Page 57 of Dirty Fighter

“No.” It’s none of those things. I’m not looking for a one-night fling or some throwaway encounter. “This isn’t⁠—”

“I’m serious about this being an escape for me, Jason. So please don’t worry about me getting weird about it.” She gives me the kind of understanding look that says she doesn’t understand at all. “This is a moment out of time with a man I trust. I want you. And I just… I didn’t want to ruin anything by making a big deal about it, but I needed you to know that we’re on the same page about what this is…”

That pause is for me, so I meet her waiting eyes and tell us both what she’s asking to hear. What she needs this to be. “Fun.”

She nods, her kiss-swollen lips half parted in a smile that has to be enough. “And what it isn’t?”

“The start of something…” Meaningful, real, lasting. “Serious.”

Because this woman is coming off a broken engagement following a five-year relationship. She’s lost a father figure. Been uprooted from her job and friends and home. And she wants a break from having to decide where and how to rebuild her life. She said it before.

Of course she’s not looking to start some messy, complicated relationship with the guy who surprised her during what was supposed to be time away from worrying about all those things.

I get it.

And I can do it. I can give her what she needs.

She’s resumed fighting my shirt, thankfully oblivious to the retrofitting happening inside my head.

“Too wet,” she murmurs, needy frustration edging the softness of her words as she releases the fabric bunched at my sides.

I let go too. Of an idea I’ve been holding onto for the better part of a decade.

This doesn’t have to be some epic love story.

They might run in my family, but this is not that. It’s fun. And if it’s all I get, then I’ll take it.

No strings. No expectations. Just me giving Rowan the best time she’s ever had.

“Too wet?” I dip in for a dirty kiss, then, “Not possible. But I’ll get you damned close.”

She pulls back with a stunned gasp that I’d put somewhere between curious and Hell, yes. “You are…”

“Not joking.” I’m dead serious. This girl is going to come harder than she ever has before. For me.

I catch her mouth again.

She purrs around my invading tongue, and yeah, I like it too. I like how she’s flush against me again, captive in the cradle of my hands, perfect tits against my chest, legs wrapped around my waist so we rub together with every step I take.

And I fucking love that she’s so caught up in this thing between us, temporary as it is, that she doesn’t notice anything else.

Like where the hell we are as I kiss her like the world is ending and I may never get another chance.

“What the heck?” She looks around in confusion and then down at the bathroom counter beneath her.

When her eyes come up, I shrug. “Told you I could make it through the cabin without looking.”

Rowan

“I’m impressed.” I mean it too. But I’m talking more about the way he kisses than the fact that he can navigate this space with his eyes closed… and a woman wrapped around him.

“Yeah? All it took was ten years.”

I shake my head. “I was impressed from the night I met you.”

There isn’t much light coming through the window, but I can see his wry smile. The doubt. And I hate that I’ve given him ten years of reasons not to take me at my word.

“I’m serious. And not because of how handsome you were. Or because of the hockey stuff.” Though on their own he was a standout in both. “You were kind and funny and generous and…” I lift a shoulder, letting my fingers find the hem of the shirt I couldn’t make enough headway with when I was pinned against it. “Fine, and you were the most handsome guy I’d ever seen.”