Page 89 of Breaking All The Rules
“Yeah. Think I will.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll just get dressed.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, but she was already turning back to the keyboard. And when Austin dropped another kiss on her neck and said goodbye fifteen minutes later, she didn’t even look up. She just murmured, “Bye,” and kept typing.
…
When he got back from Jack’s at just after nine, Beatrice was still at her desk, on the phone. She smiled at him and mouthed, “I’m sorry,” as he entered the apartment.
Austin returned her smile as he crossed to her and kissed her on the head. “It’s fine,” he whispered. “I’m going to bed; I’m beat.” Which was the truth. He really was tired.
She nodded and mouthed, “Okay,” then replied to something somebody—Kim, he assumed—had said on the other end.
By the time he’d shucked his clothes and shooed Princess off his pillow, Beatrice was saying her goodbyes. She hung up just as he flipped off the bedside lamp and slipped between the sheets. “I’m sorry,” she apologized as she strode toward the bed, putting one knee and then the other on the mattress and crawling up it. Austin spread his legs to make room for her, and within seconds she was settling herself against him. Suddenly parts of him weren’t feeling so tired anymore.
“I thought I’d be done by now.”
Her lips landed on his, and Austin slipped his hands onto her ass and held her close. “Mmm, beer,” she murmured against his mouth before she continued the kiss. The sweet intoxication of her scent filled his senses. His breathing roughened and his heart slugged against his rib cage as the kiss deepened.
Christ—he could do this all damn night.
Too soon, though, she broke off the kiss with a sigh, and he knew she was going back to her desk. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I’ve got to get back to it. I’m nearly done.”
Austin ran his fingers down her forearm. “It’s fine,” he assured. It was fine, damn it. This was what happened in relationships—even if they weren’t calling it that—after the initial heady stuff.
She glanced down at the bulge under the sheet. “I could”—she waggled her eyebrows—“help you with that real quick if you want?”
Austin wasn’t opposed to the idea of a quickie hand or blow job as a general rule, but Jesus, what sort of an asshole would he be to agree to that when she was clearly trying to get this done?
He didn’t need a pity orgasm no matter how much his cock disagreed.
“Thanks.” He grinned. “It’ll survive. Wake me when you’re done and you can have at it.”
She grinned. “Deal.” Then she wriggled off the bed.
Austin chuckled as he pulled up the sheet, and she made her way back to the desk. God, he’d missed her at Jack’s. He’d quickly grown used to having her at his side, and when she wasn’t, it felt like he was missing his other half. And what that meant, he didn’t want to think about, because if he slipped and voiced any of this stuff around Beatrice, this thing they were doing, might all come toppling down...
…
When Sunday came around, Austin went to the ranch by himself. Beatrice’s proposal was finished and she’d been looking forward to getting on Buffy but then the phone had rung. Kim. Something had come up to do with Monday’s presentation requiring a major rework and Beatrice had begged off accompanying him.
Which was fine. Of course she had to deal with whatever crisis had arisen. Couples just didn’t spend every waking and sleeping hour in each other’s pockets. But he got the feeling she was pulling away—if only subconsciously—and a trickle of unease had run down his spine.
None of his family thought anything of it when he arrived without Beatrice, and Austin did his level best to be chipper all afternoon. He even stayed for dinner to give her more time to work things out.
Still, he was relieved when dinner was over and it was time to leave.
“Everything okay with you?” his mother asked as she walked him out to his pickup.
He nodded. “Yep.”
“You seem a little…distracted today.”
Austin wasn’t surprised his mother had sensed his unease. She’d always had a strong mom radar. “I’m sure.”
She nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. “Everything okay with Bea?”
“Yeah…she’s just busy with the campaign..”
“Okay,” she said with a smile, then fell silent for a beat or two. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
