Page 54 of Fierce-Baker

“If anything,” she said with a shy smile, “I’m afraid I was rougher than you.”

He squinted one eye at her, assessing. “I think you might have been.”

Then he flashed a grin so wide and so wickedly proud she burst into laughter.

Fine by her. She was proud of herself too.

He stepped into his shorts, tugged them up, then reached for his shirt to pull over his head, while she did the same.

“Did you have plans for the rest of the day? I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do, or…where we go from here.”

“My time is your time until you need to get Micah,” he said simply.

Her breath hitched. Her eyes burned before she could stop them, mortified over her lack of control.

The second he saw the tears, he moved toward her fast, like he thought he’d hurt her in some way. “Hey, hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, as she swiped at her eyes. “I just…it’s stupid. I didn’t know where your mind was at. I’m not an emotional person, I’m really not. But this is…” She dropped her gaze. “This is so different from anything else I’ve had with a man. And I’m positive it’s the endorphins from our little sex fest.”

His expression softened. His eyes searched hers slowly, deeply with so much emotion flickering behind them she could almost feel what he wasn’t saying.

And she knew that look. She knew exactly where his thoughts had gone.

He wanted to ask about Micah’s father.

And she instantly wished she hadn’t opened the door with her own words.

But he’d surprised her and hadn’t taken that path. Maybe it was because it’d open the door for her to question him just as much.

“That wasn’t nearly the sex fest it could have been. Do I need to be prepared for next time? I can come with a box of tissues just in case.”

She flung her arms around his body and hugged him tight, her laughter bubbling out like a shock she hadn’t thought she’d receive.

“Is that a challenge?”

“It can be,” he said, leaning back, his thumb trailing down her cheek. “Really though. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. More than fine. I thought once we got naked things would slide into place, but...”

“Oh, they slid into place just fine.”

She let out a much-needed giggle. “They did. It was wonderful. It really was. Are you okay going out to lunch or would you prefer no one sees us?”

“I’m not hiding anything,” he said.

The frown on his face said that she’d insulted him and had to do damage control.

“I’m not either.” She moved out of his arms. “I just didn’t know how you’d feel if we run into people. I should say, Margo knows what’s going on.”

He lifted one eyebrow. “Did she know about today?”

The heat filled her face before she could stop it. She wouldn’t lie.

It felt like she lied so much about the past few years by not answering people’s questions that she wasn’t going to do it anymore.

“She knew I had the day off and you were taking it also. The rest she’d guess.”

No way she’d admit that in the past she’d talked about her sex life with Margo.