As his hand ran down my neck and in the valley between my br**sts, I closed my eyes as he cupped one of my br**sts and caressed me there. I murmured, “I met Mallory at my first job after school. I got hired at The Richmond later and saw Amanda again.”

“Tell me more.” He moved down to kiss the valley between my br**sts.

Desire flooded me. My heart pounded against my chest. “Uh…we used to talk about guys a lot. All three of us. Mallory dated a lot of guys. Ben worshiped her, but she never gave into him. And Amanda,” my breath hitched as his tongue swept the underside of my breast, “uh, Amanda liked nerdy guys. She said it was the curse of having a wimpy dad.”

He moved further down my stomach. My hands slid into his hair and held on. I gasped, unable to speak. The ache between my legs grew with each nibble from him.

“It sound like you had fun with her?” His hand moved to my hip and he urged me to my side.

As I did, he settled behind me. My leg was lifted and he fit between them. His arm reached around me so I was held against his chest. He started to nudge inside of me. I couldn’t talk. The sensations were overwhelming me.

He murmured into my ear, pressing a kiss there, “Tell me about your friendship with her.”

I struggled to concentrate and gasped, “We laughed about our dates. And Ben.” He pushed further into me. My eyes closed and I rested my head against his. He began a slow rhythm.

His voice was husky as he murmured, “Why did you laugh about him?”

“Because he’s funny.” My throat closed off. I could only lie there as his fingers moved over my body and his hips thrust into me. “Carter,” I gasped again.

“What’s wrong?”

I heard his amusement. Twisting my head to the side, I caught his gaze. They darkened and a primal hunger burst over me. Pushing at his hips so he slipped out, I started to turn, but Carter grasped my waist. He lifted me over him and slammed inside of me in the same movement. There were no words after that. I folded over him, bending down so my chest was pressed against his as he urged my hips into a faster pace.

It was later, after we both exploded together and I was still curled over him. He was tracing my hair back, skimming his hand over my body in a soft caress before he’d move back to my hair and repeat the same motion. I was falling asleep when a thought came to me. “Do you have men watching Amanda?”

His hand tightened around my breast for a second. Then it relaxed. “No. Are you worried about her?”

“No.” I had no reason to be. Then I looked up at him. “Could I invite her to Octave one night? It’d be fun.”

“You can invite her anywhere you’d like.” He gazed at me, a soft longing in his eyes.

My heart constricted. “What’s wrong, Carter?”

He only gave me a sad smile. “I’m glad you have a good friend. This life with me is solitary. I worry about you when I’m gone.”

“You don’t ever need to worry about me.”

He gripped my arms. “I do. And I will always worry, but it’s because I love you. I will never control you, Emma. You can make your own decisions and go where you want and I will never say otherwise. But I need you to know that if I worry about you, it’s because I love you. I want you safe. I will always want you safe, no matter who you are with or what you’re doing.”

The intensity on his face had me gasping again. No one had looked at me like that since AJ, since he told me to go as he faced down Tomino in that alley. That had been the last time I felt someone’s love for me as much as I did from Carter now. He had said the words and I knew he meant them, but I felt them this time. I had no words. I had no way to express what I was feeling so I leaned into him and captured his lips with mine. It wasn’t long until both of us were groaning again. I was home. I was where I was supposed to be.

The next month went by and I was happy. Carter tried to limit his travels to one day a week and when he couldn’t, I knew he hurried so he could get back to me. Work passed uneventfully. I was still enjoying my new job and the parameters I was given, but Theresa remained withdrawn when we worked together. That was a damper on my good moods. After work, I began going to the cafe more and more. Amanda started to wait for me in our booth. She knew when my job ended and had a coffee pot waiting for us. We never discussed Ben and Mallory again. I shared with her little things about Carter, about a new restaurant he took me to or how he said we could go to Octave at any time, and she would tell me stories about her co-workers.

The last Friday of the month, I slid into my side of the booth and noticed she was different. Her head was down and she was wringing her hands together. Her shoulders were slouched down.

“What happened?”

Her head snapped up with horror. “I have a date.”

I grinned. “You look ready to pee yourself. How is that a bad thing?”

Her hands kept twisting around each other and she let out a deep breath. “How did this happen? I keep asking myself that and I have no idea how it happened. I really don’t. He was there. He was hot. He was asking for a bagel. I was giving one to him and then his hands touched mine.” Her chest rose for another dramatic breath. “Then he kept coming in. I’m nuts. I know I’m nuts. My best friend is dating a mob hitman, okay-my only friend is dating a mob hitman. What am I doing? I can’t go on a date. I have to call and cancel.”

She dove inside her purse, fumbling for her phone, but I snatched it away. “What are you talking about? You can’t date because of me? You can’t think that, do you?”