THE NEXT MORNING, JILL woke up feeling heavy and disoriented and headachy. Her mouth was dry, and her stomach was unsettled, and she could barely open her eyes.

When she managed to get up, go to the bathroom, and pull herself together, she started to remember some of last night. She’d gone to dinner with Lucas. They’d drunk a lot and eaten a lot and had a good time.

Then they’d started to walk home.

That much she remembered.

She couldn’t recall much else, although she had vague images of Lucas in her bedroom. She had a sinking feeling she might have done something embarrassing, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember what it was.

It was after ten when she made it out of her bedroom, but no one else was around. Steve and Michelle’s bedroom door was open, but they weren’t in the kitchen or living room. They must have gone somewhere—hopefully together if they’d managed to make up after the fight last night.

Lucas’s bedroom door was closed. He was always up by now, but he wasn’t in the living room or kitchen.

She made some coffee and drank it, trying to clear her mind and remember if she had anything to be embarrassed about. The evening’s events were too fuzzy though. She couldn’t dig deep enough to figure it out.

When she’d finished her coffee, she stood up, steeling her nerve.

She wasn’t going to sit around and stew about how she might have humiliated herself. If she was going to find out, she would need to ask.

She just hoped it wasn’t too bad.

She went back down the hall and knocked on Lucas’s door.

He opened it almost immediately, and her eyes widened when she saw that his hair was wet and he was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

Her eyes might have slipped down to check out his body. How could she help it? His body was far too fine for her mental health.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, rubbing his wet hair with one hand. He didn’t appear at all self-conscious about his lack of clothes.

“I’m fine. Headache but not too bad.”

“Yeah. You had a lot to drink. I did too, if you want to know the truth.” He gave her a little smile that made her nervousness ease a bit.

“I... I don’t remember much about... about last night. After we left the restaurant, I mean.”

“We didn’t do anything,” he said quickly.

“I know. I know. That’s not what I meant. I was just wondering...” She cleared her throat. “Did I... did I do anything embarrassing? I feel like I might have.”

His expression softened almost imperceptibly. “No.”

She sucked in a breath. “That makes me think that I did.”

“Why would you think you did when I just said that you didn’t?”

“Because you sounded almost... gentle about it. Tell me the truth. What did I do?”

The corner of his mouth went up just slightly. “You were kind of out of it when we got home. You came on to me a little. No big deal.”

She swallowed hard. She’d suspected she might have done something like that. “What did I do?”

“Jill, it really doesn’t matter—”

“It matters to me!”

He let out a breath. “You felt me up a little. I knew you’d had too much to drink. Things like that happen. It’s really no big deal.”

She felt a serious mental cringe at the thought, but she made herself shake it off. He was right. Things like that happened.

Even to her occasionally.

“Sorry,” she said.

He shook his head. “Nothing to be sorry about.”

“Thanks for... for being a decent guy.”

The other corner of his mouth went up too. “You’re welcome.”

They stared at each other for a minute.

“Oh,” she said, remembering something else. “I did want to...”

When she trailed off, he prompted, “What?”

“I had a favor to ask of you, but I’m the one who should be doing you a favor after last night.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he muttered, sounding impatient for the first time. “What’s the favor?”

She was aware of a mental resistance but pushed through it since he seemed perfectly amenable to doing her a favor. “It’s fine if you don’t want to, but I have to go to a wedding next weekend. My boss’s. I’m friends with her too, so I have to go. I mean, I want to go. But none of my friends are going. It’s just people from work that I’d know there. And I’m not dating anyone now, and I don’t really want to—”

“You want me to go with you?” he asked, breaking into her rambles. “That would be fine.”

She let out a shuddering breath, almost giggling in her relief at getting the invitation said. She’d been mulling over it for weeks now, and she couldn’t think of a better option than going to the wedding with him. “Just as friends, you know. You don’t have to pretend to be my boyfriend. I just want someone to go with me.”

“I get it. I don’t mind going.”

“Are you sure? I know weddings aren’t that exciting, but I would really appreciate it.”

“Sure,” he said, adjusting the towel around his waist and bringing attention to his lean hips and flat abs. “It’s in town, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s in town, and I don’t think it’s super formal or anything. And we don’t have to stay at the reception very long.”

“I don’t mind weddings. Is there an open bar?”

“I think so.”

“Then I’m definitely in.” He gave her a grin that was almost rakish.

She giggled again. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“And thanks for... for last night.”

“That was no problem either.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Her eyes slipped down again, so she made herself turn away at last, leaving him with his towel and his room.

***

A FEW EVENINGS LATER, Jill and Michelle were hanging out in the living room together.

Jill was curled up in a corner of the couch, watching television and occasionally playing on her phone. Michelle was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the couch with her laptop propped on her thighs.

The guys had gone to work out at the gym. Or rather Lucas had gone to work out and Steve had gone to pretend to work out and to keep Lucas company.

Steve wasn’t much into exercise.

Jill was enjoying the quiet, but she happened to glance down and see something unusual on the screen of Michelle’s laptop. “What’s that?”

Michelle glanced up to verify what Jill was asking, and then she raised her laptop so Jill could see better. “It’s a budget. For me. Lucas helped me set it up.”

“Seriously? Lucas did?”

“Yeah.” Michelle’s eyes were wide and her brows were lifted. “He went over everything with me, and we set up a budget so I can actually start saving a little money. Why are you so surprised? That’s what he does for a living, you know.”

“I know he does. I didn’t mean...” Jill trailed off and then started again. “I know he’s an accountant, but I didn’t think he worked much anymore. I didn’t realize he’d helped you with that.”

“Well, he did. He did Steve’s first, and I thought it was so cool that he said he would help me too. He’s really good at it. I never would have thought it was possible for me to save any money, living on student loans and my assistantship. But we’ve got it worked out. It’s not much, but it’s something. Lucas is really... really pretty great.”

Ridiculously, Jill was leaning into the words, wanting to hear them, wanting to hear about how great Lucas was—professionally as well as personally.

She wished he still wanted to work.

She wished he hadn’t tossed all his ambition aside because of whatever had broken him two years ago.

She wished she knew what it was.

“You shouldn’t be so surprised,” Michelle said as if she were reading at least a few of her reflections. “Lucas isn’t really the loser you think he is.”

“I don’t think he’s a loser! I don’t! You know I like him now.”

“I know you do.” Michelle’s expression was earnest in that way she had, as if she were putting aside all teasing and laughter for the moment. “Y’all get along great. But you still... you still seem to think about him in only one way, as only this guy who hangs around and is kind of a slacker about everything. I know you like your life to always stay neat and orderly, and I can totally understand that, but people don’t always fit into one little compartment and stay there.”

“I know they don’t.” Jill was frowning, automatically defensive. “But Lucas is kind of a slacker. You know he is. He won’t even work if he doesn’t have to.”

“I know. And I don’t think it’s good that he won’t. But I do think it’s his way of coping with something that happened to him.”

“Do you know what it was?” Jill was torn between wanting to know and not wanting Lucas to have confided in Michelle and not in her.

“No. He won’t ever talk about it. But something happened to him. It must have been something bad. He’s been... trying to cope with it.”

“I know he is.”

“So if you know that, then you know that he won’t necessarily always be like this. People heal. People learn to deal with what life does to them. People get better. Why shouldn’t he get better too? Why can’t he eventually change?”

Jill stared at her friend, stunned speechless by the idea.

Of course Lucas could change.

Of course Lucas could heal.

And it was wrong for her to keep him in that safe little box, assuming he’d always only be one way.

He wasn’t just a slacker.

He was a person, just like her.

And he could change.

He could get better.

She gave Michelle a sheepish smile. “You’re right. You’re totally right.”

“I didn’t mean to give you a little lecture about it.”

“Well, I deserved a little lecture. You’re totally right. I know how great Lucas is. I really do. But I have been kind of... forcing him into a box. It just felt... safer that way.”

“Yeah,” Michelle murmured. “I kind of had a feeling about that.”

Jill felt herself blushing slightly, but she didn’t deny the implication. She didn’t like to keep secrets from Michelle, and her feelings about Lucas definitely weren’t easy or safe.

With a sigh, she said, “Just think how much I’ve changed since I moved here. When you first met me, did you ever think I’d be anything except that silly, clinging girl who followed a man around and tried to mold herself into what he wanted because she was too scared to let him go?”

“You weren’t that bad,” Michelle said, immediately defending Jill, even against Jill herself. “You were never that bad. You just... wanted a stable life, and you thought you’d found it in Ted. It was totally understandable.”

“Maybe. But I’m glad I changed. I’m glad I... got better. I’m a lot happier not pouring myself out to keep a man who would only give me a few pieces of himself.”

“Well, yeah. Obviously. We’re all a lot happier when we’re not doing that.”

***

LUCAS DIDN’T MIND WEDDINGS.

And he didn’t mind helping Jill out by attending this one with her even though she’d made it very clear it wasn’t a date.

He liked being Jill’s friend, and he liked helping her out. Going to a wedding for a couple of hours wasn’t any sort of burden, particularly since his schedule was loose most of the time.

But Jill could have worn a different dress.

She definitely should have worn a different dress.

A dress that looked less like lingerie.

He would have been much happier and more comfortable if she had.

It wasn’t that her dress exposed an inappropriate amount of skin. It was short, but women’s dresses were often short and there was nothing wrong with that. It was made like a sundress.

A lot of women had sundresses on at the wedding today even though it was a little chilly.

Jill had been wearing some sort of little sweater when they’d left.

He’d thought she’d looked pretty and had been perfectly comfortable with the whole situation.

Then she’d taken her sweater off when they got settled in their pew in the church.

Her dress had thick lace straps and some sort of a thin sash just under her breasts. It was made of a thin material—not silk or satin but something that looked like it was slippery—and it was a pale purplish-pink color.

It could have been lingerie, one of those little gown things women wore when they wanted to look sexy. That’s what it made Lucas think of anyway.

And now he couldn’t think of anything else.

He was trying to be a decent guy. He was going out of his way to not make a move on Jill, no matter how much he wanted to. He’d resisted even when she’d had her hands all over him and was tempting him into bed with her.

He was trying to be good, and the universe was conspiring to torture him for it.

Jill was sitting beside him wearing lingerie, and he couldn’t drag his eyes away from her.

She wasn’t showing any cleavage at all, but the fabric seemed to cling to the curve of her breasts. They looked touchable.

So touchable.

Nothing but touchable.

And he wasn’t allowed to touch.

His body definitely wasn’t remembering that fact.

He was uncomfortably aroused as the wedding progressed, and it wasn’t going away. Instead of watching the bride and groom, his eyes kept slipping over to Jill beside him.

Her legs were crossed, and she seemed to have some sort of stockings on. Not thick tights like she often wore. Something thin with lace on the top. He knew that because once her skirt had slipped a little too high, and he had immediately taken notice.

The church was full. The couple was obviously popular, and it felt like half the town was in attendance. So he had to sit very close to Jill because there were so many people squeezed into the pew. He’d draped an arm around the back of the seat to get it out of the way, but it ended up around her.

He could smell her.

He could feel every time she made the smallest movement.

And she might as well have been wearing lingerie.

He shifted in his seat again, praying that the wedding would be over soon.

The bride and groom were exchanging vows. They both looked incredibly happy.

Lucas would have been happy for them had he not been suffering torture at the moment.

Why the hell had Jill worn that dress?

When the ceremony finally wrapped up and the wedding party recessed out, Lucas almost groaned in relief.

He needed to stand up.

He needed some air.

He needed to get away from Jill for a few minutes so he could get his body back under control.

When everyone stood up and started filing out of their pews, Lucas stretched his back and buttoned his suit jacket quickly, hoping it would hide his physical condition from any stray looks. When he saw Jill’s little sweater lying on the pew, he picked it up and draped it over one wrist, using it to better shield the part in question.

She glanced back at him. “I was going to get that.”

“No problem.” It sounded like he was grumbling because his voice was too thick, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

Jill shot him a quick look as they waited for their pew to start moving out into the main aisle. “You didn’t have to come if you were going to be in a bad mood about it.”

“What?” Lucas asked with a flash of annoyance because Jill was obviously so clueless about all the ways he was suffering.

“You didn’t have to come.”

“I wanted to come. I’m not in a bad mood.”

“You could have fooled me. All that fidgeting through the whole service, and now all the grumbling.”

“I’m not grumbling.” He objected on principle even though he himself had realized it sounded like he was grumbling just a minute before.

She gave him an impatient look but didn’t argue. She was starting to walk, and he followed her, but evidently she’d started too soon.

She had to come to an abrupt halt when the person in front of her stopped, and Lucas was in the middle of taking a step so he ran right into her.

The impact jarred his body quiet dangerously.

He smothered a groan as his arousal throbbed intensely. He needed to step backward. He was pressed up against her back. But her little body was warm and soft and everything he wanted.

He didn’t pull back quite quickly enough.

Jill sucked in a quick breath and whirled around, her eyes wide. “What?” she gasped. “What?”

“What what?” he asked, although he knew exactly what she was responding to.

She’d evidently felt his condition.

It was kind of hard to miss at the moment.

She was looking down to where he was draping the sweater, and her expression was confused and strangely urgent. “What the hell, Lucas?”

There wasn’t anything he could say.

He was turned on. Shamelessly turned on.

In the middle of church at an afternoon wedding.

Jill was looking around now, that same urgency on her face. “What’s gotten into you? Were you sitting there leering at someone during the wedding? What’s wrong with you?” She was talking softly. Almost a whisper.

Lucas replied in the same hushed tone, even though his words were indignant. She evidently had no idea that he’d gotten turned on by her. She was looking around for someone else who might have done that to him. “What’s wrong with me? With me? You’re the one wearing that dress.”

The people in their pew had moved on, but Jill was clearly too distracted to take her turn. She looked down at herself in obvious bewilderment and then glared up at him. “What’s wrong with my dress?”

“It’s... it’s...”

“It’s what?” She examined herself again and then turned her head to scan the rows of people leaving the church, as if comparing her outfit to other women’s to verify its appropriateness.

“It’s like underwear!” Lucas burst out in that same harsh whisper.

She gasped again and crossed her arms over her chest in what was almost certainly an instinctive gesture. “It is not. It doesn’t show that much skin. It doesn’t!”

“I don’t care how much skin it shows. It makes me think about underwear, and I’m sorry, but my body responds to that.”

“You’re crazy! It’s not like underwear. It’s a normal dress.” She appeared torn between annoyance and self-consciousness and confusion, and it wasn’t at all clear which one would come out on top. “Look at her dress over there, and then tell me something’s wrong with mine.”

Lucas looked over, scanning the young woman in question. Her dress was made almost exactly like Jill’s—just a different color and with thinner straps. He could see that objectively.

But the other woman’s dress didn’t fire up all the lust in his body. It didn’t get him all wound up this way.

Jill’s did.

So he knew there was a difference.

“I’m not showing cleavage or anything,” Jill said. “There’s nothing inappropriate about what I’m wearing.”

He looked down toward her neckline and saw something else. “Look,” he said, his muscles tightening again and his erection giving another throb at the outline of her tight nipples beneath the fabric of her dress.

She made a little choking sound when she saw what he was staring at. “I can’t help that! And they weren’t like that the whole time. It just happened, and it’s your fault they did that!”

“Why is it my fault?”

“Because you’re standing there all hot and sexy and turned on, and it’s making my nipples... do things. I can’t control them. It’s not the dress. This is your fault!” She was still talking as soft as ever, but she might as well have been yelling at him. Her eyes were angry, and her hands were clenched at her sides.

Despite his physical condition, Lucas got one of those sudden flashes—a vision of them and their conversation from the outside—and it made his mouth twitch slightly.

She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you dare, Lucas. Don’t you dare make me laugh. I’m angry with you right now, and you deserve it.”

“I know I do,” he said, his voice wobbling as much as his mouth.

Jill’s response spilled over in a little giggle, and it was absolutely irresistible. He had to twist his hands in her sweater to stop himself from reaching out for her.

“Damn it, Lucas,” she said, trying to hide her laughter with one hand. “This is all your fault.”

“You’re right,” he admitted, smiling for real although his arousal was still painfully tight. “Making you laugh is my fault. And your nipples are my fault. And getting turned on is my fault too. It’s not the fault of your lingerie dress.”

“It’s not lingerie. It’s a perfectly good dress.” She looked around her and then said in a stage whisper, “But give me back my sweater. I’m going to put it on.”

“No way. I need your sweater at the moment. It’s serving a strategic purpose.”

“I need it! I’ve got to go to the reception at my boss’s wedding, and I don’t want anyone else to mistake my dress for underwear.” When Lucas didn’t move, she added, “Take off your jacket and use that. I need my sweater.”

That seemed like a reasonable compromise, so he handed the sweater back and replaced it with his suit jacket.

Even when she put the sweater on, Lucas’s body didn’t really behave itself.

He wanted her as much now as he had before.

It had been more than six weeks since they’d had their night together. His desire should be diminishing by now. He should be ready to move on.

He always was.

He rode the tide, waiting for it take him wherever it wanted to go.

He was normally ready for it by now.

But he wasn’t.

He still wanted her just as much, and it didn’t seem to matter what she was wearing.

He wanted her just the same.

***

DESPITE THE FIASCO over her dress, Jill had a really good time at the reception. Lucas found a restroom and came back in much better condition.

And she had fun with him.

She enjoyed him.

The reception was just heavy hors d’oeuvres, so they didn’t have to sit through a long, plated dinner. They found a well-positioned table and stuffed themselves on yummy food and champagne. Lucas was engaging and amusing, and he charmed everyone who came over to say hello to her. And he even danced with her after the bride and groom had had their first dance.

He wasn’t much of a dancer, and she wasn’t either, but it didn’t matter. They moved together, and she enjoyed it, and as far as she could tell he did too.

She’d been planning to stay at the reception an hour at the longest, but two hours passed and she had no pressing desire to leave.

She did have to eventually go the bathroom, and as she was coming out, she ran into Carol, the bride.

“Jill!” Carol said, reaching out to give her a hug. “Thank you so much for coming!”

“Thank you for inviting me. It was beautiful. I’m so happy for you and Patrick.”

“I’m so happy for us too,” Carol said, flushed and visibly emotional. “I can’t believe we’re actually married. I’ve been crazy about him for what feels like forever.”

“Well, no one deserves to be happy more than you do.” Jill meant what she said. Carol was one of the most genuinely good-hearted people she had ever met.

“Now tell me about your date,” Carol said in a different tone. “He’s absolutely gorgeous!”

Jill felt herself blushing. “Oh. He’s... he’s not really my date.”

“He’s sure acting like your date. I see the way he’s been looking at you.”

“Oh no. No. It’s nothing like that. He’s actually my roommate. He’s the guy who moved into our spare room. Remember? I was wanting you to move in?”

“Yes, I remember. You didn’t want to move in with another guy. But what a guy he turned out to be.”

Jill shook her head. She felt fluttery, but she knew that was dangerous, so she tried to stamp the flutters out. “It’s really not like that. I mean, I like him. A lot. And he’s obviously... I mean, he looks the way he looks. But it would never work between us. We want totally different things. He’s... he’s not looking for a real relationship, and you know that’s what I want.”

Carol’s face fell slightly. “Oh. That’s really a shame. He seems so... good for you.  But there’s no use in hoping for someone who wants something different from you.”

“Yeah,” Jill said, feeling kind of depressed even though she’d always known that was true.

Carol’s mouth turned up slightly. “But at least you can have fun with him for a little while. Right? It doesn’t mean you’re giving up on what you want. It just means you haven’t found it yet.”

Jill stared at the other woman, feeling like she’d been hit with an emotional sledgehammer.

Why did she always have to compare Lucas to the mental image she’d constructed of her forever man? Why did she always have to judge him on those qualities?

Why couldn’t she just take him for who he was? Why couldn’t she just have a little fun with him?

She’d had one really good night with him.

Why shouldn’t she have another?

She wanted to so much.

She wanted him so much.

“What is it?” Carol asked with a frown.

“Nothing.” Jill shook herself off. “Nothing. You’re absolutely right. At least I can have fun with him for a little while.”

“Good for you.” After giving her a little hug, Carol moved on, and Jill returned to the reception hall to find Lucas.

Lucas was incredible.

There was no denying that fact.

And he was only going to be around for a little while.

He wasn’t her forever man, but why shouldn’t she have a little fun with him while she could.

It didn’t mean she was giving up on her forever.

It just meant she hadn’t found him yet.

Lucas was leaning back in a chair, finishing off a glass of champagne. When she reached him, she tugged on his arm. “Dance with me again.”

“Okay.” He swallowed down the last of his glass, put it down, and put his hand on her back as they went back to the dance floor.

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her body against him.

He adjusted his stance, easing back from her slightly.

She moved closer.

Lucas leaned down and said into her ear, “Uh, Jill? Remember what you were saying about your nipples being out of your control? There are parts of my body that are equally out of my control, and you’re getting them going right now.”

She was excited now. Her heart was doing a wild gallop. “I’ve got my sweater on over my dress.”

His thick voice wafted against her ear. “It was never about the dress.”

Her whole body leaped in excitement, and she pulled back enough to look him in the eyes.

“What’s going on, Jill?” Lucas asked, sounding hoarse, slightly confused, careful.

“I still want what I want,” she began.

“I know you do.”

“And I know you’re never going to want what I want. But...”

His eyebrows shot up. “But what?”

“But I’m wondering if maybe we can... we can just have a little fun. Until it’s time for us both to move on.”

He stared at her speechlessly, but a fire had awoken in the green of his eyes. It took her breath away.

“You’re serious?” he asked at last.

“Yeah. I don’t know why... why can’t I just have a little fun? What would be wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” he said thickly. “Nothing in the world would be wrong with that.”

Then he kissed her. Right there on the dance floor. And after a minute her head was spinning, and she had to pull away because otherwise she would be doing some things to him that would be very inappropriate to do in public, particularly at her boss’s wedding.

“Do you think we can go... go somewhere?” she asked, breathing raggedly. “To have fun.”

“Definitely. Let’s go now.”

He put his hand on her back again and walked her out of the room and into the hallway.

“It’s a long way to get home,” she said, thinking about the endless distance between them and a convenient bed. Now that she’d decided she could have him again, she wanted him right now.

Right. Now.

“Is there a hotel close by?” he asked.

She thought. “Not really.”

He muttered under his breath as they walked toward the back exit of the building to avoid the crowds lingering around the front.

“There’s always the car,” she said, not even embarrassed at the suggestion.

Lucas pushed in a partly opened door off the hallway and looked inside. “What about in here?”

She gave a little inhale and peered inside. It appeared to be some sort of dressing room, but it must not have been used for the wedding party because it was completely empty. There was a big mirror and an upholstered bench and a vanity and a rack for hanging clothes.

No one’s stuff was in it. It didn’t appear to be being used. No one was hanging out in this back hallway.

No one was even in sight.

And it was an empty room when they needed it.

She hesitated.

“There’s a lock on the door,” Lucas said, checking the doorknob.

“Good enough.” She pushed the door closed, fumbling to lock it, and then she hauled him down into a kiss.

The kiss was deep and passionate immediately, as if weeks of longing had been all bottled up and suddenly channeled into the touch of their lips. Lucas stepped her back against one of the walls in the room, and he devoured her mouth, his body hard and hot and deliciously masculine. Trapping her in place.

She clawed at the back of his shirt, trying to get him even closer, and her tongue dueled and danced with his until it triggered shivers of pleasure all centered between her legs.

“Maybe we should move to the bench,” she mumbled against his lips. His hands had been on her thighs, and now they were sliding up under her skirt, cupping her bottom in a deliciously possessive way.

“Why?” His mouth was moving down her neck, sucking on little spots that made her jolt with pleasure.

“Because if I don’t come pretty soon, I’m going to shatter into pieces. So I want to get past the standing-up part.”

She meant it. It might have all happened in a hot, intense rush, but her body was trembling, tense, poised for a climax she desperately needed.

He chuckled. “I think I could make you come while you’re standing.”

“Ha.” That was about as articulate a retort as she was capable of at the moment. Once his hands had found her breasts, she was arching into his palm, trying to get more friction where she needed it.

He was chuckling as he bent over far enough to nip at her breast through the fabric of her dress.

She cried out at the sharp surge of pleasure.

Then he was moving even lower, kneeling onto the floor.

“What are you doing?” she asked, breathless and slightly dazed.

“Making you come,” he said with an almost wicked smile. “Just make sure you keep standing up.”

Her eyes widened as he slid his hands up her thighs, moving her skirt up as he did. Then he tucked his fingers around the sides of her panties and pulled them down her legs.

“Oh God,” she breathed as he moved his head between her legs.

Was he actually doing this?

And was she going to have to try to keep standing up the whole time?

Her knees were already starting to buckle.

He widened her stance with his hands and then pulled her hips away from the wall to give him access. Then he gave her another devilish smile and advanced with a little lick with his tongue.

She cried out before she could stop herself.

He seemed to like her reaction, and he chuckled again. Then he went to work with his fingers, mouth, and tongue. She couldn’t really see what he was doing, but it felt incredible, and soon she was having to fight to not grind herself against his face.

She clutched at his head and pressed her back into the wall and tried desperately to make her legs hold herself up. She couldn’t stay quiet as he worked her over, but she was vaguely conscious that they were in a building with a lot of other people, so she finally had to stuff her fist into her mouth to smother her sounds of pleasure.

He had two of his fingers inside her, and he was sucking hard on her clit when she came undone completely. She sobbed around her fist, her body shaking helplessly as the orgasm ripped through her. She was still shuddering with little aftershocks when Lucas finally pulled his head away, grinning up at her with that smoldering amusement. The bottom half of his face was wet, and she wasn’t even embarrassed.

“And you stayed on your feet the whole time,” he said.

She half giggled and half sobbed as she pulled him up so she could hug him. He held her against him for a minute, his embrace tense, tight, almost needy.

But he was rocking into her slightly, and she knew he was really turned on. He’d taken the time to give her pleasure, no matter how urgent his own arousal was, and she didn’t fail to recognize that.

Plus she hadn’t had nearly enough.

“Now should we use the bench?” she asked against his shoulder. “Or did you want to do the next part standing up too?”

He choked on a laugh and then kissed her again, hefting her up as he did. She wrapped her legs around him, and he carried her over to the bench, easing her down on her back and moving on top of her.

“Please tell me you have a condom,” she mumbled against his mouth.

“I always have a condom.”

“Good man.”

Her legs were still wrapped around him, and she was grinding against the bulge of his erection. He was grinding back.

He pulled away long enough to dig the condom out of his wallet, and she worked on his trousers as he unwrapped it. They didn’t even take off his pants or underwear—just pushed them down enough to be out of the way. Then he put the condom on and positioned himself between her legs.

Then he was finally, finally easing inside her.

“Oh God!” She gasped, arching her neck in pleasure at the tight penetration. She hadn’t had sex since she’d had sex with Lucas six weeks ago, and it felt like forever.

She needed this.

She needed it bad.

“Oh fuck, that’s right, that’s so good, you feel so good.” Lucas was muttering out the words as he rolled his hips slightly, moving himself just slightly inside her.

“Lucas, please,” she breathed. She pumped her hips from below. “I need... I need... oh please.”

With a low groan, he started to thrust, building up a fast, steady rhythm that matched the pumps of her hips.

She was whimpering with how good it felt, how the motion seemed to come from her deepest core, how it triggered nerve endings all over her body. She slid her hands down to his ass, feeling the firm muscles as he worked his hips.

This was what she wanted.

This was so much what she wanted.

And she didn’t want it to end.

He fucked her like that until she came, choking on her release. Then without a word, he pulled out, turned her over the bench, and entered her from behind.

Then he got going again, and she was shocked to feel her body responding.

Again.

It couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

She was making the most embarrassing sounds—somewhere between grunts and sobs, as he pumped into her, his body pressed into her back, his skin making a slapping sound as it hit her bottom.

“Lucas,” she heard herself gasping. “Lucas. Lucas. Oh God. Lucas.” She was trying to cling to the bench, but she kept turning her head to look at him behind her.

She liked the tension of his face, the heat in his eyes, the sheen of sweat on his skin. She liked how he was totally into this.

Just as much as she was.

He reached around her body until he was pressing his fingertips against her clit. He wasn’t really rubbing it. Just pressing against it. And it was exactly what she needed.

She bit her lip to smother a loud cry of pleasure.

“Oh fuck, baby,” Lucas was saying, as if the words were dragged out of him. He slowed down his thrusting momentarily and panted against her neck. He rolled his hips and pressed her clit, and she squeezed all around him, helplessly responding to him. “That’s right. That’s so good. I love your little body. I love it so much. So hot and tight. So responsive to me. I love how you feel.”

He rolled his hips again, and she came hard, gasping against the upholstery of the bench.

“So good,” he was muttering. “You’re so good for me, baby. So good.”

He braced himself with his free hand and started to pump hard.

“Yeah!” she breathed. “Hard. As hard as you want. Lucas, please. I want you... I want you...” She couldn’t finish a complete sentence, but she didn’t need to.

Lucas had finally let himself go, and she turned her head to watch the pleasure twisting on his face.

He let out a low roar as he fell over the edge, his body jerking behind her.

He was still groaning softly as his body started to relax. His ragged breath was blowing her hair just a little.

Jill was blazing hot and exhausted and slightly uncomfortable from their position, and she was so wet that it was trickling down the inside of her thighs.

She couldn’t remember ever having sex like this before.

She couldn’t remember ever being so physically sated, like her body had nothing more to need at the moment, like it had been given everything it could ever want.

“Oh God,” she kept saying, unable to stop.

Lucas just made wordless grunts, but he finally found the energy to pull out of her and take care of the condom.

With him having moved, she could readjust her body onto her back and collapse on the bench, gasping loudly and wiping sweat off her face.

There wasn’t room on the bench for Lucas, so he collapsed on the floor, his back against the wall.

They looked at each other, smiling and panting, for a long time.

Finally Lucas seemed to find his voice. “Well, you wanted to have a little fun. Would you call that fun?”

She gave a little giggle. “That was the most fun I can ever remember having.”

“Me too.”

She couldn’t help but like the sound of that.