Ivy blinked awake slowly, warm and comfortable, secured by a pair of burly arms. She smiled, listening to Cole’s steady breathing, her body aching in all of the right spots.

As far as celebrations for the end of the semester at school, she could’ve done a lot worse than last night. Cole had been attentive, dominating, as much interested in her own pleasure as his… Ivy smiled, remembering.

Still, all good things had to come to an end, even this hot spooning session. There was a lot she’d neglected running up to her finals, and she needed to get back on track—mainly with Whisper Line, simple chores around the house, and general “life admin.”

Ivy twisted out of Cole’s embrace as discreetly as she could, immediately feeling bereft of his warm strength. Just when she thought she’d successfully made her escape, though, those arms came back, wrapping around her naked body, stopping her just short of rolling off the bed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Cole asked, his warm, sleepy voice making her smile.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she said, shuffling round to face him. He was adorably rumpled, but her proximity to those muscles and his handsome good looks made her lose her breath a little. “You should go back to sleep.”

“How can I when you’re right here next to me, dressed like that?”

She laughed. “I’m not wearing anything.”

“Exactly.”

He kissed her, and Ivy was only too happy to allow that tongue entrance to her mouth, the velvet press of his lips against hers. They’d had a good time last night, but she really hadn’t expected anything to come of this morning. And here Cole was, surprising her yet again.

She could understand hooking up with someone on a drunken night. The connections had been there; there was no use denying them. But the morning after was an entirely different animal. Being with someone again the next day meant there was something real there. Something that had potential of continuing.

Ivy forgot all about Whisper Line for a moment, about the textbooks still decorating her apartment. She focused on Cole, the smell of him, sleepy, musky, comforting, in those soft sheets. She relaxed against him, letting him draw her closer. Because God, he felt good to her. That warm body. Those heavy muscles, working just for her, keeping her secure.

Cole cupped his hand and gently held her sex. It was strangely intimate, especially as he flexed his fingers and grazed her clit. It was casually possessive, the way she might touch herself, her hands unconsciously roaming. Ivy’s breath caught in her throat as a slow heat suffused her bare legs.

Cole dotted a light kiss on her forehead, fingers seeking out that sensitive spot a little less casually now. It almost felt like he was testing her. Seeing what pressure she liked. Patterns of movement. It was gratifying that he cared to figure it out. Most guys Ivy had been with before thought it was a one-size-fits-all solution. Or a button to mash. Or to be avoided entirely. But Cole seemed determined to figure it out, kissing her leisurely as she inhaled sharply, then exhaled with tiny moans that grew and grew.

Her legs spread of their own accord, allowing his big hands better access. Ivy had a moment of true wonder when she was about to reach for his hand, the stimulation becoming too intense. Sensing her needs, Cole left her clit for a moment and sank a thick finger directly into her body. Ivy groaned, knees pointing upward. It was just the right thing, just the right timing. She was already so wet.

“All this for me?” he murmured to her, smiling against her temple.

He crooked his finger inside her and pleasure rang deep through her body, like the peals of a bell. She didn’t have the words to tell him how good it felt, how viscerally right. All she could do was moan and buck her hips, thrusting against him. Just a single finger made her feel like she was losing her mind, her skin covered in goosebumps, nipples peaked in arousal.

He flicked his fingers against those nubs, adding another dimension to Ivy’s building pleasure, pinching gently just to see how much she could take, a wrinkle of pain sweetening everything else.

“I want you inside me,” she whispered, when she had the breath to, the last syllable crescendoing on a whimper. He’d splayed his hand against her, thumb easily circling her clit, passage eased by her own wetness.

“I am inside you,” Cole said, wiggling his finger to emphasize the point.

He grinned as she sighed and huffed, tilting her body to meet his ministrations. He knew damn well that wasn’t what she meant, that she was having trouble harnessing the power of her words.

She let her actions speak louder, hand slipping beneath the sheets, fingers wrapping around his hard cock. Ivy gave it a meaningful tug, and Cole’s grin just widened even more. “Well, you should’ve been more specific.”

In a single, smooth moment, he swung his leg over her, bringing the sheet with him, bright white and billowing in the morning light. It would’ve made a pretty picture, but Ivy was a little beyond that. She was achingly empty, slotting Cole’s trim, muscular waist between her spread knees.

“I’ve got you,” he promised her, cupping her cheek with his hand.

With the other hand, he guided his erect length to her opening, teasing her open for the briefest of moments before sliding slowly home, inch by glorious, needy inch.

She was wet enough to take him, just like she’d been last night, and he overwhelmed her senses. Being filled so completely made everything else fade to the background, made Cole’s thrusts the only thing she could or wanted to focus on.

Every time he moved inside her, his head pressed up against her G-spot. He never missed. Never even had to reach between them to pay attention to her clit. The angle, her legs around his waist, the relentless push to that secret part of her body so few had exploited up until this point was enough. She was so close. So close.

She found herself blinking up at Cole’s face. It had been dark last night, his expressions hard to gauge once they were back in his apartment. Now, though, she could appreciate just how damn handsome he was. How his brow furrowed a little as he whipped his hips forward, pumping into her. The way his biceps bulged on either side of her head as he supported his weight above her.

And when she locked eyes with him, she couldn’t look away. Those blue eyes of his were fixated on her, watchful, intense. They were serious eyes for someone who laughed as much as Ivy suspected Cole did. Or maybe he treated this time with her as a serious undertaking.

Ivy thought she should warn him she was coming. Thought to give voice to the rising tide of perfection rolling through her body. But she didn’t have the words. Nothing would suffice. All Ivy could do was cry out, try at least to give some sound to what was rolling through her body.

Cole grunted in response, each of his muscles standing in stark relief, jaw set in effort, before sealing her mouth with a searing kiss, the hot pant against her tongue the only indication that he was right there with her, coming.

Coming back down to earth, drifting, Ivy had to at least admire his stoicism. There was no way she would’ve been anywhere near coming quietly with him, but he’d somehow managed it. He gave her a rough kiss on the forehead, almost like a thank you, before heaving himself to lie down beside her on the mattress.

“Tell me what I can do to convince you to spend the rest of the day here with me, naked in my bed.” Cole tucked a stray strand of Ivy’s hair behind her ear.

She smiled at him. “I wish I could. But I’ve been neglecting life stuff. I feel like spending the entire day in bed would be a little too indulgent.”

“It wouldn’t be the entire day,” he said. “We’d have to get out of it to use the bathroom. And eat something, unless we ordered in.”

“It’s seriously tempting, but I can’t.”

Ivy gave him one last kiss as she slipped from beneath the covers. It was all she could do to pull her underwear and dress back on. Cole just looked so damn good reclining on the bed, still gloriously naked.

“I have to get my life back in order. I let too many things go in the time leading up to finals, and I can’t excuse things anymore.”

Those things included cleaning up her apartment, sure, and buying some food for the woefully empty refrigerator and pantry in her kitchen. But it also meant working a little overtime on Whisper Line. She missed the comforting influx of work and money from it. Her phone hadn’t been buzzing with clients. If she was inactive for too long, Whisper Line would stop forwarding people to her direct line. Funny that she needed that kind of silence two days ago and hadn’t gotten it.

“Ivy, I’ve had a really good time with you.”

She flipped her hair into a quick topknot and smiled at Cole. “I had a wonderful time, too.”

“I want to see you again.”

Ivy couldn’t ignore the thrill of attraction that worked its way up her spine. “Really, if I could stay, I would. It’s just that I have a lot of things to take care of today.” Most of them having to do with earning some money on Whisper Line. She refused to feel guilty about it. It was money. Rent. Bills. Food. Just a job.

“I get it. I’ve already lost you for today.” He grinned ruefully. “But this weekend, there’s this thing I have to go to. Navy thing. A ball. There’ll be lots of officials there I want to network with. Especially the guy in charge of the security organization I want to work for. It’ll be drinks, dancing, schmoozing, that kind of thing.”

“Sounds important—and fun.”

“It will be if you’re there with me.” He smiled at her. “And if you’re by my side to charm the pants off of everyone, I’ll be sure to make a lasting impression. Go with me?”

“I’d love to,” she said, almost feeling too eager. “A ball is a great excuse to go shopping, I’d get to see you again, there’s going to be dancing… It would be a mistake not to say yes.”

Cole turned his grin up to its full wattage, and it was like staring at the sun. “I’m looking forward to it, then. I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good.” She turned toward the door and was almost instantly surrounded by big, warm arms. Cole had risen from bed to give her a hug before she’d left. The knowledge that he was pressed up against her, completely naked next to her being completely dressed, was thrilling in a way Ivy had trouble putting into words.

She almost caved in, almost shrugged her dress off her body and leapt into his arms so he could take her back to bed. Instead, she turned and kissed him, enjoying the roughness of his stubble against her face.

“See you,” he murmured, blue eyes all but glowing, and Ivy had to tear herself away.

It wasn’t until she was halfway home that Ivy realized what a fraud she was. Cole didn’t know what she did for a living, and somehow wasn’t aware he’d texted her via a phone sex service. Something inside her told her he wouldn’t take the news well.

She shook her head, decisive, sun warm on her face. She wasn’t about to ruin this fling by injecting drama into it. If things between her and Cole didn’t fizzle out over the next few weeks, it would be breaking a years-long streak of hopeful starts that waned after a couple of dates.

She and Cole could have a perfectly good time for now, seizing the moment, without her having to tell him about Whisper Line. If things didn’t fizzle out naturally, she’d still have to leave him at the end of the summer so she could focus on her last year of medical school.

If all went to plan, she would never have to tell Cole that she sexted for a living.