They continued kissing, soft and deep and lovely. He moved inside her, filling her, rocking with her in a smooth, deep motion. It didn’t take long before she was clutching at him, pushing against him, begging for more.

 “I can’t say no to you,” he whispered. “I have a feeling I’ll never be able to say no to you. God, why would I even want to?”

 “I didn’t say no, either, did I?”

 “More it is,” he whispered, pounding into her until they were both rising again, reaching for another mutual climax. The moment she started to clench and tremble around him, he went off like a rocket, a powerful blast that made her almost whimper in pleasure. And she finally collapsed under him.

 Again he kissed her eyes, her cheeks, her lips, running his work-roughened hands all over her.

 They were quiet for a while as their breathing evened and their bodies began to cool. He reached down to pull the duvet over them. Rolling onto his side, he brought her with him, gently holding her against him.

 “Are you going to stay inside me forever?” she asked.

 “Would that be inconvenient?” he asked. “Because it really feels like exactly where I should be.”

 “Funny,” she said. “Feels that way to me, too.”

 “Friendship with you has perks,” he said.

 She was quiet for a moment. “Good,” she finally said.

 He laughed. “I don’t want to be friends, Emmie.”

 “You don’t?”

 “Of course not. I don’t share that with friends. There was nothing casual about that and you know it.”

 “Oh?”

 “Wasn’t a friendly fuck for you, either,” he said. “That was some of the finest love I’ve ever made. Might be the absolute best ever.”

 “You think?”

 “I know,” he said.

 She smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, even though it was probably not a good idea.”

 He raised up, looking down at her. “I think it was the best idea I ever had.”

 She couldn’t keep from touching him, tenderly running her fingertips over the planes of his face. “I guess you’re not going to come to your senses anytime soon...”

 He shook his head. He gently brushed her hair back from her face. “You know how I feel. I think you’ve always known. Do you think you can talk me out of it?”

 “Well, I thought I could...”

 “You can’t...”

 She bit her lip and just looked into those fierce green eyes. She sighed. “Thank God,” she said.

 He smiled at her.

 “Could be problematic that I just slept with my new boss’s brother...”

 “None of Riley’s business who I sleep with. None of her business who you sleep with, for that matter.”

 “Do you think she’ll agree with that?”

 “Do you think I care?” he asked, raising a brow in question. “Come on,” he said, pulling her closer so she was nuzzling into his chest. “Enjoy the moment. You’ll have plenty of time to worry later.”

 She let herself be cuddled. “I do feel considerably more relaxed than I did a couple of hours ago.”

 “There you go,” he said with a laugh. “God knows I do.” After a few minutes of silence he asked, “You going to sleep?”

 “No. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and find out it was just a dream.”

 He kissed her forehead. “Nothing like that’s going to happen. The bad dreams are over. The good dreams are just beginning.”

 * * *

 The rest of the weekend was ideal, the kind of perfect Emma had given up on. After lying around in bed for a couple of hours, Emma showered and primped. When she came out of her bathroom, Adam was puttering comfortably around her little kitchen, making tea and checking out the refrigerator, taking inventory. He wore his jeans, his shirt hanging open over that gorgeous chest, socks on his shoeless feet. He looked so delicious like that she wanted to take a bite out of him.

 “If you want to go out for dinner, I’ll take you out,” he said. “If I can talk you into staying in, I’ll go get us something.”

 “You want to stay in?”

 He grinned at her. “Oh, yeah.”

 Then his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the ID and picked up. “Hi, Mom.” He listened for a little while, nodding as though his mother might hear it. “You need me to fix that now?” A pause. “You did? I wish you wouldn’t do that. I know it was irritating but what if you fell? All right, all right, I didn’t mean to offend you, but really... Don’t do it again, all right? Well, thanks, but I’m actually going out tonight so tomorrow I’ll have errands and have to get ready for school. Oh, nothing too exciting.” He winked at Emma. “Just having a glass of wine with a lady friend. I don’t think so, which is how I’d like to keep it for now. Listen, if you need me to help with those Christmas decorations... Jock is? Okay, I appreciate the pass and I’ll get the lights up after school one day this week, so no ladders. Talk to you tomorrow? Great.”

 He put the phone back in his pocket. “Her smoke alarm was beeping because the battery was dead and she climbed up on a stepladder in the stairwell and changed the battery. She’s perfectly capable, but I hate thinking of her up on a ladder. That’s what I’m for.” He made a face. “I change them regularly to keep her off the ladder.”

 “You mentioned Jock?”