Fated to be Mine (29 page)

“Better?” he asks, pulling me into his side as he reclaims his spot.

“Much. Thank you.”

He smirks and grabs a berry, tracing it around my lips. “If you want me to take my clothes off, all you have to do is ask.”

He pushes the sweet fruit between my lips. The juice runs out of the corner of my mouth, but Andrew quickly licks it away.
Holy hell,
I think to myself as my nipples tighten. It feels as if all of the air has been sucked out of the room, replaced by the feelings of desire and passion. I want to say forget the food and let me feast on his body, but I remind myself that we have all night together. He’s not going anywhere and neither am I.

We continue to eat, feeding each other pieces here and there while talking about everything except the last few weeks. Andrew tells me more about his family, asking me if I want to go visit them this summer. The thought of meeting his family is enough to give me hives but at the same time it delights me beyond belief because he’s making plans for us in the future.

Once the food is gone, we turn on the TV, flipping through the channels before stopping on my favorite Thursday night program.

“I can’t believe I forgot it was Scandal night,” I say, snuggling in close to his side.

He chuckles and kisses the top of my head. “Well then let’s watch your program.”

As we watch the show, he asks me a few questions since he’s never seen it and I happily catch him up during the commercial breaks. When the show is over we channel surf some more before just letting it fall onto whatever program we find. Not that we are watching the TV anymore. Andrew turns and pounces like a ferocious predator, sending everything flying off the bed as we roll around and lose ourselves in each other. Our lovemaking is heated and incendiary but filled with so much passion that I could feel it right down to my bones. After several hours we fall asleep, tangled together in each other’s arms, right where we’re supposed to be.

The morning sun pierces the darkness of the room, begrudgingly waking me up. Andrew’s arms are still tightly wrapped around me as I cling to his chest. With my head tucked safely under his chin, I bring my lips to the hollow dip at the base of his throat. A groan sounds from the back of his throat and I smile against his skin.

“Good morning, my love,” I whisper. Strong arms flex around me before soft lips meet my forehead.

“Mmm, I’m pretty sure that’s my line.”

“I know it’s your pet name for me, but I thought I’d try it out on you.”

Andrew stares at me, gazing deep into my eyes. Something passes over them but then is quickly gone. I furrow my brow.

“What is it?”

He shakes his head and sighs. “It’s nothing.”

Rolling over, we look at the time flashing on the digital clock and groan.

“It’s already seven o’clock. We better get up and get moving for work. I’m going to be late as it is and I didn’t bring any extra clothes with me.”

I start to move away from Andrew, but he holds on tightly, not letting me move an inch. “Stay home with me today. I don’t want to share you with the world just yet.”

“Why does that sound way too tempting? Don’t you have meetings with Kara and Chris today?”

A slow smile lights up his face as he shakes his head. “Not today. There isn’t another meeting scheduled until Monday so I have given myself a three-day weekend.”

Three days solely dedicated to Andrew? Could I handle that? I’ve never skipped a day of work in my life, but this beautiful man has me wishing we were on a deserted island with no responsibilities ever again.

I press my lips together and dart off the bed, walking to where my purse had been placed on the dresser after being hastily discarded the night before. Pulling out my phone, I type a quick text to Kara.

Hey, not going to make it to work today. I’m going to entertain the COO of the big account we have to make sure that he’s completely satisfied.

I hit send and bite my lip as I look over at Andrew, who is now sitting up against the headboard with the sheet just covering all the necessary parts of his body. Wearing a smug smile, like a cat that ate the canary, he motions me toward him with his finger. Lascivious thoughts begin running through my mind as my eyes run up and down his body.

The phone beeps in my hand and I glance down at Kara’s response.

LOL! I bet you are! Make sure he’s completely satisfied and you better not come back to work until he is!

My face turns bright red as I laugh at my audacious best friend. Andrew quirks an eyebrow to me and I walk over to show him the message.

“So I believe I have permission to stay home today.”

He laughs and grabs my waist, making me squeal as he plants me on his lap, my legs on either side of his thighs. Taking the phone from my hand, he places it on the nightstand and turns back to me, running his fingers through my tangled hair.

“And what is home?” he inquires.

I lean down, pressing my chest to his and kiss him with every feeling that’s pent up inside of me, aching to be released.

“Home is where you are.”

Andrew’s hands run up and down my naked back, tracing small circles as they make their way into my hair. Our foreheads touch and I close my eyes as his warm breath whispers across my lips.

“Yes, it is. You are my home, Tessa. You are everything that I never thought I would have.”

“I love you,” I say as I pull back the sheet and slowly sink onto him.

“I love you, too,” he replies, grabbing my hips to guide me until he’s fully sheathed inside.

My heart melts as our bodies mold into each other, slowly combining into one again and again all morning long.

S
UNDAY AFTERNOON WE FINALLY PULL
ourselves out of Andrew’s hotel room, mainly because we haven’t seen the outside world since Thursday, and I didn’t have any clean clothes. Don’t get me wrong, being naked was fun and highly pleasurable but it was time to return to reality and the outside world.

We decide to work on my Sunday chores together, which means it’s laundry day, my most hated chore of all. Andrew brings his bag of dirty laundry, saying that he wants to help me around the house today. He’s too good to be true because I don’t know many men who actively want to do chores and mundane everyday tasks.

We walk hand in hand down the street to the laundromat, stopping every once in a while to kiss against a random building or tree we pass. When we arrive at the laundromat, there are a few people also standing around, waiting for their clothes to get clean. That doesn’t stop Andrew from finding a chair for us, pulling me into his lap while he reads to me from my Kindle. Several strange glances come our way, but we ignore them as I curl into his lap and listen to the sound of his voice. I link my arms around his neck while pressing my lips to his lifeline, which is steadily beating just beneath the surface of his skin. It's a simple gesture, but to the both of us it's the most precious moment ever. Every moment together means more than the last, even if we're not doing anything special.

After several hours, we’re back in my apartment with clean clothes in hand. Andrew is in the kitchen making us lunch while I straighten up the living room, getting it ready for our afternoon of lounging around. We play cards and eat our food while sitting on the couch, pausing briefly to get things to drink or make out like a couple of teenagers whose hormones have gone wild.

“So what are your plans for tomorrow?” I ask, sitting down on his lap after bringing our empty dinner plates to the kitchen.

He holds me tight against his chest and nuzzles his nose into my hair. “Well, I have meetings scheduled with Kara and Christopher for most of the morning. I figure we can leave here together since we’re both going to the same place. Seems logical, don’t you think?”

“I agree, as long as you don’t mind having coffee in the morning with Michael. We always meet before work. Are you okay with that?”

He smiles and tucks some hair behind my ear. “Of course. He did invite me after all.”

“Good. I’d love it if you two became friends. He’s really sweet and funny with a personality to match my own.” I pause and think about that statement. “Okay, maybe a personality that compliments my own. He’s more of the outgoing type where I’m the wallflower.”

Andrew laughs. “So you’re saying you’re attracted to people who are opposite of you?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Look at who all is in my life. You, Kara, Chris, Michael, my dad. All of you are the polar opposite of me. All of you are strong and confident, which in turn makes me want to be the same. And I think it’s finally starting to work.”

He nods and kisses my forehead. “Yes, I do believe it is.”

Andrew stands and wraps my legs around his waist. “Let’s go to bed. Then in the morning we’ll meet up with your friend and we can start transferring my things over here.”

I raise an eyebrow to him as he carries me down the hall. “You sound like you’re moving in with me.”

He chuckles and kicks the bedroom door shut behind us. My feet hit the floor next to the bed and he gives me a heated look as I stare up at him.

“I am. I told you that I’m not spending another night apart from you.” He grabs the hem of my shirt and starts to pull it upward. “And that’s final.”

My shirt falls from my shoulders and he guides me to lie on the bed. I lean up on my elbows to watch him remove my flannel pants. He teases me by trailing his lips across each inch of skin that becomes available. Then he removes his clothes piece by piece before pulling my body to the edge of the bed and kneeling between my legs.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” I trail my fingers along his jaw and he twists his head to kiss my palm.

“I’m not going anywhere. You will be the first thing I see in the mornings and the last thing I see before we sleep. I will hold you in my arms to protect you and keep you safe. Then I will worship every inch of your body to show you how much you mean to me.”

The world falls away as his lips trail up my inner thighs and then slowly cover the sensitive flesh between my legs. If this is what it’s going to be like all the time when he lives here, then I can’t wait.

We walk into the Caribou Coffee shop and I immediately see Michael sitting at our usual table. He smiles brightly and waves us over. Andrew follows behind me and shakes Michael’s hand as we join him at the table.

“Good morning,” Michael says, sliding my coffee over to me. He then faces Andrew and shrugs apologetically. “Sorry, I would have gotten one for you as well, but I didn’t know you were coming.”

Andrew waves him off. “Quite all right. I’ll just head up to the counter to get one. Do either of you need anything?”

I shake my head and smile. “No, I’m good for now.”

“No, thank you,” Michael responds.

Andrew stands and kisses the top of my head before going to brave the long order line. I turn back to Michael, who has a rather large grin on his face.

“What?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Nothing. It’s just, you look happy.”

I take a sip of my coffee after blowing on it. “I am happy.”

“So everything worked out between you two?”

I nod. “It did. All misunderstandings have been cleared up and we’re moving on.”

“Good. I’m happy for you. You deserve something to go right for once.”

“I almost feel like I should hold my breath or something. It’s like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop because it seems a little too good to be true. Nothing ever goes this right in my life.”

Michael twists his lips to the side. “That’s not true and you know it. What about your promotion? Or the fact that your dad has come around and is including you more and more in his life?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Can you say that things have gotten better since you returned from London?”

I pause to think about it. “Yes, they are substantially better than before I left, that’s for sure.”

“So how does Andrew fit into things now?” he asks.

I look over my shoulder at the man in question and smile. He’s talking to some random stranger behind him, laughing at whatever the man has said. If I know him like I think I do, he’ll more than likely buy his cup of coffee as well because that’s what he does. He gives without needing anything in return and always thinks of others before himself.