Chloe

He stands and pulls me into a warm embrace. He looks as handsome as ever. He’s dressed just as casually as I am in jeans and a black sweater.

“Sit, Chloe.” He pulls on the back of a wooden chair that’s next to where he was seated.

As I sit, he takes my coat from my hands and drapes it over his on the back of a third chair.

“Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

I shake my head as I take in the space. It’s not packed, but there are enough diners to keep the servers on the move. “It was easy to find. I’ve never been here before though.”

He doesn’t seem surprised by that. Pizza is plentiful in New York City. You can eat a different slice every day for a month and still have hundreds more places to try.

“It’s one of my favorites.” He pushes the large menu in front of him aside. “I’ve never had the pepperoni with extra cheese so I’m looking forward to that.”

I like that he remembers what my brother said about my favorite pizza. It’s not a big deal, but it speaks to his attention to detail. I value that in my life. I have to pay attention to every small detail at work, but I do the same in my personal life. Details can make all the difference.

“I like your brother,” he goes on. “Are the other two like him?”

I sigh. I had a feeling that he’d bring up Rocco and I was hoping there would be a way to effortlessly change the subject. I don’t see that out now, so I answer truthfully. “They’re all very different.”

“Are you the youngest?”

I nod. “I am.”

“I have an older sister,” he offers to my surprise. “That was it’s own special hell when I was growing up.”

I feel some of the tension in my shoulders release. “Did she bully you?”

“Babied me,” he corrects me with a soft tap on the top of my hand. “Whenever I’d turn around she’d be right there. I love her, but when you’re a twelve-year-old trying to be a bad ass, you don’t want your older sister watching your every move.”

“I know that feeling.” I laugh. “My brothers are overly protective. They’ve always tried their best to shield me from everything.”

“Is that why Rocco was giving me the once-over? He saw me as a threat?”

I shrug as I look down at the table. “He doesn’t want me to get hurt. He has yet to realize that I’m a grown woman who can take care of herself.”

He takes my hand in his and circles my palm with the pad of his thumb. “It’s good to have someone looking out for you. We all need that.”

We do.

I sit back in my chair. “Does your sister still look out for you?”

He releases my hand and drops his in his lap. “Not as much anymore. She’s got her own stuff going on.”

I don’t press. How can I? I’m not willing to share my secrets with him so I can’t expect him to share his with me.

***

“There are a million secrets lurking inside of you, aren’t there?” Evan skims his lips over my neck. “Tell me one, Chloe. Just one.”

I look over at him beneath hooded eyes. We’re in a hotel. This one was next to the pizza place. That had me immediately wondering if he chose that particular restaurant for dinner so we could enjoy each other for dessert. “What makes you think I have secrets?”

He traces my erect nipple with the tip of his index finger. “All I know about you is that your name is Chloe Jones and you fucked every last ounce of energy out of my body just now.”

I could say the same for him.

We didn’t waste a second once he closed the hotel room door. We both stripped quickly. There wasn’t any need for foreplay. He knew that I wanted his cock and he happily pulled me onto his lap and let me ride him until I came.

When he flipped me over onto all fours and took me from behind, I screamed into the sheets on the bed. I couldn’t control it. He was so deep and every grunt only drove me closer to another intense release.

“This has to be fair.” I watch as he licks my nipple with a long, gentle stroke. A shiver runs through me. “If I tell you something about me, I expect you to tell me something about you.”

He doesn’t look at my face as he answers. “I can do that.”

I debate about what to confess. Most of my secrets are buried so deep that I’d have to wade through a river of tears and pain to pull them to the surface. I decide on something intimate, but not revealing.

“You were my first one-night stand.”

“I know.” His fingers skim over my stomach to the top of my mound. He drags them across the seam of my pussy in the most painfully slow way. My thighs clench as I feel desire pool in my core.

“How did you know?” I ask breathlessly as he circles my clit with the pad of his thumb.

He finally looks into my eyes. “You were nervous. You looked scared. I was tempted to tell you to take more time to think it over.”

I inch my hips off the bed to create more friction with his touch. “I wasn’t scared. I was unsure. Why didn’t you tell me to take more time?”

He keeps his gaze locked to mine as he increases the pace of his thumb. “I wanted you too much. I had to have you.”

I close my eyes. It’s all too intense. His words, his touch and the feelings that are crowding my common sense and urging me to let go.