of lips with their eyes squeezed shut, both holding their breath.
This kiss was everything. He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue and Sofia sighed into his mouth, opening for him. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, searching for her taste underneath.
Sofia kissed him with a wild sort of abandon, like a woman starving for air who’d just surfaced above the waves. Ah, he thought, there she was. She tasted complex and sweet, just like the woman herself.
He shifted so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her in closer before he went back to kissing her. His blood hummed in his veins as the weight of her breasts pressed against his side. Shifting, he cupped one in his hand, the weight of her heavy and warm in his palm. Sofia moaned against his mouth as he stroked her. When her nipple went tight under his touch, he had to bite back his own groan. She was so responsive. God, she’d be amazing when she let go.
He wanted her to let go now. Still teasing her nipple, he sank his free hand into her hair, tilting her head so he could let his mouth drift down her neck until he found her pulse. It wasn’t weak or irregular. Instead, her heart was beating hard and fast as a soft moan broke free of her lips. “Eric.”
This was right, he realized. Sofia was right where she belonged, in his arms. He was hard for her and wanted nothing more than to sink into her softness and make her cry out with satisfaction.
The car lurched sharply around a corner, throwing them both off balance. He clutched her by the shoulders until they were both steady.
Or steadier, anyway. Her eyes were glazed with desire and he knew he wasn’t in any better shape. All he could do was look down at her and think how much he wanted to do that again.
He didn’t take the chance because just as he leaned forward, Sofia sat back. Her gaze cleared and that delicious desire was replaced with tight lines of worry. “Oh. Oh. That was...”
She touched her lips with the tips of her fingers and Eric had to resist the urge to replace her fingers with his lips. But he didn’t get the chance because she retreated across from him. He had to drop his arm from around her shoulder, but he wasn’t going to relinquish his hold on her that easily. He wrapped his fingers around hers again.
“A mistake,” she finished weakly.
He managed not to scowl. “It didn’t feel like a mistake to me.” Why had he thought this would be easy? Because it wasn’t going to be. “Is this the part where you tell me we can’t do this?”
“We can’t.” But she didn’t pull her hand away from his. “Eric, we really can’t.”
“Why not? I like you. More than like, actually,” he admitted. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since you walked back into my office. Into my life.”
“I can’t fall again,” she said, her voice breaking. She turned to look at him, her eyes bright with tears. “I have to...” She swallowed and looked away again. “I have a job to do. I don’t want to risk that.”
He rolled his eyes. “Your job has nothing to do with any of this.”
That got him a sharp look. Funny how it made him want to smile. “Don’t be intentionally dense, Eric. I need the job. I need to take care of my family. I need to keep moving forward. You’re paying me too much money—”
“Not that again,” he huffed.
“And I can’t risk that. Not for something as selfish as...” She swallowed again. “As short-term as sex.”
Eric gaped at her in confusion. “Sofia. Look at me.”
She didn’t. She could be stubborn, his Sofia. “This is exactly like the salary argument, Eric. You can afford to do whatever you want. But I can’t. I don’t have hundreds of thousands—millions—of dollars to fall back on when this doesn’t work.”
He thought about that for a moment. Really, her argument was sound. She worked for him and he had a hard-and-fast rule about relationships with his staff—he didn’t have them, period.
But Sofia wasn’t just his office manager. She was his friend. Their relationship had started long before she’d begun to work for him—and he was beginning to realize he wanted it to last long afterward. “When was the last time you had sex?”
“Really?” she snapped, jerking her hand from his. “You’re going to ask me that?”
“After that kiss? You’re damn right I’m going to ask that. When was the last time you put your needs first?” Because he was willing to bet money that Sofia was low on her own to-do list.
She squeezed her eyes shut, her lips trembling. “Don’t.”
He could read the truth on her face. She hadn’t been with anyone since her husband had died. A year and a half was a long time to go without a little loving.
He wanted to crush her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay—but hell. She’d been widowed and he’d been left at the altar and he couldn’t promise her that everything would work out just so.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try, though. He wasn’t promising her forever, after all. Just the weekend. “I’m trying to understand, babe. You need to take care of your family. I get that. But who takes care of you?” He knew her mother worried about her, too. But being mothered wasn’t the same thing as putting herself first.
She swallowed hard. “You’re not going to fight fair, are you?”
“Of course not.” She almost smiled at that—but not quite. “This weekend—let me take care of you. Which,” he added, stroking his thumb along the side of her hand, “I’m already doing. I can’t wait to see what dresses you decided on.”
“Not the same,” she muttered, yet he couldn’t help but notice that she was still holding his hand, still submitting to his touch.
“Let’s have fun this weekend,” he went on. “Just two old friends spending time together. No strings.” He leaned over and nuzzled her hair with his nose. God, she smelled so good. He wanted to devour her. “Let me put you first, Sofia. You won’t have to worry about anything.”
She didn’t answer for the longest time. “I don’t know if I can do that. Not like you can.”
That hurt more than he wanted it to. “Like me?”
“I can’t be...casual.” But she rested her head on his shoulder and it only made sense for him to tuck his arm around her again. “I mean... I don’t know what I mean.”
Eric let that thought roll around in his head. He assumed she knew about his ex-fiancée. Had she heard about the aftermath of the broken wedding? He’d gone through several high-profile, short-lived romances afterward before he’d burned himself out on meaningless sex. He hadn’t exactly loved Prudence, but he’d at least cared for her, and sex without that caring wasn’t the same. A physical release, yeah. But it hadn’t been enough. He’d needed more.
Sofia in his arms felt like more.
His body ached for hers but for more than just a release—for both of them. He wanted to make her smile and laugh and...
He just wanted to make things right again. For her and maybe for him. For them both.
He kissed her head and did the right thing. “It’s okay. We don’t have to fool around.” His body strained in protest but he ignored it. He wanted Sofia almost past the point of reason—but friends didn’t pressure friends into sex.
She snorted in what he hoped was amusement.
“But,” he went on, “if you change your mind, you let me know. Because I care about you, Sofia. I won’t hurt you.”
She was silent, but she let him hold her all the same. “Friends, right?”
“Right,” he agreed. Friends were great. Friends