicker now, heavy with the sexual tension that Ben now had no doubt she was feeling too.

His breathing slowed, and he felt a spot deep inside his chest tighten as he tried not to move. Maybe this would be it, and all they’d have would be this moment where the two of them felt something neither one of them wanted to acknowledge. He didn’t want to interrupt . . . whatever this was between them.

Ryan’s tongue flicked quickly across her lip before biting it gently. “Show me,” she finally said, and Ben’s cock began to stiffen even more as he realized the implication of her words. She was asking—no telling him to touch her. And fuck if he didn’t want the same.

Without speaking, he brought his hand to hover above her knee, his fingertips barely grazing over her soft skin. Slowly, he put the rest of his hand down so his palm pressed against her smooth flesh.

“You have big hands,” she said.

You know what they say about big hands? Ben tried to suppress his laugh as he concentrated on not letting his thoughts transform into actual words. He didn’t want to ruin whatever this was between them by alluding to his dick.

She parted her legs enough to allow his fingers to slip in between her warm thighs. God, she was fucking sexy. So comfortable in her own skin, so beautiful, even though she didn’t seem high maintenance. He had to resist the urge to kiss her when she let out a soft moan at his touch. When she squirmed in her seat a bit, he wondered if she was feeling the same thing he was. But he couldn’t even identify what that feeling was beyond sexual desire. “Is that okay?” he asked, swallowing hard as the words seemed to get caught in his throat.

“Yes.”

Her answer came out as a soft sigh, and it had him aching for her to touch him. Her voice had a low smoothness to it—the kind of sound that he could somehow feel vibrate through his body. If she could make him feel like that with her voice, he wondered what she could do with her hands. And mouth. Christ.

“Maybe we should practice kissing,” she said suddenly. “You know, so it looks natural. It doesn’t have to be as . . . intense as before because we won’t do that in front of your family. Not that I’m saying we’d do it anywhere else either,” she quickly added. “But your family’ll probably think it’s weird if we don’t kiss here or there, maybe when we’re dancing or something at the wedding, or—”

He had no idea what she was going to say next because his lips stopped her from speaking when he pressed them to hers. Initially it seemed to catch her by surprise, even though the kiss had been her idea. But that didn’t stop him from continuing. Her lips were warm and sweet against his, and all he could think about was how he knew the inside of her mouth tasted just as good.

The kiss began slowly, cautiously, as Ben fought hard not to take things further than the “practice” she’d suggested. It was a gentle brushing of their lips, an extension of a moment that shouldn’t have been more than an innocent display of affection.

But he wasn’t sure if it could stay innocent for much longer. Not with his hand so close to the hem of her skirt. The realization had him pulling away from her before he wouldn’t be able to, removing his hand from her thigh suddenly. “Sorry,” he said as soon as his lips left hers.

He wasn’t sure what he saw in her eyes when they both opened them. But he knew what he heard in her voice when she said, “Don’t be.” All the want—the need—he’d felt for her wasn’t only one-sided. She wanted him too.

It was his turn to be surprised as her lips crashed against his in a way that seemed to have both of their bodies responding immediately.

He lost all semblance of himself as their hands roved over one another, seemingly unsure if they wanted to remove clothes or get lost in touching the expanse of skin that was unveiled each time a new article hit the floor. Ben sucked on Ryan’s earlobe as he dragged her bra straps down her arms before he reached around and unclasped it.

Ryan moaned when she slid into his lap and their bare chests pressed together. But she didn’t stay there long, moving back just enough to get her hands between them so she could work on opening his pants.

Ben couldn’t keep his mouth off her, though, and he caught her lips in another blistering kiss. His hands shoved her skirt up, latched onto her panties, and pulled them as far down her thighs as he could, which wasn’t far considering she was straddling him. He had half a mind to rip them off her, but before he could, Ryan climbed off him.

In a slow, sensual move, she unzipped her skirt and let it fall to her feet. She then pulled her panties down until gravity took them to the floor. All the while, her eyes stayed locked on his.

The dare in her eyes had him yanking off his pants and briefs and tossing them aside. Then he let himself peruse Ryan as she stood in front of him. He didn’t know if he’d ever wanted a woman so badly in his life. And as Ryan made her way toward him again, fusing her lips to his before moving down to lick a path to his chest and then even farther down, he knew it for a fact. If he didn’t have Ryan Cruz right here on his fucking dining room table . . . Well, he didn’t want to think about how he could continue their arrangement without at least knowing what it was like to be inside her, even if he didn’t get to do it again.

“God,” she sighed. “You’re huge.”

The comment caused the tip of his cock to release some pre-cum, and with the way she was licking the area above the base of his dick and around his balls, the real thing wouldn’t be too far away.

Guiding her body back up to press flush against his, he slid a hand between them, feeling her taut stomach on the way down to play with her clit. Her legs shook at his touch. That, combined with how fucking wet she was for him, had his cock aching to be inside her. “If we’re gonna stop, you need to tell me now.”

“Jesus, Ben,” she huffed. “The last thing I want you to do is stop.”

Her eagerness had him moving his fingers more quickly inside her, stroking the warm walls of her pussy until he felt her on the edge of release. Seconds later, her body quaked against him as she tightened around his fingers. The noises that escaped her had him practically coming too as she continued to ride his hand until every wave of pleasure had died down.

Once he was certain her orgasm had subsided, he spoke. “Do you have any idea how hot that was?”

“What?”

“Watching you let go like that. Your skin flushes to this rosy color right here,” he said, letting his fingers graze gently over her chest. “Your head falls back and your mouth opens just enough to let these quick, little sounds come out.”

She smiled, dropping her eyes to the floor as the flush went to her cheeks too. “You sound like an orgasm connoisseur.”

If he hadn’t been so turned on, he would’ve laughed. “Well, that was my backup plan if hockey didn’t pan out.”

“Smart-ass,” she said with a smile as she wrapped her arm around his neck. “Now where were we?”

“I was about to shove all this shit to the side and lay you on the table.”

Her eyebrows raised. “And then what?”

“Guess you’ll have to wait to find out.” Without his eyes leaving hers, he reached a long arm over to push his computer and papers to the other end of the table. Then he swept her up and put her down on the table just as quickly.

She put her palms behind her and leaned back.

“What?” he asked as he pulled his wallet out of his jeans to get a condom.

“I’m trying to figure out how that thing’s gonna fit inside me.”

Slipping the condom over himself and pulling at the tip, he said, “I think you can do anything you put your mind to.”

A slow smile crept over her lips. He leaned over her, his hands on either side of her thighs as he settled between her legs and kissed her neck for a few moments before guiding her back against the table and pinning her hands over her head with one of his. He could look at her like this forever—naked and vulnerable beneath him. “Let me know if it’s too much,” he said.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and opened her legs farther for him. He pressed his tip inside and let her adjust before pushing deeper. “You okay?” he asked. He was only seated about halfway inside her and hadn’t even begun to thrust, but he could tell she still needed time to acclimate to him.

“Yeah. Just go slowly. You’re thick.”

“Kay.” Ben began to move inside her, his drives gentle and short, inching farther into her with every retraction and thrust. She was so tight around him, so fucking warm and wet over his cock. It took more self-control than he knew he had not to withdraw and push back in so deep he got lost inside her.

After a few minutes, she began moving too, her legs locking around his ass as hers lifted off the table so she could rub herself against him. Every so often her expression would make him think that he was hurting her, but as soon as he’d slow down, she’d urge him to keep going. Finally, he found his rhythm. It was enough to give each of them what they needed without making Ryan uncomfortable.

“I think I’m gonna come again,” she said suddenly.

“You think you are?”

“I will as long as you don’t stop.” Her words came out in short bursts between breaths

“Stopping definitely wasn’t part of the plan,” he said, his own orgasm creeping up on him with every stroke of his cock inside her. His muscles clenched as he struggled to hold off until she came again. As soon as he felt her climax, the tightening of her around him made him do the same. He groaned with his release as he emptied himself into the condom, moving inside her until every drop left him.

“Jesus,” she said as he pulled out and headed to the kitchen to throw out the condom. When he returned, Ryan was still lying on his table, her naked body glistening with sweat. It was an image he’d come back to when he needed it.

As he walked over to her, it occurred to him that this wasn’t part of their agreement, and it made him feel a little guilty. A part of him wondered if she ever got paid for sex, but he told that part of himself to shut the hell up because he’d rather not think of Ryan sleeping with random men. Though he guessed he’d be considered “random” as well. “I didn’t mean for that to happen,” he said, helping her stand so they could both find their clothes. “When you agreed to do this, I told you sex wouldn’t be part of it, and it was—”

“Fucking fantastic?”

Her response made Ben raise his eyes at her as he pulled his jeans back on. She looked sated and not a bit regretful. But he still needed her to know he didn’t want her to feel obligated to do this again. Even though he hoped like hell she’d want to. “I need you to know that sex isn’t what I’m paying you for.”

“That’s good,” she said as she pulled her shirt over her head and tucked it into her skirt. “Because I’m pretty sure I should be the one paying you after that.”