All I could do was stare at Emma for what had to be several seconds. The woman owned a store that sold all things dealing with love and romance, and she’d only had one boyfriend—six fucking years ago.

She had even admitted to wanting to find love one day. She wasn’t afraid of it. But if that was true, then why was she still single? The Emma I’d gotten to know during the past week was not only gorgeous, she was sweet and smart and funny. Any guy would be lucky to be with her. Hell, if I wasn’t so anti-commitment, she would be exactly the type of woman I’d go for.

Anger burned in my veins at how her shithead ex-boyfriend had treated her. It had scarred her—that much I could tell. You didn’t need to be a shrink to figure out that between what her parents had done to her and how her ex had treated her, she was equally as messed up as I was.

Lucky us.

Ever since I’d kissed Emma the other day at Granny’s, I’d been craving to taste her again. Maybe it was time to renegotiate the terms of our relationship.

I parked my roller in the pan and walked to where Emma was furiously painting the same spot she’d been working on for the past few seconds.

A quick glance at the door told me we were safe from prying eyes. Everyone else was in the gym.

“I think we need to reconsider the terms of our fake girlfriend-boyfriend arrangement,” I murmured in her ear. My lips brushed against her jaw. That sharp inhalation, too soft to be heard by anyone but me? I was definitely affecting her.

“What terms are you thinking about?” she whispered.

“That we can kiss each other anytime we want. We don’t have to just save it for my grandmother’s benefit.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?”

See the way her pulse was rapidly beating in her neck? I lightly ran the tip of my tongue against it.

She released a subtle moan. Christ. I wanted her. Badly.

“I bet you’re hot and wet for me,” I said against her ear. “Tell me, sweetheart. If I slip my fingers in your pussy, will I discover that I’m right?” My voice was pure sex and lust—the kind I knew from experience turned girls on.

But in this moment, I only craved to turn on the woman who just whimpered at my words.

I grinned against her neck. “That’s what I thought.”

“Maybe we should get back to painting,” Emma said. If my voice was pure sex and lust, hers was let’s-get-it-on husky—a complete opposite to her words.

“Sure, but you need to kiss me first.”

“Why’s that?”

I didn’t answer with words. Instead, I showed her exactly why she needed to kiss me—why we should take this further once we were done there for the night.

My mouth and tongue danced a slow and hungry waltz with hers. I savored the taste of her as satisfaction hummed deep in my bones. I couldn’t remember the last time kissing had felt this way.

Damn, I had been missing out. Thank God, I still had four more weeks to enjoy this.

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. My brain vaguely registered something cool and wet against my leg, but I was otherwise too preoccupied to figure out what the heck it was.

Somewhere in the recess of my mind, I heard a door click open. This was followed a moment later by the singsong voice of a young girl. “Emma and her boyfriend sitting in a tree. K.I.S.S.I.N.G.”

Emma pulled away as though lightning had hit her. We both turned to the door. The little intruder continued singing, “First comes love—”

“Hey, Nikki,” a now red-faced Emma said, and I chuckled at how adorable she looked when embarrassed. “Is there something we can help you with?”

“I came to see if you need an assistant.” Nikki looked like a mini version of Emma. But instead of Emma’s flaming curls, the young girl had long, curly black hair that looked like it had gotten caught in a windstorm and came out the loser. Her skin was pale with a spattering of freckles across her nose.

With wide, curious eyes, she gave me the once-over. “Are you a nice man?”

“I’d like to believe that I am,” I replied, although I was positive whatever team I played against felt differently whenever I kept them from scoring. Several players had tossed a few names my way—“nice” never being one of them.

Her curious gaze switched to Emma. “I thought you don’t need a boyfriend.”

“That’s right, I don’t. Not to make me happy.”

Emma might’ve said that, but from the way she had been responding in my arms a moment ago, she seemed happy to me. Happy and sexually frustrated. I took full credit for the latter—but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I itched to be responsible for the first part, too.

“Travis,” she said, “this is my friend Nikki.”

Nikki held her hand out for me to shake. “Nice to meet you, Travis,” she said as she enthusiastically shook it.

“Nice to meet you, too.”

Nodding, she let go of my hand. Her gaze dropped to my leg. “Why do you have blue paint on your leg?”

I peered down to see what she was talking about. Well, that explained the wet sensation I’d felt while Emma and I were kissing. She still held the roller in her hand.

Emma laughed. “Oops.”

I bit back what I wanted to say—words involving a shower, Emma, and expanding her list of exciting locations she’d had sex in. Words that weren’t appropriate to say in front of a seven-year-old.

“What do you think?” I asked Nikki. “Is blue my color? Or maybe I should go with something greener?”

She giggled. “I like you.”

“Well, thank you. I like you, too.”

The door opened and the director of the center entered, smiling softly at the girl. “There you are, Nikki. Remember what I told you? This room is off-limits for now.”

Nikki stuck out her lower lip. “I wanted to help.”

“I know, sweetie. But I bet if you ask nicely, you might get to watch Emma and Travis when they paint the mural.”

The little girl’s face lit up when Emma and I nodded in agreement at the suggestion.

“Sorry about the paint on your leg,” Emma said after Nikki and Amelia had left the room to go to craft time. “I guess I got a little distracted while you were kissing me. I forgot I was holding the roller. But blue is definitely a good color on you.” She laughed the sweetest, sexiest sound.

“I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I paint my apartment. In the meantime, how about we go back to our previous conversation?”

“You mean the one where you were trying to convince me our fake relationship should come with all the perks of a regular one?” she asked with another laugh.

Regular perks? If she was also talking about sex, then hell yes to that.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth, deliberating. “I was thinking you might have a point about us kissing each other anytime we want like a regular couple. And…” She chewed on her lip again.

“And?”

“And I think we should take things to the next base. I mean more like a home run.”

I might have mentally fist-pumped the air.

“So let me get this straight so there’s no confusion…” I said. “You want to have sex with me?”

Unlike before, she no longer looked uncertain. Her mouth curled up to one side. “I’m interested if you are.”

Double fist-pump.

“But remember,” she said, “it’s been a long time since I last had sex. I’m not sure if I remember how to do it anymore.” The impish spark I’d previously seen in her eyes was back. And shit, did my cock ever appreciate it.

“Sweetheart, it’s like riding a bike…you never forget.” I traced my tongue around the shell of her ear.

She whimpered at my touch and a slight tremor traveled through her.

Hell, yes!